It's unlikely that any of the teams of League C will qualify but this way they have at least a theoretical opportunity.
If we want women's football to improve and get more exposure, it's not just the Spains, Frances, Germanys and Englands of women's football who should qualify directly. If only teams like Germany and Spain had been allowed to qualify directly in men's football, it would still be stuck in the 1960s.
Needless to say, League C teams will not qualify anytime soon under this system. I'm not saying they necessarily should but League B teams at the very least should have a realistic chance of qualifying directly and a way to achieve it without absolutely having to face League A teams.
Women's Euro has only 16 teams. If e.g. all group winners of League B qualify directly it would mean that at least four teams from League A can't qualify. I don't know if you will like this if Bosnia and Herzegovina will get promoted and play in League A for Euro 2025 qualifiers.
Yes I'm of course proud and I hope we don't ******** this up with the 2 remaining games but I will be very disappointed if Bosnia's only chance of qualifying will be to face and beat the likes of Denmark, France, Spain, Sweden, Germany, England which we don't have the strength to do.
If we want the best teams in the tournaments I think it's fair that the B teams have to beat some of the weaker A teams to qualify for Euro 25. They would have had to in the old qualifiers as well. They're not gonna have to beat the very best teams.
Well what are some of the weaker A teams anyways? They will be relegated to League B at the end of this cycle in December.
They're definitely not all equally good. Quite a big difference having to beat Wales, Scotland or Iceland instead of Spain, Germany or France for example.
But if League B teams get promoted to League A, they won't face Wales, Scotland or Iceland should these teams get relegated to League B, that's the thing.
But even teams that finish last in League A have a good chance to qualify. In play-offs they play against a team from League C in Round 1 and in Round 2 they might play against a team like Wales, Scotland or Iceland.
It goes back to what I wrote prior: Qualifying shouldn't be such a hurdle when you move from League B to League A.
The significance of the biennial NL - beyond winning the title and, in every second edition, having the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics - is to maximise the opportunity to qualify for the next women's EURO or WWC. The higher the league a team plays the Qualifiers in, the more opportunity it has to qualify. This is meritocratic and - because of the promotion/relegation system - dynamic, all achieved while increasing the competitiveness of games as we have already seen in the first 4 MDs. It is no coincidence national associations of varying strengths all supported its introduction.
I fail to see how teams constantly jumping from one league to another and in some cases getting promoted one season only to get relegated the next season over and over again will increase competitiveness. While yes most League A teams that are there by default are clearly too good to be in League B, several League B teams turn out to be too good for League B and will later on turn out to be way too weak for League A. That won't increase competitiveness at all.
A good example of what this system will do to competitiveness is that of a team like Malta who is currently top of its League C group on 12 points with 11 goals scored in 4 games and none conceeded. Clearly they are way too strong for League C but what do you honestly think will happen once they move to League B? They'll probably be lucky to even score a goal let alone get a point against most teams in that league.
A reminder that the Euro 2025 qualifiers will be played from April 2024 to December 2024.: This phase decides who qualifies directly for EURO 2025, and who goes into the play-offs, with 15 teams to eventually join hosts Switzerland in the finals. Switzerland will take part in the league stage although their final tournament place is assured. Direct qualification for UEFA Women's EURO 2025 The final European Qualifiers league ranking will reward the eight top teams in League A with direct qualification for UEFA Women's EURO 2025. If hosts Switzerland have not qualified automatically, they will be guaranteed a slot. European Qualifiers play-offs for UEFA Women's EURO 2025 The remaining slots will be contested over two rounds of home-and-away European Qualifiers play-offs. The play-off path illustrated below may be adjusted to take into account the performance of the team(s) of the host association(s). In the first round, the teams finishing third and fourth in League A will play the winners and three best-ranked runners-up in League C. The eight winners progress to the second round. The four group winners and two best-ranked runners-up in League B will be drawn into six ties against the remaining two runners-up and four third-placed teams in League B. The six winners progress to the second round. In the second round, the teams will be drawn into seven ties, with the seven winners progressing to the final tournament.
Yes you are and I am looking forward to finally having some dates for the playoff games and the qualifiers.
Don’t normally do June and July matches. Not much rest. And what’s the point of interrupting players holidays?
Yes, it is probably due to the very late publication of the international calendar by FIFA. It forced UEFA to organise the 2023/25 international windows in a rush.