LEAGUE PHASE DRAW PRESS KIT SwissTech Convention Centre, Lausanne 24 January 2018 | 12:00 CET #NationsLeague CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1-2 ASSISTING WITH THE DRAW .................................................................... 3-6 CALENDAR ..................................................................................................... 7 GROUPINGS ................................................................................................... 8 POTS ................................................................................................................. 9 EURO 2020 QUALIFYING ............................................................................. 10 LEAGUES .......................................................................................................... 11-69 LEAGUE A .............................................................................................. 11-23 LEAGUE B .............................................................................................. 24-36 LEAGUE C .............................................................................................. 37-52 LEAGUE D .............................................................................................. 53-69 FAQ .................................................................................................................... 70-72 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit INTRODUCTION The draw for the inaugural UEFA Nations League will be presented by Pedro Pinto, UEFA’s Managing Director of Communications, and carried out by Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA’s Deputy General Secretary. They will be assisted by Deco (Portugal), Vladimír Šmicer (Czech Republic), Jari Litmanen (Finland) and Aleksandr Hleb (Belarus). The UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin will get proceedings under way by unveiling the UEFA Nations League trophy. What is the background to the UEFA Nations League? The rejuvenation of national team football – hence the UEFA Nations League – stems from the desire of UEFA and its 55 member associations to improve the quality and standing of national team football. UEFA and its associations wanted more sporting meaning in national team football, with associations, coaches, players and supporters increasingly of the opinion that friendly matches are not providing adequate competition for national teams. Extensive consultation and discussions started as far back as the 2011 UEFA Strategy Meeting in Cyprus and continued at a series of Top Executive Programme (TEP) meetings over the following three years. The UEFA Nations League was unanimously adopted at the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana on 27 March 2014. What is the basic format? The format of the UEFA Nations League will feature promotion and relegation. The 55 European national teams have been divided into four leagues in accordance with UEFA’s national association coefficient rankings on 11 October 2017. 1 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit How can you follow the draw? On UEFA.com and official social media channels. UEFA.com is the official website of the UEFA Nations League. The fully- responsive UEFA Nations League section – available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – will provide in-depth coverage of the competition, including live streaming and detailed editorial coverage of the draw. With over 160 million visitors per year, the website has extensive reach, both for UEFA and its member associations, as do the official social media channels. The UEFA Nations League will be covered via the established and popular UEFA EURO accounts: Facebook: EURO2020 Instagram: EURO2020 Twitter: @UEFAEURO YouTube: UEFA.tv Handout photos are available for media use and the following link will be populated on the day: https://library.uefa.com/Go/nv6qYCrA. Videos and logos in relation to the UEFA Nations league can be downloaded here: https://uefa.box.com/v/UNL. 2 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit ASSISTING WITH THE DRAW DECO (LEAGUE A) DOB: 27 August 1977 National team: Portugal (2003–10) Caps: 75 Goals: 5 Clubs: Corinthians (1996–97), CSA (1997), Benfica (1997–98), Alverca (1997/98, loan), Salgueiros (1998/99), Porto (1999–2004), Barcelona (2004–08), Chelsea (2008–10), Fluminense (2010–13) Honours list UEFA Champions League 2004, 2006 UEFA Cup 2003 Portuguese Liga 1999, 2003, 2004 Spanish Liga 2005, 2006 Premier League 2010 Portuguese Cup 2000, 2001, 2003 FA Cup 2009, 2010 Brazilian League 2010, 2012 • Born in Brazil but received Portuguese citizenship in 2002 and made sensational international debut, scoring late free-kick winner in Porto against Brazil (2-1) in March 2003. • Scored and named man of the match in Porto’s 3-0 defeat of Monaco in the 2004 UEFA Champions League final – his last game for the club. • A key part of the Portugal squad that reached the final of UEFA EURO 2004 on home soil, he also helped them to the 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-finals and the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2008. 