andykeenan Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 League A Group 1 Poland Bosnia and Herzegovina Italy Netherlands Group 2 Iceland Denmark Belgium England Group 3 Croatia Sweden France Portugal Group 4 Germany Ukraine Spain Switzerland League B Group 1 Romania Northern Ireland Norway Austria Group 2 Israel Slovakia Scotland Czech Republic Group 3 Hungary Turkey Serbia Russia Group 4 Bulgaria Rep of Ireland Finland Wales League C Group 1 Azerbaijan Luxembourg Cyprus Montenegro Group 2 Armenia Estonia North Macedonia Georgia Group 3 Moldova Slovenia Kosovo Greece Group 4 Kazakhstan Lithuania Belarus Albania Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Surely UEFA need to do something so Ireland stop drawing bloody Wales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 (edited) Sweet group for Sweden. World Champions France, WC runners up Croatia and European Champions Portugal. So if you win this you get an extra spot in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest final, provided it isn't raining on the 3rd Wednesday in October or if the moon is full? Edited March 3, 2020 by sne 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Don't worry about it, if Germany finish in the relegation space they'll expand it to 5 teams next time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Nonsense competition bring back the home internationals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 1 minute ago, PaulC said: Nonsense competition bring back the home internationals They tried it about 10 years ago, England backed out and Ireland replaced them. Was an absolute flop and wont be brought back again 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 26 minutes ago, Zatman said: They tried it about 10 years ago, England backed out and Ireland replaced them. Was an absolute flop and wont be brought back again I was joking but I don’t see the point of this too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Why are teams that got relegated still in the top divisions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, kurtsimonw said: Why are teams that got relegated still in the top divisions? Because Germany. Fwiw I'm certain it would have been the same had England dropped down. Edited March 4, 2020 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 4, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted March 4, 2020 12 hours ago, PaulC said: Nonsense competition bring back the home internationals I like it. It's not perfect. I won't be watching this with the same enthusiasm as I'd watch a "proper" international tournament. But it's still better than pointless friendlies and works a lot better for smaller nations, imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 43 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I like it. It's not perfect. I won't be watching this with the same enthusiasm as I'd watch a "proper" international tournament. But it's still better than pointless friendlies and works a lot better for smaller nations, imo. I’m with you. I think it’s actually better and fairer on the lesser teams like Gibraltar, San Marino, Faroe Islands and Scotland who have the chance to play competitive (ranking point) matches against like opposition instead of being humped each game. looking at the draw, barring the Belgium games, England have come out of it fairly well and could arguably top their group again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 4, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted March 4, 2020 2 minutes ago, theboyangel said: I’m with you. I think it’s actually better and fairer on the lesser teams like Gibraltar, San Marino, Faroe Islands and Scotland who have the chance to play competitive (ranking point) matches against like opposition instead of being humped each game. looking at the draw, barring the Belgium games, England have come out of it fairly well and could arguably top their group again. Exactly. I've said before that nobody is benefiting from Holland going to San Marino and winning 17-0. Apart from maybe the fans can say they saw good players playing there. But in terms of football, what benefit is anyone on the pitch getting from that game? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Some of them have improved in main qualifying. Luxembourg are not as much of a whipping boy anymore and were solid enough in qualifying. Malta, Faroe Islands and Lichtenstein are capable of being an away day banana skin Think even Andorra won a game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Think it had been much better if it had been 2 divisions instead of 4. Fully get why it helps no one to have France play against Gibraltar, but to play against teams that are slightly better or worse does. This current system helps to keep the elite countries in their place (at all cost apparently) and those pesky minnows in their place. And the working class teams in the middle, well they can at least dream of a potential game against one of the big boys ever 4th year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic09 Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 One negative I can see in this (and I like the tournament as a whole, I think its a great idea) is that when Germany plays France to get to a knockout stage, how likely are they to stick on a promising 17 year old with plenty of potential? If they played Gibraltar, I think that youngsters could have a bigger chance to present themselves to international coaches. And interest in international football could grow in countries such as Faroe Islands if they were to play Netherlands rather than the City of Vatican FC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 4, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted March 4, 2020 43 minutes ago, Mic09 said: One negative I can see in this (and I like the tournament as a whole, I think its a great idea) is that when Germany plays France to get to a knockout stage, how likely are they to stick on a promising 17 year old with plenty of potential? If they played Gibraltar, I think that youngsters could have a bigger chance to present themselves to international coaches. And interest in international football could grow in countries such as Faroe Islands if they were to play Netherlands rather than the City of Vatican FC. Friendlies still exist though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Stevo985 said: Exactly. I've said before that nobody is benefiting from Holland going to San Marino and winning 17-0. Apart from maybe the fans can say they saw good players playing there. But in terms of football, what benefit is anyone on the pitch getting from that game? Thing is though you'll still have those normal groups straight after this for World cup qualifying. Still too many international breaks during the season. You don't need one in November and March. Go back over to 11/12 and there wasn't one in March despite Euro 2012 happening. More weekends to play league games and you can finish seasons earlier so then play the warm up games right before the tournament which makes more sense. Scrap international friendlies and don't replace them with anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Mic09 said: One negative I can see in this (and I like the tournament as a whole, I think its a great idea) is that when Germany plays France to get to a knockout stage, how likely are they to stick on a promising 17 year old with plenty of potential? If they played Gibraltar, I think that youngsters could have a bigger chance to present themselves to international coaches. And interest in international football could grow in countries such as Faroe Islands if they were to play Netherlands rather than the City of Vatican FC. But there's still the odd friendlies, for example when CONMEBOL are playing qualifiers and our qualifying has finished. But also, during qualifying Germany will get to play some of these lower ranked teams. I also don't think International football is about that anyway. You earn your International spot through your league performance. You'll see if a player is good enough based on his club form. Playing against Sunday league players isn't going to make him any better or more suited for International football. 15 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Thing is though you'll still have those normal groups straight after this for World cup qualifying. Still too many international breaks during the season. You don't need one in November and March. Go back over to 11/12 and there wasn't one in March despite Euro 2012 happening. More weekends to play league games and you can finish seasons earlier so then play the warm up games right before the tournament which makes more sense. Scrap international friendlies and don't replace them with anything. Generally speaking, there is usually an International break in March because it's needed. For example in 2019, it was used as a 2 game spot for Euro 2020 qualifying. This upcoming March, its a spot for CONMEBOL for 2022 World Cup qualifying. Personally I've no idea qith qualifying, Nations League, tournaments or friendlies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 I just think there’s too much football. Too many international breaks. Meaningful friendlies pre tournament are important but this is just another tournament that just isn’t needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 I can't get my head around the format, if I see there's a game between 2 decent sides on I'll watch it but I can't be doing with the permutations what a win or loss means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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