Also Italy is getting pot 1 unless there is an upset in the top 2 in each one of the other groups. Austria is the only one who could be in "trouble", they will lose their pot 1 status with any upset like one of Scotland or Poland getting 2nd place instead of Croatia/Portugal.
It's not adding UNL KO ties in March which has made the draw awkward - the EURO 2028 qualifying draw will be smooth because, like the EURO 2024 qualifying draw, it'll be based exclusively on the final preceding UNL ranking - it's FIFA's insistence on using the world ranking to seed the draw. The March UNL KO ties are a necessary step to growing the competition and by truncating the European Qualifiers into groups of 4 ot 5 teams they will become more exciting with many groups only decided on the final match days.
Well, I'd say its both. Just look at that Twitter post above. All the bullet points illustrating why its a mess relate to the UNL playoffs. Also, the Euro 2024 qualifying draw was clean because the 2022-23 UNL was settled before the draw happened (except for the top 4). That won't be the case for the Euro 2028 qualifying draw. But TBH, I don't really care if a draw is complicated or not. I just don't like the bloated-ness of the UNL playoffs because it keeps UEFA teams occupied with playing matches in their own confederation, while also reducing the meaningfulness of the UNL games (which wasn't high to begin with). I'd argue that the groups of 5 will be more boring than 4 years ago because the gap between the top team and the 2nd and 3rd-best teams in the group will be larger. The same is true in the groups of 4 but perhaps the reduction in # of matches will indeed make those games exciting.
Off the top of my head the groups of 5 teams in the EURO 2024 qualifiers were exciting and several were only decided in the final window.
Yes, I have the recollection. But am predicting they will be more boring next time because of the larger disparity in quality between the pot 1 and pot 2 teams (on the whole), and especially between pot 1 and pot 3 teams.
UEFA is fighting to increase the significance of the Nations League since general perception is that it is irrelevant and unnecessary competition (with right) For UEFA Euro cycle it offers one or two teams chance to qualify that wouldn't normally be there, but most of better teams still do not play it with full intensity, they qualify anyway. For the World Cup cycle it gets much more significance. This idea with preffered seading for 8 quarterfinalsits and 4 best FIFA ranked teams will at least make teams in league A play more seriously than they normally would. Teams in league B and lower basically play only for FIFA points. England will be seeded no matter what happens Nations League Title still stays irrelevant. Surprisingly, UEFA seems to help there by introducing placeholders for the World Cup qualification draw. This way some teams will eventually/possibly get an opportunity to intentionally lose their quarterfinal game and still get a win-win situation: not having to play further Nations League games and slide into a weaker World Cup qualification group.
Nations league could get interesting if teams fully understand an commit to how much it matters. Poland/Scotland in A1 can make Pot 1 just by making top 2 in the Group and they are matched with 2 teams in Croatia and Portugal who are Pot 1 regardless. Israel probably will be overmatch significantly in group A2 so it won't matter. Hungary and Bosnia in A3 are in the same scenario as A1 but with a taller task as they have Netherlands and Germany. A4 is the most open as Spain is safe for Pot 1 regardless but Switzerland is vulnerable and Serbia/Denmark have it all to go for.
World Cup dreams begin in Samoa as Oceania qualifying series gets underway - Friends of Football (friendsoffootballnz.com) How the qualification process works Round One OFC’s four lowest-ranked teams, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, decides which team progresses to the next round, joining nations in Group B. The FIFA World Cup official draw held in Zurich in July determined two groups of four: Group A New Caledonia Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Fiji Group B New Zealand Tahiti Vanuatu Winners of round 1 Round Two The FIFA international window in October will see Suva, Fiji host Group A matches and Port Vila, Vanuatu host Group B matches. Make a note in your diary for Thursday October 10, for back-to-back matches in Suva with New Caledonia playing Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands meeting Fiji in Group A. The next day, New Zealand and Tahiti meet in Port Vila and on Saturday October 12, VFF Freshwater Stadium will be packed to the rafters as Vanuatu play the winner of Round One. The group stage will be completed during November’s FIFA international window, with New Zealand and Papua New Guinea hosting the final round of matches, after which the top two teams will advance to the semi-finals. Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea will host Match Day 4 in Group A on Thursday November 14 and Match Day 5 on Sunday November 17. FMG Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand, will host Match Day 4 in Group B on Friday November 15 and Go Media Stadium, Mt Smart, in Auckland will host Match Day 5 on Monday November 18.
