Uefa's story, which started six years ago and for which many did not predict a bright future, turns the fourth page tonight - the new edition of the League of Nations begins with matches in the strongest League A, as well as in the two weakest, C and D.
From edition to edition, the European Football Union made minor format changes, so it will be the same now - quarter-final matches have been introduced for League A before the final tournament, and the battles for promotion to a higher rank, or relegation to a lower one, will be more interesting.
What made this competition especially important was the possibility to go to one of the big competitions through the play-offs, this time it does not offer much hope, since the League of Nations will distribute only four tickets for the World Cup play-off in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
In the playoffs for the planetary championship, which will be organized by the USA, Mexico and Canada, there will be 12 second-placed national teams from the qualifiers and only four best-ranked teams from the League of Nations.
In any case, the competition, whose primary goal was to abolish irrelevant friendly matches and to bring derbies between the strongest European selections, will direct interesting matches during the first two days.
In League A tonight, the center of attention will be the Balkan-Pyrenean clashes - the European champion Spain will be the guest of Serbia in Belgrade, while Portugal will welcome Croatia in Lisbon. Both matches start at 20.45.
- I still live the same life as before winning the European Championship, although now the influence of the media is huge - he said Luis de la Fuente, coach of Spain, and then emphasized that he does not expect an easy job against Serbia.
- That selection played at Euro 2024 and it was very difficult to overcome.
And while Spain is in the best moment since 2012, Serbia seems to be in a more difficult time - after the disappointment with the EP, the new cycle was marked by dismissals, so they will not play against the "fury" Dusan Vlahovic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Sergej Milinkovic Savic...
- This is a process where we have to accept that there won't always be those players. It won't be in Spain either Rodri i Alvaro Morata, but that is irrelevant because they have many quality players - they are there Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Ojarzabal - said the "Orlov" selector Dragan Stojković.
Croatia enters new adventures with a legend Luka Modrić, who will lead the "fire" at "Da Luz" against Portugal.
- As long as Luka is here, he will have his role in the national team - everything in agreement with him, but we will also look at those who come in the midfield - emphasized the Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic.
League A brings two more matches tonight - Scotland will meet Poland in Glasgow, while Denmark and Switzerland will meet in Copenhagen.
Already on Friday, the first super classic and the duel between France and Italy will arrive, and then the clash between Germany and Hungary, while on the same day League B will start, which Montenegro will open with a visit to Iceland.
Bonus video:
