EURO 2020 and the UEFA Nations League

After gaining ten points from the opening four World Cup qualifiers, the Republic of Ireland have made a great start to making it to Russia 2018. What do the Boys in Green have to do to qualify?

 

Actually this article is about EURO 2020 and the new qualification route for that tournament.

 

Oh, okay. Why are we talking about a tournament that is four years away?

Last Thursday was the launch of the Dublin host city logo for UEFA 2020 with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Sports Minister Shane Ross, FAI CEO John Delaney and Ireland boss Martin O’Neill all on hand for the launch in Dublin.

 

Did they have anything interesting to say?

Enda Kenny spoke about Ireland’s “proven track record of hosting major global events successfully" and for some reason he reflected on the 1998 Tour de France, which started in Ireland amongst “syringes falling out of suitcases.”

 



Shane Ross meanwhile dropped several references to the Irish bid for the Rugby World Cup in 2023 into his speech and let everyone know he “was in France this summer for EURO 2016. It was a fantastic experience.” No mention of his trip to Rio that followed soon after though.

 

You can read what Martin O’Neill and John Delaney said to extratime.ie here:

O'Neill feels Ireland forging ahead and Dalymount Park has been saved to Irish football - John Delaney

 

Hang on, if Dublin is hosting the tournament have Ireland not qualified automatically for the event?



Dublin will host three group matches and one last 16 game, not the whole tournament, so Ireland still have to qualify for the Euros. Should we make it, we will play two of our three group games at the Dublin Arena.

 

Where is the Dublin Arena?

UEFA don’t allow any third party commercial identification or branding in any final tournament venue so the Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road will be known as the Dublin Arena in UEFA’s commercial world.

 

What other cities are hosting the tournament?

The other 12 host cities are Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Munich, Rome and St Petersburg. Wembley will host the semi-finals and the final of the competition.

 

Qualification is similar to the last Euros then, with the top two in each group qualifying automatically and with further play-off positions available?

Well sort of but it is more complicated than that.

 

Of course it is! What have they gone and done now?

The European Qualifiers will run from March to November 2019. The top two in each of the ten qualifying groups will automatically make the tournament. However, rather than have the third placed teams enter a play-off (the route Ireland took to EURO 2016), the last four places will be allocated through the UEFA Nations League.

 

The what?

The UEFA Nations League will take the place of many of the current friendly fixtures. UEFA’s 55 participating teams will be split according to their UEFA national country rankings into four leagues with each league having four groups.

 

Which league are Ireland likely to be in?

As things currently stand with the rankings, Ireland are likely to be in the second highest of the four leagues.

 

When will the games take place?

The matches will be held over six matchdays, during the double-header dates in September, October and November 2018, ahead of the Final Four competition in June 2019.

 

The Final Four competition?

The winner of the UEFA Nations League will come from the four group winners from the top division. They will play in the Final Four competition in a knockout format to become the champion.

 

 

But what about those four places that still are available for EURO 2020?

16 sides will take part in play-offs in March 2020, after the European Qualifiers are complete, to allocate the final four places for the Euros. Each Nations League league has four play-off positions to be allocated in first priority to each group winner.

 

What if any of the group winners have already qualified for the Euros?

If any winners have already qualified through the European Qualifiers, then their play-off position will be allocated to the next best-ranked team of the league in question, taking into account the global ranking within the league, and then if necessary to the following league in decreasing order, taking into consideration the global ranking of the relevant league.

 

I’m beginning to lose you here. Help?

Okay, stay with us, we are nearly there. The four group winners in each league will play two one-off semi-finals and one one-off 'final' to determine each of the four league play-off winners. Those four teams will then qualify for EURO 2020.

 

I think I’ve got it but hang on what does this all mean for the future of international friendly football. We still get to play Oman right?

Don’t worry, there will still be some space in the calendar for meaningless friendlies against countries like Oman. However there will be less friendly dates due to the UEFA Nations League competition.

 

Anything else, my head is beginning to hurt?

Nothing else. Time for a snooze if you want.

 

    About Macdara Ferris

    Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile