If you are not happy with the quantum of soccer leagues being played throughout the world today, there is a good news for you, especially if you are an European fan who love to watch World Cup and European Championship as UEFA has approved a third installment of international events concentrated toward European teams and named it as “League of Nations.” The exact format is yet not finalized but broadly there would be four divisions which will farther be divided into four sub-divisions and more importantly, four top teams would automatically qualify for the Euro 2020. If everything goes as planned, first event will kick off in 2018 after the world cup and will cover a major portion of Europe that do not found any place in other mega soccer events. If the timings of this event are analyzed, it is going to happen anywhere from September to November where most friendlies are being played today hence if it gets a momentum these ‘other’ matches will have to be called off giving more space for an international event. The biggest luring point about the proposed format is to qualify for the Euro event which would be an advantage for nations who otherwise find it hard to even find a place in mega European event.
Talking about the format which is still not finalized, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said, “Twenty teams will advance from the qualifying competition to the Euro 2020 finals – which are being played in 13 cities around Europe. That leaves four extra slots to be filled and they will come from four teams from the Nations League who have not otherwise qualified.”
Top divisions would be decided according to the FIFA rankings and sub divisions would be classified later on. According to present standings, England, Spain, Germany, and Italy are likely to be enrolled into the first division and there would be three to four pools in each division and topper of each pool would fight in the finals. The format looks in tune with other running international events, however, the difference lies in its scope as it is supposed to be spread across thirteen European cities. Right now, only Football association has backed the plans to introduce new international soccer event based in Europe, president Greg Dyke said about this, “The hard thing is the detail but I think a Nations League where we played the top nations would be very attractive.”