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The inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League begins next week involving 55 member associations of UEFA. The participating nations are divided into four divisions based on their UEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
League A and B consist of 12 teams, League C consists of 15 teams, and League D involves 16 teams. A double Round-robin format will be followed which means each team will play four or six matches in the group stage during September, October and November 2018.
The four group winners of League A will qualify for the Nations League Finals which will take place in June 2019. It will be played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third-place play-off, and final. The teams will also compete for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league.
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We shall now take a look at 5 Must-Watch League A encounters in the upcoming international break.
#5 France vs the Netherlands
France after winning the World Cup in Russia will be looking to continue their good run of form when they take on their Dutch rivals next weekend. The young French side looked unstoppable in Russia as they scored 14 goals in 7 games including four in the final against Croatia.
The Dutch ever since the culmination of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil have had a catastrophic set of results as they missed out on the 2016 UEFA Euro and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The team currently consists of a relatively inexperienced squad led by defender Virgil van Dijk.
The game promises to be a thrilling encounter between two European rivals and is an excellent opportunity for a declining Dutch side to regain confidence.
Date: 9 September 2018
Time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
#4 Portugal vs Italy
Portugal reached new heights under manager Fernando Santos as they won the 2016 UEFA Euro in France which was the country's first ever major title. Portugal were unable to achieve similar success in Russia this year as they were knocked out of the Round of 16 by Uruguay.
Portugal will be without their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo for the clash against Italy, and it will be interesting to see how the Portuguese side performs without the assistance of their star player.
Italy reached an unprecedented low last year when they were knocked out by Sweden in the play-off round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and missed out on a World Cup berth for the first time since 1958.
The young Italian side will be looking forward to the UEFA Nations League at it will provide them with a chance to take centre stage at European level once again.
Date: 10 September 2018
Time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: Estadio da Luz, Lisbon
#3 England vs Spain
England had a very successful World Cup campaign in Russia as they reached the semi-finals and ended the campaign with a fourth-place finish. The young English side led by striker Harry Kane exceeded the expectations of many and now looks like a dominating European side.
Spain had a controversial start to their World Cup campaign in Russia as their head coach Julen Lopetegui was sacked just 48 hours before their first game against Portugal. The Iberian side crashed out of the World Cup at the Round of 16 as they lost to the host nation Russia on penalties.
Former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique was appointed as the head coach of the Spanish national team on 9 July 2018. With the departure of Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique from the national side, Enrique will look forward to rebuilding the Spanish squad in the upcoming UEFA Nations League.
Date: 8 September 2018
Time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London
#2 Spain vs Croatia
Spain will play their second group game against Croatia just three days after their game against England. The Spanish side will look forward to taking the pole position during the upcoming international break as they will be the only side to have played two games in the group.
Croatia are currently having a fantastic run of form as they ended their World Cup campaign as runners-up and were ranked 4th in the FIFA World rankings last month. The Croatian captain Luka Modric won the World Cup golden ball and was adjudged UEFA Player of the year ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
The match between the World champions of 2010 and the runners-up of the 2018 World Cup will be a thrilling encounter to watch for the audience.
Date: 11 September 2018
Time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: Manuel Martinez Valero, Elche
#1 Germany vs France
The very first fixture of League A will be contested between the World Cup winners of 2014, Germany and the newly crowned World Champions France. Germany had a disastrous World Cup campaign this summer as they were knocked out of the group stage where they only managed one win in three matches.
Germany will look forward to this continental competition to once again take centre stage at the international level as they slumped to 15th position in the FIFA World rankings last month.
France after winning the World Cup in Russia are ranked number 1 in the FIFA World rankings, and it will be interesting to watch whether they do justice to the second star on their badge or not in the upcoming UEFA Nations League.
Date: 6 September 2018
Time: 20:45 (CET)
Venue: Allianz Arena, Munich
