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

HITS

Honorable mentions – Portugal, Ukraine, Israel, Norway

Hit #5 Switzerland

Switzerland will play in the Nations League semi-final

The Swiss have been on a steady rise on the international scene in recent years - much of their success on the back of their U17 winning squad at the World Cup hosted in Nigeria in 2009, as well as the team that finished third at the same tournament four years later in UAE.

Under legendary manager Ottmar Hitzfield, the Swiss punched above their weights and reached the knockout stage of the 2006 World Cup (where they became the first side in World Cup history to be eliminated without conceding a single goal), before enjoying their most fruitful spell in recent years.

They have made it to the round of 16 in each of the last three tournaments they have participated in, and they have players like Xherdan Shaqiri, Stefan Seferovic and Granit Xhaka who are doing great things across Europe.

Entering the fray as one of the highly ranked nations, the Swiss were drawn in Group 2 of League A alongside favourites Belgium and fellow upstarts Iceland.

They got home and away victories over Iceland, but lost the reverse 2-1 to Belgium and headed into their last match knowing they had to better this results if they were to qualify ahead of Belgians.

Their task was made much harder when their neighbours ran into a 2 goal lead early in the first half meaning Switzerland had to score four unanswered goals to advance which would have been impossible to conceive even for the most optimistic fan.

As it turned out, Switzerland showed that impossible is nothing and rallied to produce one of the most incredible comeback victories in recent times, scoring five goals to advance into the last four of the Nations League.

Switzerland came into the Nations League with a reputation of a fast-rising football nation, and after their displays, they have further enhanced it and can build on this heading into EURO 2020.

Hit #4 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina would play in League A of the next UEFA Nations League

Totally ravaged by war as recently as 25 years ago, this Eastern European nation has risen above the ruins and destruction to forge one of the fastest rising countries on the international footballing scene.

Led by all-time record goalscorer and bonafide world-class striker Eden Dzeko and ably supported by Miralem Pjanic as well as Adama Llajic, The Dragons have firmly established themselves as a country to watch out for with their displays in recent years.

They qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever in 2014, but failed to make it beyond the group stages following a narrow defeat to Argentina and a controversial loss to Nigeria rendered their victory over Iran in the final match null.

Bosnia have seen their impressiveness in recent seasons rewarded, and they are currently ranked 32nd which saw them drawn in group 3 of League B alongside Austria and Northern Ireland.

They topped their group very comfortably, amassing 10 points from four matches, winning three and drawing one, with a goal difference of +4 to advance into League A of the Nations League and compete with the big boys which is where they belong.