Impact of Nations Leagues (UEFA original, Concacaf) on World Football? [Multiple R]

Any answers yet on these two questions?

1. How will these matches be treated in the FIFA ranking?
2. Will players be cap-tied in these matches?

I am more interested in the Importance of match then cap-tieing. Here is the current weighting, where do the Nation League matches fit in?

Friendly 1.0
World Cup qualifier and continental qualifier 2.5
Continental final competition and FIFA Confederations Cup 3.0
World Cup final competition 4.0

My guess is they will be more then a friendly... 1.5 or 2?

 

I'm wondering how seriously European countries will take it compared to the UEFA Euro or FIFA World Cup.

 

You have to believe Club teams will put pressure on the National teams to take it easy and not always play the very best lineups in every match.

The thing about friendlies that clubs would be happy about would be knowing that 5 or 6 subs could come in and the games were not as balls to the wall with constant hustle and high pressure situations
Friendlies for the most part are going through the motions for some.

Now the dynamic will change a bit.

 

My main worry is that the top European teams will eventually actually start to view this competition as being more important than the World Cup.

 

I don't think that will happen.
They know Brazil and Argentina would laugh at them if they think such rubbish.

 

Many Europeans already complain that there are too many weak teams from the rest of the world at the World Cup, so they might view the UEFA Nations League as stronger. However, the FIFA World Cup works much better for TV ratings, as it is one big tournament unlike the Nations League which will be spread out in months.

 

Who are these europeans complaining about the weak teams at the WC?

Please tell me its not the ones that play San Marino, Vatican City and the Principate of Narnia to qualify...

 

To witness the very highest level of the game we turn to the big leagues and Champions League football ... the club game won't lose ground to the international game ... quite the contrary ... but hopefully the NL won't be a complete waste of time ... the NL replaces friendlies and guess how much we cared about that non-competitive nonsense. NBA-fication, football becoming like basketball, is what Uefa (and Fifa) like to prevent ... it's more about club v. country ... given time, who knows the NL might become another flagship, to the benefit of the international game.

It's a bit odd that so many eyeballs from outside of Europe are drawn to an exclusively European tournament, like the EUROs, yet it wouldn't be a surprise if the Nations League will have a similar effect ... with the premier tier of the Nations League Uefa have more or less created a Champions League for national teams ... a very solid group phase from September - November and then a KO phase during the Final Four main event in the summers between EUROs and World Cups ... I expect matches between Europe's very best to draw a lot more attention ... when the games are quality the NL will grow really big really fast ... if that's not the case, hey-ho, it will still be better than the meaningless friendlies we currently have.

 

Winning both games against San Marino doesn't help you qualify if every team in the group does that. For the most part, UEFA teams have to beat other good teams to qualify.

 

Yeah, I get it, but its not that different (actually worse if we're talking of San Marino) from having to do that same thing in the WC, otherwise you crash out in the group stages. Like Italy, Spain, England, France (Argentina too) and so on...

So that whole "we're losing interest in the WC on account of it having so many weak teams" its kinda weak itself as an argument... and a bit snobbish.

 

Forget Brazil and Argentina

Even the likes of Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Nigeria, Chile, USA, Ghana, Costa Rica

Other than Germany, Spain, France, the rest of Europe doesn't really have much, if anything at all on these teams.

They are not as good as they think they are. The last worldcup certainly proved that.

uefa competitions cannot compare with a world competion.

 

I am interested in seeing what they (clubs) have to say on the matter and how the dynamic will play out.

 

I reckon the 16 teams in league D will take the NL more seriously than Euro qualifiers. Many league C teams will as well since they don't have realistic hope of reaching the Euros via the traditional route.

League A & B teams are another story however...

 

Check why Swiss failed to win their qualification group this year, nice example how goal difference against smaller nations made the difference.


Interesting point to research, when the draw is planned, both for Nation League and Europe Qualification. Will the teams know their opponents in EQ before NL start or not... this could make some difference how seriously teams will be fighting for NL PlayOffs...

