Football
Dale Johnson, General Editor, ESPN FC 5y

Germany saved from Nations League relegation

Germany will no longer be relegated in the Nations League after UEFA announced a revamp of the format for the 2020 edition. 

JUMP TO: UEFA Europa Conference League

Joachim Low's team -- along with Croatia, Iceland and Poland -- were relegated from League A to League B in the inaugural tournament last year.

It meant they should have been playing alongside Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Serbia and Wales in League B.

But UEFA has decided to increase the number of nations in League A from 12 to 16, meaning the four nations who should have been relegated will now remain in League A.

- UEFA Nations League revamp: All you need to know

UEFA says it has taken the decision to "further minimise the number of friendly matches." It means that there will be no international friendly dates for major European teams following Euro 2020 until 2022, after World Cup qualifying has finished. The exception will be nations drawn into groups of five for World Cup qualifying, who will have two spare dates. 

The draw for the 2020 UEFA Nations League will be held on March 3, with games being played between September and November, and the finals in June 2021. UEFA insists that nations will be relegated between Leagues this time. The format revamp also means Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia and Turkey avoid relegation from League B.

UEFA Nations League positions are set to decide the 12 nations who take part in a two-part playoff system for the final three places at the 2022 World Cup. 

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UEFA Nations League 2020

Teams will be drawn into groups based on the following pools. 

League A: Portugal (holders), Netherlands, England, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Poland, Germany, Iceland

League B: Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Republic, Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Finland, Slovakia, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary, Romania

League C: Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova

League D: Gibraltar, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Malta, San Marino

UEFA Europa Conference League

UEFA also announced full details its new third-tier European competition, which will begin in the 2021-22 season.

The Europa League will be reduced from 48 to 32 teams, with the new UEFA Europa Conference League also featuring 32 teams. The aim is to give more regular European football to teams from smaller nations.

Europe's top five leagues will have only one team each, the lowest-ranked to qualify, and will enter in the final qualifying round. This year that would have been Wolves, Espanyol, Torino, Strasbourg and Eintracht Frankfurt. 

Games will be played on a Thursday, alongside the Europa League. Group winners qualify automatically for the round of 16, with runners-up facing a playoff against third-ranked teams from Europa League groups. The UEFA Europa Conference League winners will qualify for the following season's Europa League. 

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