UEFA Nations League: 5 countries that shone and 5 countries that flopped

Flop #1 Germany

Germany got relegated in the Nations League

There could really be only one contender for biggest flop of the Nations League right? Germany were world champions in 2014 and continued their impressive performances at tournaments with their semi-final run at EURO 2016.

They won the Confederations Cup in 2017 with a bunch of young players who displaced much more experienced opponents, as well as winning the UEFA EURO U21 Championship.

The future looked very bright for Die Mannschaft, and they were all set to retain the crown they won in Brazil at Russia 2018, with many earmarking them as favourites for the tournament.

What followed was a disaster of immense proportions. They failed to make it out of a relatively straightforward group which many expected them to top with ease, registering just three points from three matches and suffering a first-round exit for the first time at the World Cup since 1938.

From then on, it all went downhill for the four-time world champions. They continued their shambolic form into the Nations League and went on their longest run without a competitive victory or goal in many decades, which mounted pressure on long-serving manager Joachim Low.

The Germans had gotten relegated before the last round of matches in the Nations League, and were playing for pride when they squared off against the Netherlands at home.

Everything seemed in order, and it looked like Germany would end 2018 on a high when they raced into a two-goal first-half lead courtesy Timo Werner and Leroy Sane, but a host of missed chances (a recurring theme in recent months) came back to haunt them and provided inspiration for Netherlands to claw their way back with two late goals and salvage a draw, condemning Germany to bottom of the group where they failed to win a single match to cap off what is undoubtedly one of the worst performances in a calendar year in their illustrious history.