WHO WILL "GET" TO MEET DA NANG ?
Spain, France, Germany, and Portugal are the group winners in the first round, and will of course be the seeded teams. The remaining group includes the runners-up in the first round, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and Croatia. According to the rules, teams in the same group in the first round cannot meet again in the quarter-finals. So, Spain will not meet Denmark - the weakest team, in theory.
France (left) will not meet Italy again in the quarter-finals
According to the betting odds, all four of the top teams are candidates for the Nations League title this season, with almost no difference: 7/2 (bet 2 win 7) for Spain; 4/1 for Germany and France; 9/2 for Portugal. Of the four runners-up, Italy is the most highly rated and Denmark the lowest. While Spain cannot meet Denmark again in the quarter-finals, France, similarly, has the most advantage before the draw because they are certain not to meet Italy again in the upcoming round. The seeded teams will be given priority to play the second leg of the quarter-finals at home. UEFA will also draw lots to determine the pre-determined codes for the semi-finals.
The quarter-final draw will take place last. Before that, UEFA will draw the promotion/relegation play-offs. The two League C/D play-offs will be drawn first, followed by the four League B/C play-offs and the four League A/B play-offs. In the play-offs, the team from the higher tier is the seed, will only play the team from the lower tier, and will play the second leg at home. All League A play-offs and quarter-finals will take place in March 2025 (the Nations League title race is only at League A level).
WILL GERMANY TAKE THE THRONE THIS SEASON ?
This is the fourth season of the Nations League. The winners of the previous three seasons were Portugal (2018-2019), France (2020-2021) and Spain (2022-2023). The Netherlands, Spain and Croatia were runners-up in those seasons respectively. The notable oddity is that this is only the first time Germany has advanced past the Nations League group stage (the other first was Denmark).
There is also an opinion that Germany will be the team that is particularly excited, with the most significant motivation in the race for the championship, because of the "first time" detail mentioned above. Young coach Julian Nagelsmann is very eager to revive the Mannschaft after a long period of this "giant" declining. He has gained a lot of experience in his first time leading a major tournament (EURO 2024, with a not bad record: only being "unfairly" eliminated by Spain in the quarter-finals).
With real stars like Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and dozens of new faces just introduced by Nagelsmann, the Mannschaft force is assessed by observers as "deep". Finally, once reaching the knockout stage, Germany is always the number 1 team in the world in terms of their outstanding ability: 11m kicks. The strong teams in the Nations League this season are too equal. In this situation, the number 1 weapon of the Mannschaft becomes even more important.
If it is not Germany or Italy who win the Nations League for the first time, then this year's tournament will likely introduce the first team to win the Nations League twice (Croatia or Denmark are unlikely to do so). Of course, Spain has the most hope, but don't forget Cristiano Ronaldo, who is always "addicted" to glory in the Portuguese national team.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nations-league-loi-the-khong-nho-cua-les-bleus-185241121151258739.htm
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