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#2 Despite UEFA’s best efforts, the matches still have the feel of friendlies
As stated earlier, UEFA has 53 registered Football Associations, and the varying degrees of organization of football in these countries means that there is a vast difference in the strengths of the various teams, with those with historical footballing pedigree at the top being much stronger than the ones without much pedigree.
Stronger countries such as Spain, England, France and Germany usually ghost through qualifiers for major tournaments by thumping the smaller teams, as UEFA’s system of grouping by seeding ensures the big boys avoid one another.
In previous settings, the only contact the big teams had with the smaller teams was in qualification, and when the time for warm-ups for major tournaments arrived, tune-up friendlies were usually arranged with countries of similar strength, as the smaller nations couldn’t offer the competition sought to get their players in top gear for major tournaments.
As it is with the Nations League, big teams face off with one another, while medium strength teams face themselves, same with the smallest nations.
This current scenario offers not much difference, as all nations in the various leagues are of similar strength, with countries like France, England, Spain and Italy playing themselves in the Nations League, while countries like Kosovo, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein face off, with the resultant effect being that the matches have the same feel as the friendlies.
UEFA attempted to reduce dead rubber friendlies and improve competition among its member states, but the Nations league hasn’t addressed that much, and it is not helped by the fact that the matches are played simultaneously with friendly games.
