BERN — Europe's national teams will emerge from a 10-month hiatus as the second edition of the UEFA Nations League kicks off this week, still under the shadow the COVID-19 pandemic which brought football to a standstill earlier this year.
There has been no international action in the region since last November and the matches which were played then, such as Italy's 9-1 demolition of Armenia and Germany's 6-1 win over Northern Ireland, now seem to belong to a different era.
The intervening period has seen Euro 2020 postponed until next year, while the sport's European and world governing bodies UEFA and FIFA agreed that club football should take priority as the sport cranked back into action during the summer.
Germany's clash with Spain in Stuttgart tops the action on the opening day on Thursday while Italy hosts Bosnia on Friday and, on Saturday, titleholder and European champion Portugal hosts Croatia and world champion France visits Sweden.
"We will restart with even greater determination," said Italy coach Roberto Mancini, whose side had chalked up a record-breaking 11 successive wins before the interruption.
"After not playing for so long, there's even more desire to get back on the pitch and again see the beautiful Italy team which we left behind so many months ago."
Meanwhile, international football in the rest of the world will remain on hold with all this month's World Cup qualifiers in Asia and South America having been postponed.
Even if teams arrange friendlies, FIFA said that clubs will not be obliged to release players.
Political Move
Despite travel restrictions around Europe and a surge in novel coronavirus cases in some countries, UEFA said that all games, bar one, would be played in the originally scheduled venues and practically every association will host a game.
"Most member associations have managed to obtain from their competent national/local authorities exemptions allowing teams to travel to the match venue and their players to return to their clubs after their national team duty," said UEFA.
The only game to be moved was for political reasons — Moldova's refusal to recognize Kosovo as an independent nation meaning it will host its match in Parma, Italy.
Matches will still have to be played behind closed doors and there are potential complications if players test positive for COVID-19 before matches.
UEFA says that matches will go ahead as long as both teams have at least 13 players available. However, teams who are not able to field a side could forfeit the match, the final decision resting with UEFA's disciplinary committee.
The Nations League, intended to replace lukewarm friendlies, features all 55 of Europe’s national teams divided into four divisions — Leagues A to D — that are themselves split into four groups. There is relegation and promotion between each league.
The first edition, held in 2018-19, proved an unexpected success, thanks to the short, snappy format.
UEFA has already modified it, however, by increasing all the groups in Leagues A, B and C from three to four countries so that teams will play six matches between September and November, instead of four, which could detract from the drama.
The competition could also provide a back door to the 2022 World Cup as two of the 12 places in the European playoffs will be reserved for teams from the Nations League.
UEFA Nations League Schedule September 2020
MATCHDAY 1
Thursday 3 September
- A4 Germany vs Spain (20:45)
- A4 Ukraine vs Switzerland (20:45)
- B3 Russia vs Serbia (20:45)
- B3 Turkey vs Hungary (20:45)
- B4 Bulgaria vs Republic of Ireland (20:45)
- B4 Finland vs Wales (20:45)
- C3 Moldova vs Kosovo (20:45)
- C3 Slovenia vs Greece (20:45)
- D1 Faroe Islands vs Malta (20:45)
- D1 Latvia vs Andorra (20:45)
Friday 4 September
- A1 Italy vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (20:45)
- A1 Netherlands vs Poland (20:45)
- B1 Norway vs Austria (20:45)
- B1 Romania vs Northern Ireland (20:45)
- B2 Scotland vs Israel (20:45)
- B2 Slovakia vs Czech Republic (20:45)
- C4 Belarus vs Albania (20:45)
- C4 Lithuania vs Kazakhstan (20:45)
Saturday 5 September
- C2 North Macedonia vs Armenia (15:00)
- D2 Gibraltar vs San Marino (15:00)
- A2 Iceland vs England (18:00)
- C1 Azerbaijan vs Luxembourg (18:00)
- C1 Cyprus vs Montenegro (18:00)
- C2 Estonia vs Georgia (18:00)
- A2 Denmark vs Belgium (20:45)
- A3 Portugal vs Croatia (20:45)
- A3 Sweden vs France (20:45)
MATCHDAY 2
Sunday 6 September
- B4 Wales vs Bulgaria (15:00)
- D1 Andorra vs Faroe Islands (15:00)
- B3 Hungary vs Russia (18:00)
- B4 Republic of Ireland vs Finland (18:00)
- C3 Slovenia vs Moldova (18:00)
- A4 Spain vs Ukraine (20:45)
- A4 Switzerland vs Germany (20:45)
- B3 Serbia vs Turkey (20:45)
- C3 Kosovo vs Greece (20:45)
- D1 Malta vs Latvia (20:45)
Monday 7 September
- C4 Kazakhstan vs Belarus (16:00)
- A1 Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Poland (20:45)
- A1 Netherlands vs Italy (20:45)
- B1 Austria vs Romania (20:45)
- B1 Northern Ireland vs Norway (20:45)
- B2 Czech Republic vs Scotland (20:45)
- B2 Israel vs Slovakia (20:45)
- C4 Albania vs Lithuania (20:45)
Tuesday 8 September
- C2 Armenia vs Estonia (18:00)
- C2 Georgia vs North Macedonia (18:00)
- A2 Belgium vs Iceland (20:45)
- A2 Denmark vs England (20:45)
- A3 France vs Croatia (20:45)
- A3 Sweden vs Portugal (20:45)
- C1 Cyprus vs Azerbaijan (20:45)
- C1 Luxembourg vs Montenegro (20:45)
- D2 San Marino vs Liechtenstein (20:45)
(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Ken Ferris)
