UEFA approves rules, regulations and logo of Nations League

Baku. 21 September. REPORT.AZ/ UEFA Executive Committee approved rules, regulations and logo of Nations League for 2018/2019 season. 

Report informs referring to the official website of organization, the first match will be played on September 6, 2018.

All 55 national teams that are members of UEFA will participate at the competition. The teams will be divided into leagues A, B, C and D in accordance with rankings formed after the 2018 World Cup qualification group stage. Each of A and B Leagues include 12, League C-15 and League D - 16 teams.

The final composition of Leagues will be announced on November 15,2017 after the 2018 World Cup Qualification group stage. Leagues A and B will consist of four groups of three teams. League C will comprise one group of three teams and three groups of four sides. League D will be formed by four groups of four teams. The procedure of draw has not been approved yet. The UEFA Nations League group games will be held in September, October and November 2018.

The teams will play each other home and away thus playing four to six matches within the dates already foreseen by the international match calendar.

The four group winners of League A will qualify for the UEFA Nations League Finals to be played with two semi-finals, a third-place match and the final. One host country will be appointed by the UEFA Executive Committee in December 2018 from among the finalist teams.

The format of the UEFA Nations League will feature promotion and relegation. League A will include the top-ranked sides and League D will include the lowest.

Qualifying for UEFA EURO 2020 remains largely the same, although the European Qualifiers will now begin in the March following a major tournament instead of immediately in September. The teams will be split into ten groups of five or six, and the top two from each group will qualify for the final tournament, determining the first 20 places.

According to current ranking Azerbaijan is in the League C. According to the active rule of UEFA Executive Committee Azerbaijan and Armenia, also Russia and Ukraine cannot be in the same group.

The League Phase Draw for the UEFA Nations League will take place at the SwissTech Convention Centre in Lausanne on 24 January 2018, when the new UEFA Nations League trophy will also be unveiled.