The draw for the third edition of the UEFA Nations League will take place in Montreux on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. The Netherlands is placed in pot 2 of Division A for the tournament that starts in June 2022. How exactly does the draw work and who are the possible opponents of national coach Louis van Gaal’s team?
How does the draw work?
The Dutch national team is in Division A, which means that it is one of the sixteen best-performing countries in the history of the Nations League. the Dutch is sixth in that ranking, which means that Van Gaal’s men end up in pot 2 of a total of four pots. One opponent is each drawn from pots 1, 3 and 4; this creates a total of four groups in Division A.
Who are the possible opponents?
The Netherlands is in pot 2 with Germany, Portugal and Denmark – so those countries are avoided in any case. Pot 1 consists of the top contenders for the title France, Spain, Italy and Belgium. Also in Pot 3 a difficult opponent can roll out of the tube: England, among others, belongs to that group. The Czech Republic, executioner of the Dutch during the last European Championship, is in Pot 4 and is also a possible opponent.
jar 1: France, Spain, Italy, Belgium
Jar 2: Portugal, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany
Jar 3: England, Poland, Switzerland, Croatia
Jar 4: Wales, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary
What is the stake?
The Nations League was created in 2019 to suppress trivial friendly international matches as much as possible. The stakes: four tickets to the next European Championship. Each group winner of Division A, B, C or D qualifies for the play-offs in their own Division. Via a semi-final and a final of those play-offs, the eventual winner can seize a European Championship ticket. In this way, each Division provides an extra participant.
The Nations League also has its own knockout phase outside the play-offs. The group winners in Division A play in a semi-final and a final for the trophy and extra prize money worth four and a half million euros. With group win of the Netherlands, one and a half million euros can already be credited by the KNVB.
What are the play dates?
Because the 2022 World Cup will be completed in the winter, the majority of the matches in the group stage will take place in June of the same year. The first round runs from 2 to 4 June; the last one is scheduled from September 25 to 27. The semi-final, consolation final and final battle will take place a year later, in June 2023.
Game round 1: June 2-4, 2022
Game round 2: June 5-8, 2022
Round 3: June 8-11, 2022
Round 4: June 12-14, 2022
Game round 5: September 22-24, 2022
Game round 6: September 25-27, 2022
Semi finals: June 14-15, 2023
Final: June 18, 2023