For Example in case if Germany will have no serious opponent in the EQ group they can participate in NL with their second or third team just like they did during CC2017. (And win it anyway )

 

That's true, but I was responding to Sandinista's post saying that teams that get to play San Marino in WCQs shouldn't complain about teams from other confederations in the World Cup being weak. Sandinista was comparing confederations. You're saying how goal differential can determine which UEFA team wins a WCQ group, which is different.

 

The overall UEFA Nations League rankings will determine the composition of the draw pots for the subsequent European Qualifiers.

So no, teams won't know their opponents in the ECQs before the NL group stage has finished/the NL rankings are in (end of 2018) ... we do know that the group winners of UEFA Nations League A will be drawn into groups of 5 teams (because they'll play in the Final 4 main event while others have ECQs scheduled) ... if e.g. Germany doesn't take the NL seriously they could lose their top seed status in the ECQs ... which could lead to unbalanced ECQs groups ... especially after a few NL cycles there will be plenty of promoted/relegated teams.

Let's say during the NL draw in January 2018 Germany draws France (pot 2) and Holland (pot 3) ... Holland are the lowest ranked side in League A but with the Holland-Germany rivalry you could expect a hard-fought affair (likewise if they draw Poland instead of Holland) ... Germany v. France could set sparks flying as well ... regardless, we'll have to wait until the NL starts to see how competitive it will get ... still when powerhouse teams meet there's more prestige at stake and besides it can't be any worse than the meaningless friendlies that are being replaced by the NL.

 

If Germany finishes last in their group they'll probably still be in Pot 1 for the EQ draw since there are 10 top seeds.

But yeah, they would lose that spot for the WCQ 2022 draw. In fact, the relegated teams in the first edition of the NL would be in some danger of ending up in pot 3 for the WCQ 2022 draw (since the WCQ may have fewer groups than EQ).

Maybe, but I suspect the competition will be tougher in the NL. I agree though that spoiled countries that win major int'l tournaments somewhat regularily might not take the NL too seriously. Countries like England, Croatia, Swtizerland, etc. who never win anything might see this as an opportunity for a rare major title.

 

If the WCQs remained with 9 groups and all 55 teams entered (with UEFA not hosting), one group would have to have 7 teams and require 14 matchdays (with each team having 2 matchdays off) instead of 10. Excluding the upcoming playoffs, UEFA's 10 games were divided into 7 periods, with 3 having 2 games and 4 having 1 game. Therefore 14 matchdays would be possible, but I still don't know if UEFA would want to do that just for the sake of one group. Since World Cup 2022 will be later in the year, if UEFA starts their WCQs in September 2020 there will be 2 more matchdays available than there were for World Cup 2018. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/aff...c2018-2024fifa_15-02163_101_en_en_neutral.pdf says March 21 through 29, 2022 is the last time for WCQs, with the World Cup draw in April. If UEFA kept the same format, the groups would end in October or November 2021 with the playoffs over 4 months later.

 

Sure for the next ECQs (EURO2020) it's only the two bottom ranked teams of League A (NL rankings) ... yet Germany were safer when Fifa's ranking/their coefficient was used to grant top seed status (hosting a tournament did distort the rankings though or gaming Fifa's flawed rankings was an option) ... not only Germany but all powerhouses will have to be on their toes in the NL ... even tiny Iceland knows how to defend and they could grab a top seed ... "if e.g. Germany doesn't take the NL seriously they could lose their top seed status in the ECQs", Germany haven't always taken friendlies seriously but we'll see how competitive they'll approach the NL ... and "especially after a few NL cycles", the NL is quite slippery so give it a few cycles and then have a look at the leagues (in League B it's even 8/12 teams that are relegated/promoted, that's a massive churn).

The qualification process for the 2022 World Cup has not yet been announced but I'm expecting UEFA to stick to 10 groups ... to link WCQs with the NL (play-offs) UEFA will have to come to an agreement with FIFA as the World Cup is their baby ... Infantino won't be so inclusive when it comes to Europe though.