2018–19 UEFA Nations League

The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League will be the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition, which will be held from September to November 2018 (league phase) and June 2019 (Nations League Finals), will also serve as part of the qualification process for UEFA Euro 2020, awarding berths in the play-offs which will decide four of the twenty-four final tournament slots.

Format
The format and schedule of the UEFA Nations League was formally approved by the UEFA Executive Committee on 4 December 2014. According to the approved format, the 55 UEFA national teams will be divided into four divisions (called "leagues"): 12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D. For the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, teams will be divided according to their UEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (play-off results will not be included), with the highest-ranked teams playing in League A, etc.

Each league will be divided into four groups of three or four teams, so each team will play four or six matches within their group (using the home-and-away round-robin format), on double matchdays in September, October and November 2018.

In the top division, League A, teams will compete to become the UEFA Nations League champions. The four group winners of League A will qualify for the Nations League Finals in June 2019, which will be played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, are determined by means of a draw in early December 2018. The host country will be selected among the four qualified teams in December 2018 by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.

Teams will also compete for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league. In each league, the four group winners (except League A) will be promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group (except League D) will be relegated; however, in League C, due to different sized groups, the three fourth-placed teams and the lowest-ranking third-placed team will be relegated.

Tiebreakers for group ranking
If two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:
 * 1) Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
 * 2) Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
 * 3) Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
 * 4) Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
 * If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
 * 1) Superior goal difference in all group matches;
 * 2) Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
 * 3) Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
 * 4) Higher number of wins in all group matches;
 * 5) Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
 * 6) Fair play conduct in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
 * 7) Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system.

To determine the worst third-placed team in League C, the results against the teams in fourth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied:
 * 1) Higher number of points;
 * 2) Superior goal difference;
 * 3) Higher number of goals scored;
 * 4) Higher number of goals scored away from home;
 * 5) Higher number of wins;
 * 6) Higher number of wins away from home;
 * 7) Fair play conduct in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
 * 8) Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system.

Criteria for league ranking
Individual league rankings are established according to the following criteria:
 * 1) Position in the group;
 * 2) Higher number of points;
 * 3) Superior goal difference;
 * 4) Higher number of goals scored;
 * 5) Higher number of goals scored away from home;
 * 6) Higher number of wins;
 * 7) Higher number of wins away from home;
 * 8) Fair play conduct in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
 * 9) Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system.

In order to rank teams in leagues composed of different sized groups, the following procedure applies:
 * 1) The results against fourth-placed teams are not taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed first, second and third in their respective groups.
 * 2) All results are taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed fourth in their respective groups.

The results of the Nations League Finals are impacted on the Nations League A rankings as follows:
 * 1) The winner is ranked 1st;
 * 2) The runner-up is ranked 2nd;
 * 3) The third-placed team is ranked 3rd;
 * 4) The fourth-placed team is ranked 4th.

Criteria for overall ranking
For the purposes of the European Championship qualifying group stage draw and the European qualifying play-offs, overall UEFA Nations League rankings are established as follows:
 * 1) The 12 League A teams are ranked 1st to 12th according to their league rankings.
 * 2) The 12 League B teams are ranked 13th to 24th according to their league rankings.
 * 3) The 15 League C teams are ranked 25th to 39th according to their league rankings.
 * 4) The 16 League D teams are ranked 40th to 55th according to their league rankings.

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League will be linked with UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020.

The main qualifying process will now begin in March 2019 instead of immediately in September 2018 following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and will end in November 2019. The format will remain largely the same, although only 20 of the 24 spots for the finals tournament will be decided from the main qualifying process, leaving four spots still to be decided. The 55 teams will be drawn into 10 groups after the completion of the UEFA Nations League (five groups of five teams and five groups of six teams, with the four UEFA Nations League Finals participants guaranteed to be drawn into groups of five teams), with the top two teams in each group qualifying. The draw seeding will be based on the overall rankings of the Nations League. The qualifiers will be played on double matchdays in March, June, September, October and November 2019.