3 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit VLADIMÍR ŠMICER (LEAGUE B) DOB: 24 May 1973 National team: Czechoslovakia (1993), Czech Republic (1994–2006) Caps: 1 (for Czechoslovakia), 80 (for Czech Republic) Goals: 0 (for Czechoslovakia), 27 (for Czech Republic) Clubs: Slavia Praha (1992–96), Lens (1996–99), Liverpool (1999–2005), Bordeaux (2005–07), Slavia Praha (2007–09) Honours list UEFA Champions League 2005 UEFA Cup 2001 Czech League 1996, 2008, 2009 Ligue 1 1998 English FA Cup 2001 French League Cup 1999, 2007 English League Cup 2001, 2003 • Made his international debut in October 1993 and was part of the Czech Republic side beaten by Germany in the final of EURO ‘96. He also played at UEFA EURO 2000 and UEFA EURO 2004, but missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup through injury. • Only the second player after Jürgen Klinsmann to score at three UEFA European Championships. • Wrote his name into Liverpool folklore by coming off the bench to score their second goal in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final victory against AC Milan, also converting in the penalty shoot-out – his final kick for the club. 4 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit JARI LITMANEN (LEAGUE C) DOB: 20 February 1971 National team: Finland (1989–2010) Caps: 137 Goals: 32 Clubs: Reipas Lahti (1987–90), HJK (1991), MyPa (1992), Ajax (1992–99), Barcelona (1999–2001), Liverpool (2001–02), Ajax (2002–04), Lahti (2004), Hansa Rostock (2005), Malmö (2005–07), Lahti (2008–10), HJK (2011) Honours list UEFA Champions League 1995 UEFA Super Cup 1995, 2001 UEFA Cup 2001 European/South American Cup 1995 Eredivisie 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2004 Finnish League 2011 Finnish Cup 1992, 2011 Dutch Cup 1993, 1998, 1999 English FA Cup 2001 English League Cup 2001 • Finland’s most capped player and record scorer, with an international career spanning 21 years. • Scored 126 goals in 224 games for Ajax between 1992 and 1999 and helped them win four Eredivisie titles, three Dutch Cups – and their fourth European title as they overcame AC Milan 1-0 in the 1995 UEFA Champions League final, the first of three international trophies the Dutch giants managed that year. • Although injuries hampered his later years, he still played into his 40s, winning the Finnish league title for the first time with HJK in his final season. Voted Finnish player of the year on nine separate occasions between 1990 and 2000 and immortalised by a statue in his home town of Lahti in October 2010. 5 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit ALEKSANDR HLEB (LEAGUE D) DOB: 1 May 1981 National team: Belarus (2001–) Caps: 77 Goals: 6 Clubs: Dinamo-Juni Minsk (1998), BATE Borisov (1999–2000), Stuttgart (2000–05), Arsenal (2005–08), Barcelona (2008–12), Stuttgart (2009/10, loan), Birmingham City (2010/11, loan), Wolfsburg (2011, loan), Krylya Sovetov Samara (2012), BATE Borisov (2012–13), Konyaspor (2014), Gençlerbirliği (2015), BATE Borisov (2015), Gençlerbirliği (2016), BATE Borisov (2016), Krylya Sovetov Samara (2017) Honours list UEFA Champions League 2009 Belarusian League 1999, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 Spanish Liga 2009 Copa del Rey 2009 English League Cup 2011 • Born in Minsk, he signed for BATE Borisov aged 17 and won the Belarusian title in his first season (1999). • Played in the 2006 UEFA Champions League final as Arsenal lost to Barcelona – won the trophy with the Spanish club three years later. • Voted Belarusian footballer of the year six times in seven years from 2002 to 2008. 6 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit CALENDAR The UEFA Nations League group stage will be held over six matchdays, in ‘double-headers’ during September, October and November 2018. The UEFA Nations League finals competition for the teams that win the four leagues within the top division is scheduled for June 2019. For the UEFA Nations League finals, the group winners of UEFA Nations League A will play in a knockout format (semi-finals, third-place match and final) in June 2019 to become the UEFA Nations League winners. One host country will be appointed by the UEFA Executive Committee in December 2018 from among the finalist teams. The UEFA EURO 2020 play-off matches will be staged in March 2020. Matchday 1 6–8 September 2018 Matchday 2 9–11 September 2018 Matchday 3 11–13 October 2018 Matchday 4 14–16 October 2018 Matchday 5 15–17 November 2018 Matchday 6 18–20 November 2018 Finals draw Early December 2018 Finals 5–9 June 2019 UEFA EURO 2020 play-off draw 22 November 2019 UEFA EURO 2020 play-offs 26–31 March 2020 7 UEFA Nations League | Draw Press Kit GROUPINGS