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The football world never gets quiet, there is always action here or there. A few days ago we saw the completion of the Uefa Champions League, Real Madrid got the crown after thrashing Liverpool by a lone goal in Paris, and in a few hours, we do be seeing another Uefa Competition kickoff in Europe.
This will be the third edition of the competition known as the Uefa Nations League which will kick off on Wednesday, it is just a replica of the Uefa Champions League and the major difference is that the competition was made for Uefa Nations, not clubs.
Portugal won the first edition of the competition and France trashed Spain in the final of the second/last edition which made them the defending champion of the competition. A lot of people still get the competition system missed up so I will shed a light on what the Uefa Nations League is all about.
The competition is played in form of the UCL where clubs are split into groups, with four teams in each group. There are four groups in each League in the competition, the League A are the main countries competing for the title while the League B, C, and D compete to get promoted while some are relegated just like we see in leagues.
The teams will play at home and away matches, and the top teams at the end of the group stage in League A will then proceed into the knockout round of the competition. Since we have four groups in League A, only four teams will progress to the knockout stage which means only the semifinal will hold before the final match.
The teams that finish last in League A and B are relegated, there are playoffs later to determine who is promoted or relegated.
How are the group splitting done?
There is a Uefa Nations ranking that determines the countries that will play in each league and they are ranked by their performances. The first 16 countries on the ranking table occupy the league A while the next 16 will be in League B, the next 16 in League C, and the remaining 7 teams will be in the last league.
The teams are split into groups with a draw, the 2022 Uefa Nations League draw was made last year November.
The competition is not usually played at a go, players return to their respective clubs when club league matches resume, and the Uefa Nations League is suspended until another international break.
My sentiment about the competition is that it is always about the big boys and probably we might see an upset in the teams that would progress from the group stages of the competition.
Group A
Austria, Croatia, Denmark, and France
Group A for me would end up in favor of the defending champions, France would definitely have a good stroll past the countries paired together in the group.
They have got a strong squad that is capable of getting a ticket to the next round of the competition. France finished ahead of Portugal in the previous edition and they will probably do the same again, they could go on winning the title for the second time.
Group B
Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland
Group B is all about Portugal and Spain, they are the biggest teams in the group. The battle for the knockout stage ticket will definitely be between the two countries, we saw Portugal reach the final and won in 2018 while Spain lost in the final to France in the last edition, and both teams will be coming back strong in the 2022 edition of the Uefa Nations League.
Will it be Portugal or Spain? I believe time will tell.
Group C
The Group of death
England, Germany, Hungary, and Italy
Group C in league A caught my attention, I couldn't help but imagine how the likes of Italy, Germany, and England will battle for one ticket to the next round of the competition. It would be a whole lot of action and I think every team will need to take their home matches seriously, the goal difference might eventually determine which team makes it out of the group.
Only Italy and England have progressed to the next round in the previous editions of the competition, having Germany in the group should make things more competitive.
Group D
Belgium, Netherland, Poland, and Wales.
Belgium have the biggest chances of progressing into the next round of the competition, they made it into the semi-finals in the last edition of the competition but they lost to France in the semifinal and Italy in the third-place match.
The team is a great shape and has a higher chance of progressing from the group.
The competition kicks off tomorrow and I will be giving updates about every match, there will be previews and reviews of every match so stay tuned, don't go anywhere.
This is another interesting sports post from you. I'm glad I came across this because I haven't been up-to-date about the latest happenings in football world. Ever since the UCL final, I have not felt like watching any football again until the beginning of next season.
Well, I hope this proves to be an entertaining tournament for those that will watch it.
I am glad this passed information, the African nations cup qualifier is on as well from tomorrow and i will cover that well enough tomorrow as well. I got you cover for sport, just stay tuned.
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