OFC merging with AFC, at least for the GNL group stage would fix it. Maybe, probably, most definitely yes; UEFA's already giving up 1 of their 4 UNL spots and the expansion from European Final 4 to global Final 8 has been suggested very quickly (the UNL hasn't even had an inaugural edition). Before you know it we're talking a Final 16 ... even more allocation horse-trading for the bigwigs to drool over.
Just like in a league... Two top teams go up, two bottoms get relegated, or something like this. Season could last for two years, for example...
Which is either A) what the actual plan is (Confeds all the way to the last 8 with a 1 week finals tournament), or B) what my alternative was (Nations League A with Confeds below and a play-off tournament of pro/rel like the Davis Cup) J
Yes. I agree. Most countries shouldn't be in global divisions, but I think global divisions should have more than the 16 or 24 you proposed. I'd try 32 in global divisions.
Huh? What do you mean? How would the schedule look for the UNL and the global NL (both qualifying/group stage and final event)?
There's been talk of pooling the international breaks in larger blocs. The winter World Cup in 2022 offers such an opportunity as it will already interfere with the regular season schedules of domestic leagues around the world. After WC2022 is staged from mid-November to mid-December (the final would be played on 18 December 2022) ... you could pool 3 separate international breaks, i.e. Sep./Oct./Nov., in a single winter bloc followed by a winter break, i.e. late Nov. to late Dec. ... so players can recuperate and it could lessen the burden of too much travel. The other international breaks could then be pooled in a summer bloc to be played after the end of the season for domestic leagues (followed by a summer break ahead of the new season). The following World Cup, probably USA2026, could be preceded by a full-blown World League and expand the top division's Final 8 to a Final 16 main event. I'm just making a suggestion, not even speculating about what's being planned. As the Confed Cup will most likely be scrapped why not use the World League's main event as a dress rehearsal (only the premier "League A's" main event not the lower divisions). For the group stage, during the winter bloc, it's possible to designate hosts for each group as well. How could it look? - Hosts World Cup 2026 also play in the 2025 World League's Final 16 main event, e.g. a direct spot for the USA - 15 premier "League A" groups and group winners advance to the main event (group hosts in bold): Germany Sweden Ghana Peru Brazil Iceland Ireland Ivory Coast Spain Israel Egypt Uzbekistan France Morocco Japan Austria Argentina Czech Republic Bosnia Senegal Belgium Panama Romania Burkina Faso Italy Tunisia N. Ireland Honduras Colombia Switzerland Greece Iran Uruguay Wales Turkey Nigeria Portugal South Africa South Korea Hungary Poland Cameroon Slovakia Costa Rica Croatia Algeria Syria Serbia Netherlands New Zealand Scotland Australia Mexico Chile Ukraine Denmark England Saudi Arabia Russia USA (if the hosts win their group the best runners-up qualify; same tie-breakers as UNL) Bottom dwellers are relegated and replaced by the teams that gain promotion from League B, the 2nd tier, which contains intraconfed divisions (except OFC + AFC and Conmebol + Concacaf hybrid divisions in the group stage; because of their size). Having a minimum allocation +/- guarantees that each region will be represented even when all their teams were relegated in the last edition. E.g. if all of AFC's teams end up as bottom dwellers they'll still have a few teams gaining promotion. Yet if New Zealand are relegated and no other OFC side gains promotion from League B they'll have to try their luck gaining promotion at a later date. Also, when teams from the same confed do well and none are relegated that region will be well-represented in the next edition.
Yes, but it's my understanding that the pro/rel would happen at the regional group stage part of the Nations League, and not at the playoff part of the league. If pro/rel only happens at the regional qualifiers then the playoff allocation will never change. There will always be 3 UEFA, 2 CONMEBOL, 1 CAF, 1 AFC & 1 CONCACAF in the A league event. OFC will always be stuck in the 4th "league".