Next, a total of 16 teams will participate in the qualifying play-offs, taking place in March 2020, offering a second chance to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020. The 16 teams will be selected based on their performance in the UEFA Nations League. The 16 teams will be divided into four paths, each containing four teams, with one team from each path qualifying for the final tournament. Each league will have its own play-off path if at least four teams are available. The Nations League group winners will automatically qualify for the play-off path of their league. If the group winners have already qualified through the classic qualifying group stage, they will be replaced by the next best ranked teams in the same league. However, if there are not enough teams in the same league, then the group winners will be replaced by the next best team in the overall ranking, but group winners cannot face teams from a higher league.

A bottom up process from League D to A is used to select the 16 teams which will compete in the playoffs. First, all available group winners are selected. Then, if a group winner has already qualified, they will be replaced by the next best team in the same league. If there are not enough teams in a given league, then if there is a group winner, the best ranked team of a lower league will be selected. If there is no group winner available in the league, then the best team in the overall ranking will be selected.

A bottom up process from League D to A is also used to form the four play-off paths. A path is formed with four teams from the same league. If there are more than four teams qualified for the play-offs in a given league, then a draw will occur to determine which teams will participate in the play-off path of that league. The remaining teams will be drawn into paths with teams of higher leagues. This process ensures that the group winners do not have to compete with teams from a higher league. A draw will take place on 22 November 2019 to allocate the teams which did not win their group.

Each play-off path will feature two single-leg semi-finals, and one single-leg final. The best-ranked team will host the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team will host the third-ranked team. The host of the final will be decided by a draw, with semi-final winner 1 or 2 hosting the final. The four play-off path winners will join the 20 teams which have already qualified for UEFA Euro 2020.

Schedule
Below is the schedule of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 24 January 2018 following the draw.

Seeding
All 55 UEFA national teams are eligible to compete in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. The 55 members at the time would be divided into the four "Leagues" (12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D) according to their UEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (not including the play-offs), with the highest-ranked teams playing in League A, etc. The seeding pots for the draw were announced on 7 December 2017.

The draw for the league phase took place at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 January 2018, 12:00 CET.

For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan (due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict), as well as Russia and Ukraine (due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine), could not be drawn in the same group. Due to winter venue restrictions, a group could contain a maximum of two of the following teams: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania. Due to excessive travel restrictions, any group could contain a maximum of one of the following pairs: Andorra and Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan, Gibraltar and Kazakhstan, Gibraltar and Azerbaijan.

Overall ranking
The overall ranking will be used for seeding in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group stage draw.

Prize money
The prize money to be distributed was announced in March 2018. A total of €76.25 million in solidarity and bonus fees will be distributed to the 55 participating national teams.

The solidarity fees per team are scaled by league:
 * League A: €1.5M
 * League B: €1M
 * League C: €750,000
 * League D: €500,000

In addition, the group winners of each league will receive double this amount with the following bonus fees:
 * League A group winners: €1.5M
 * League B group winners: €1M
 * League C group winners: €750,000
 * League D group winners: €500,000

The four group winners of League A, which will participate in the Nations League Finals, will also receive the following fees based on performance:
 * Winners: €4.5M
 * Runners-up: €3.5M
 * Third place: €2.5M
 * Fourth place: €1.5M

This means that the maximum amount of solidarity and bonus fees is €7.5M for a team from League A, €2M for a team from League B, €1.5M for a team from League C, and €1M for a team from League D.

Qualifying play-offs
Teams which fail in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group stage may still qualify for the final tournament via the play-offs. Each league in the UEFA Nations League will be allocated one of the four remaining UEFA Euro 2020 places. Four teams from each league which have not already qualified for the European Championship finals will compete in the play-offs of their league, to be played in March 2020. The play-off berths will be first allocated to each group winner, and if any of the group winners have already qualified for the European Championship finals, then to the next best ranked team of the league, etc.