Don't teams in league B have a chance to play for the WC qualifying playoffs? That's how it was last time ("The best two Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group advanced to the play-offs"). In any event, I do find the expanded playoffs of the NL makes things extremely confusing. So now you can get promoted even if you finish 2nd in your NL pool? smh.
It is even more confusing than that. The World Cup playoffs for the final 4 UEFA spots will involve 16 teams in a 4 single leg knockouts. The first 12 spots are easy enough, the group runner-ups. The last 4 spots go to the 4 best Nations League GROUP WINNERS, who do not qualify. I would be stunned if any Group Winner in League A is not at least top 2 in qualifying. So then you go to League B. If England wins their group, you are likely to see a League C winner in the playoffs. I'd bet you will actually have multiple League C group winners in the playoffs.
It is even more ridiculous actually. So I made some quick and dirty groups. Without upsets these will be the UEFA Pots: Pot 1: Croatia Italy Netherlands Spain Portugal France Germany Switzerland England Belgium Denmark Austria Pot 2: Romania Czechia Scotland Norway Ukraine Turkey Poland Sweden Wales Hungary Serbia Slovakia Pot 3: Slovenia Greece Ireland Finland Albania Georgia Iceland N. Macedonia Montenegro N. Ireland Bosnia Israel Pot 4: Faroe Islands Latvia Lithuania Cyprus Estonia Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Kosovo Belarus Bulgaria Luxembourg Armenia Pot 5: Moldova Andorra Malta Gibraltar Liechtenstein San Marino Which Pot 3 teams would you expect to be Group winners? The only Pot 3 teams that are even competing in League C of Nations League are Northern Ireland and North Macedonia. If they don't win their groups, baring some big upsets in qualifying you could legit have League D teams in the World Cup playoffs.
Yes, but making it necessary to win your NL group in order to guarantee at least a WCQ playoff place ensures every team is motivated to do as well as they can in addition to the possibility of promotion which will also give them a better chance of securing a EURO 2028 qualifying playoff place in the 2026-27 NL. Every team in NL will be playing for much more than FIFA ranking points as was said above.
I understand. I would bet that every League C team that wins it's group will be at worst a playoff team. Unless you get some major upsets in League B who then completely shit the bed in WCQ.
Third round of AFC World Cup qualifying kicks off in dramatic fashion as Bahrain record famous victory over Socceroos, Japan and Uzbekistan claim wins and Palestine secure point in Korea Republic. https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments...exicousa2026/articles/afc-qualifiers-round-up
yepp, they do, but not being seeded and playing away at least once vs. some mighty teams makes that very unlikely
I expected Saudi Arabia to win this first match, but I was surprised. The Saudi League may be exciting, but the National Team needs to be more competitive. There're also plenty of matches.
I'm not sure because: - 24 teams will qualify automatically or for a playoff place via the 12 WCQ groups, while the four League C winners will be ranked 33-36 in the UNL group stage ranking; - the smaller WCQ groups where each team will play 6 or 8 games will lead to more unpredictable tables.
On the other hand they are single leg ties which - to some extent - balances the disadvantage of being unseeded in the semifinal draw and having to play away.
It's not based on UNL rankings... It is specifically winning your group. So lets say Switzerland finishes 3rd in their League A group; they will be below Bulgaria who win their League C group. UEFA wants to put emphasis on winning your group regardless of what League you are in.
True. Just looking at the league B teams, there are several that I wouldn't expect to finish in the top 2 of their WC qualifying group. So wouldn't surprise me if at least one earn their playoff spot by winning their league B pool. But its a new format so let's see... The teams that got promoted from C to B in the last UNL are being punished now.
hate, that they rigged the draw only to have England in pot 1 and to avoid a clash with other big nations... how unfair.
Yes, but I was replying to the point that all League C group winners will finish in the top two of positions in their WCQ groups, something which is far from certain. The UNL games I've seen over the last couple of days haven't exhibited anything to support the claim that teams and fans don't take it seriously. I would need evidence to be provided with evidence to support such a claim.
Yes. If it had been a UEFA competition they would have only used the UNL ranking, but FIFA want to stick with using the world ranking.