League of Nations / Euro-2020: now waiting for the national team of Ukraine

18.10.2018 12:02

On October 16, a historic event took place for the national team of Ukraine - defeating Czech team (1: 0), she became the first among Division B nations to win the elite pass.

Now in the next cycle, which is scheduled to start in September 2020, and the final four in the top division - in June 2021, the blue and yellows will play in League A. Together with Ukraine, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal have won this right. , Belgium and Switzerland. Two teams will be determined by the results of the current tournament in League A (Netherlands or Germany, England or Croatia), three more - after the finish of the competition in League B (claim Russia, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Wales and Denmark). 

League of Nations. Group 1 Division B. Match Schedule and Standings

And in the near future the national team of Ukraine - the last match in the group tournament of the League of Nations with Slovakia, which will take place on November 16 in Trnava, and a friendly match with Turkey on November 20, which was chosen by the FFU Executive Committee Dnipro.

Next - the draw for Euro 2020 

The formation of qualification groups for the 2020 European Championship will take place on December 2 in Dublin. Before the draw, 55 teams will be distributed among the baskets. The so-called UNL VIP basket will include the winners of the League A groups (this will allow the participants of the Final Four to be placed in groups of five teams), and the first basket will include the next six teams in the League of Nations. These 10 teams will lead the Euro 2020 qualifying teams. National teams with 11th to 20th positions will be included in the second basket, from 21st to 30th - to the third, from 31st to 40th - to the fourth, from 41st on the 50th - to the fifth and from the 51st to the 55th - to the sixth. 

The overall ranking of the League of Nations will be calculated as follows: the winners of League A groups will have numbers 1-4, the second teams - 5-8, the third - 9-12, the winners of League B groups - 13-16, the second team - 17-20, and so on. The best among those who will occupy identical places in the correspondence competition will be determined by points, goal difference, number of goals scored, number of goals scored away, number of victories, number of away victories, Fair Play points, UEFA coefficient.

The Ukrainian national team currently ranks 14th in the ranking (first in its group and second overall in League B after Bosnia) and will not drop below 16th. Thus, it is already known that our team will get to the second basket. 

Recall that by decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, Ukraine and Russia can not be in one group. Ukraine is also included in the list of countries that can be no more than two in the group due to the so-called winter factor (Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Faro, Russia) in this contingent.

Format and schedule for 2019

In the draw in the Irish capital will be formed 10 groups (five - five teams and five - six). The selection for Euro 2020 will take place in 10 windows from March to November 2019 (March 21-23 and 24-26, June 7-8 and 10-11, September 5-7 and 8-10, September 10-12 and 13 October 15, November 14-16 and November 17-19). Tickets to the final tournament with the participation of 24 teams will receive the two best teams of each group. The fate of four more vacancies will be decided in the butt matches of the League of Nations.

The League of Nations / Euro 2020 playoffs will be held according to the cup system (two semifinals and a final). If the winner of the LN group has already made it to Euro 2020 due to the qualification of this tournament, his place in the playoffs will be taken by the next ranked team in this division. If there are less than four teams left that can play in head-to-head matches, the ticket is passed to the league below, taking into account the overall ranking in the League of Nations. Thus, each of the four divisional playoffs will have its own winner, who will become a participant in Euro 2020.

So, if Ukraine does not make it to the Euro 2020 qualifying round, the Ukrainian national team has a back-up option in the form of participation in the playoffs.

The draw for the playoffs will take place on November 22, 2019, and the matches - on March 26-31, 2020. The draw for the final tournament of the European Championship is scheduled for December 1, 2019.