September 24 – Governing body UEFA is considering a shakeup of the Nations League by expanding the top tier of the competition.
The second iteration of the Nations League will kick off in September 2020, but after the relative success of the first edition with competitive football across the different tiers of the tournament the European governing body might tweak the format to replace even more friendlies in the international calendar.
The A-league, which includes all the top tier nations, might be expanded to four groups, according to reports by DPA and the AP. The plans will be discussed at the UEFA Executive Committee on Tuesday in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.
If passed, the proposal will be good news for Germany, Croatia, Poland and Iceland, who could retain their A-League status following relegation in the inaugural Nations League. Germany, who crashed out in the group stages of the 2018 World Cup, failed to win a game against Group 1 rivals France and The Netherlands.
Poland and Iceland suffered similar fates and Croatia were relegated from a tight group with England and Spain.
UEFA introduced the Nations League in a bid to revive international football across the continent. The first tournament kicked off in 2018 after the World Cup and Portugal were subsequently crowned winners at a mini-tournament of the four League A group winners. To give the competition cachet, UEFA also construed the Nations League as an alternative qualification route to Euro 2020.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at insideworldfootball.com