I'm not making a detailed proposal, but I just meant that if a tournament such as the UNL qualifies three teams for another tournament such as the global NL, the UNL could have the Semifinal losers play each other for the third spot just like how the two third place Asian teams in World Cup Qualifying played for the interconfederational playoff spot. When the CONCACAF Champions Cup had 8 clubs, Central America had 16 clubs play a tournament for 3 spots in it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_UNCAF_Interclub_Cup is an example
See quotes below Once/if the GNL is created I doubt UEFA teams will play two tournaments in odd-numbered years. Either they alternate between UNL and GNL or the GNL replaces the UNL altogether. Probably the latter. So there won't be any UNL semifinalists when there's no UNL (the GNL = UNL after expansion; at least if it's decided to go ahead with the expansion).
Do you guys think the same FIFA climate rules will apply as the ones imposed in qualifiers? For instance, Can Colombia play in the extremes of Barranquilla against a team that is not used to such heat and humidity and then play another team in the extreme high altitude of Bogota who is not used to playing in altitude? I personally believe that teams should be allowed to use such advantages.
Yes, I don't see why not. Everyone will play the same # of home matches as away matches so its fair enough. Plus people all over (for e.g.) Peru should get a chance to watch a match, not just those in Lima. So if they want to put a match at high altitude in Cusco, go for it I say. The only exception should be in the final 8 tournament. The draw and location of matches should be somewhat random.
This would be a great way for teams to spread the wealth a little bit and have different cities and regions see games of importance and not just lame friendlies.
https://sports.yahoo.com/global-nations-league-better-international-soccer-064854946.html How a Global Nations League would better international soccer
Good argument presented in that article. And 20 months without a competitive fixture is nothing. The US at least made the HEX. Many countries go much longer than that (e.g. Canada, Jamaica, or ... well... any AFC team that doesn't reach the final qualifying round).
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-s...-new-nations-league-plan-source-idUKKBN1D81FD CONCACAF close to agreement on new Nations League plan - source
If they do have a World League, I will be even more angry about the World Cup expansion. Like what was the point of diluting the tournament to be more inclusive when they are going to add an extra event anyway?
I am struggling to see any strong linkages between the Global NL and the expanded WC(?). The one link I can sort of see is that an expanded WC will make WC qualifying less interesting. But that would make a Global NL more useful as it could fill the entertainment gap caused by the expanded WC.
If NZ wins as a representative of Oceania in league #4,how would they pass to League #3, taking into account that there are only two Asian groups in leagues 3 and 4 . ( In theory the two Asian winners of League 4 would go up in the league 3)
Something I'm not clear about : as I read the lower leagues would be only regional, being the final the only one where the best 8 of the confederations will be competing. I wonder why a game between Kosovo and Bhutan is mentioned in the article ( both are in league 6). Or is it that each league will crown a champion and the games will cross between all the confederations? Kind of weird.
Well I guess the article is Mostly speculative. Although I think it makes some good speculations. Maybe the OFC pool winner gets promoted to tier 3 Asia pool. Would make sense then if the Asia pools below tier 2 are divided by East and West to make travel feasible. Just speculating....
Agreed. Remember, we're only talking about replacing some friendlies here. You wrote those above posts when there were a bunch of inter-confederation friendlies going on (including your country, Uruguay, playing Poland); you can't be that attached to them.
How can Uruguay play better, if we only play South American teams over and over? We need to play European teams, Japan, Ivory Coast, etc.
If I were to play devil’s advocate I’d say look at Germany this week: with the freedom to play teams from any region of the world, they schedule matches against England and France. So if teams aren’t using these friendly rounds to play teams from outside their continent, why not at least make the matches meaningful? That’s point #1. Point #2: In CONCACAF and CAF they have Confederation Championships every two years, which basically translates to playing qualifiers and a summer tournament all against teams from your own region. So if we’re going to trim the fat and reduce intra-confederation matches, maybe we should start with the totally redundant tournaments? That said, I kinda agree that for CONMEBOL a Nations’ League seems a bit silly. There already is a CONMEBOL league – the World Cup qualifiers. If the qualifying format remains the same (which I hope it does), then a NL would be absurd!