2018–19 UEFA Nations League B

The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League B was the second division of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.[1]

2018–19 UEFA Nations League B
Tournament details
Dates6 September – 20 November 2018
Teams12
Promoted Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Denmark
 Sweden
 Ukraine
Tournament statistics
Matches played24
Goals scored48 (2 per match)
Attendance549,676 (22,903 per match)
Top scorer(s) Edin Džeko
Patrik Schick
(3 goals each)

Format

League B consisted of 12 UEFA members ranked from 13 to 24, split into four groups of three. The winners of each group were promoted to the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A. The third-placed team of each group was initially to be relegated to the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League C,[2] but remained in League B following UEFA's reformatting of the next edition's groups.[3]

In addition, League B was allocated one of the four remaining UEFA Euro 2020 places. Four teams from League B which had not already qualified for the European Championship finals competed in the play-offs for each division, which were played in October and November 2020. The play-off berths were first allocated to the group winners, and if any of the group winners had already qualified for the European Championship finals, then to the next best ranked team of the division, etc. If there were fewer than four teams in League B which had not already qualified for the European Championship finals, the play-off berths would be allocated via one of two methods. If League B had a group winner selected for the play-offs, the next best team in the overall ranking from a lower league would be selected. If League B had no group winner available, the best team in the overall ranking would be selected. The play-offs consisted of two "one-off" semi-finals (best-ranked team vs. fourth best-ranked team and second best-ranked team vs. third best-ranked team, played at home of higher-ranked teams) and one "one-off" final between the two semi-final winners (venue drawn in advance between semi-final 1 and 2).[4][5]

Seeding

Teams were allocated to League B according to their UEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying group stage on 11 October 2017. Teams were split into three pots of four teams, ordered based on their UEFA national team coefficient.[6][7] The seeding pots for the draw were announced on 7 December 2017.[8]

Pot 1
Team Coeff Rank
 Austria 29,418 13
 Wales 29,269 14
 Russia 29,258 15
 Slovakia 28,555 16
Pot 2
Team Coeff Rank
 Sweden 28,487 17
 Ukraine 28,286 18
 Republic of Ireland 28,249 19
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 28,200 20
Pot 3
Team Coeff Rank
 Northern Ireland 27,127 21
 Denmark 27,052 22
 Czech Republic 27,028 23
 Turkey 26,538 24

The group draw took place at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 January 2018, 12:00 CET.[9][10][11][12] For political reasons, Russia and Ukraine could not be drawn into the same group (due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine).[13]

Groups

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 24 January 2018 following the draw.[14][15]

Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
1  Ukraine (P) 4 3 0 1 5 5 0 9 Promotion to League A — 1–0 1–0
2  Czech Republic 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 6 1–2 — 1–0
3  Slovakia 4 1 0 3 5 5 0 3 4–1 1–2 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Due to revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated.
Czech Republic 1–2 Ukraine
 Report
Attendance: 7,974[16]
Ukraine 1–0 Slovakia
 Report
Attendance: 121[16][note 3]
Slovakia 1–2 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 17,251[16]
Ukraine 1–0 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 38,100[16]
Slovakia 4–1 Ukraine
 Report
Attendance: 9,764[16]
Czech Republic 1–0 Slovakia
 Report
Attendance: 16,623[16]

Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
1  Sweden (P) 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2 7[lower-alpha 2] Promotion to League A — 2–0 2–3
2  Russia 4 2 1 1 4 3 +1 7[lower-alpha 2] 0–0 — 2–0
3  Turkey 4 1 0 3 4 7 −3 3 0–1 1–2 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Due to revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated.
  2. Head-to-head points: Sweden 4, Russia 1.
Turkey 1–2 Russia
 Report
Attendance: 29,702[18]
Sweden 2–3 Turkey
 Report
Attendance: 21,832[18]
Russia 0–0 Sweden
Report
Attendance: 31,698[18]
Referee: Luca Banti (Italy)
Russia 2–0 Turkey
 Report
Attendance: 38,288[18]
Turkey 0–1 Sweden
Report
Attendance: 37,425[18]
Sweden 2–0 Russia
 Report
Attendance: 20,223[18]

Group 3
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
1  Bosnia and Herzegovina (P) 4 3 1 0 5 1 +4 10 Promotion to League A — 1–0 2–0
2  Austria 4 2 1 1 3 2 +1 7 0–0 — 1–0
3  Northern Ireland 4 0 0 4 2 7 −5 0 1–2 1–2 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Due to revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated.
Northern Ireland 1–2 Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Report
Attendance: 16,942[19]
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 Austria
 Report
Attendance: 9,100[19]
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)
Austria 1–0 Northern Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 22,300[19]
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–0 Northern Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 11,050[19]
Austria 0–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Report
Attendance: 37,200[19]
Northern Ireland 1–2 Austria
 Report
Attendance: 17,895[19]

Group 4
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
1  Denmark (P) 4 2 2 0 4 1 +3 8 Promotion to League A — 2–0 0–0
2  Wales 4 2 0 2 6 5 +1 6 1–2 — 4–1
3  Republic of Ireland 4 0 2 2 1 5 −4 2 0–0 0–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Due to revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated.
Wales 4–1 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 25,657[20]
Denmark 2–0 Wales
 Report
Attendance: 17,506[20]
Republic of Ireland 0–0 Denmark
Report
Attendance: 41,220[20]
Republic of Ireland 0–1 Wales
Report
Attendance: 38,321[20]
Wales 1–2 Denmark
 Report
Attendance: 32,354[20]
Denmark 0–0 Republic of Ireland
Report
Attendance: 11,130[20]

Goalscorers

There were 48 goals scored in 24 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Overall ranking

The 12 League B teams were ranked 13th to 24th overall in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League according to the following rules:[2][21]

  • The teams finishing first in the groups were ranked 13th to 16th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing second in the groups were ranked 17th to 20th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing third in the groups were ranked 21st to 24th according to the results of the league phase.
Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
13 B3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 3 1 0 5 1 +4 10
14 B1  Ukraine 4 3 0 1 5 5 0 9
15 B4  Denmark 4 2 2 0 4 1 +3 8
16 B2  Sweden 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2 7
17 B2  Russia 4 2 1 1 4 3 +1 7
18 B3  Austria 4 2 1 1 3 2 +1 7
19 B4  Wales 4 2 0 2 6 5 +1 6
20 B1  Czech Republic 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 6
21 B1  Slovakia 4 1 0 3 5 5 0 3
22 B2  Turkey 4 1 0 3 4 7 −3 3
23 B4  Republic of Ireland 4 0 2 2 1 5 −4 2
24 B3  Northern Ireland 4 0 0 4 2 7 −5 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria

Prize money

The prize money to be distributed was announced in March 2018.[22] Each team in League B received a solidarity fee of €1 million. In addition, the four group winners received double this amount with a €1M bonus fee. This meant that the maximum amount of solidarity and bonus fees for a team from League B was €2M.

Qualifying play-offs
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs § Path B

The four best teams in League B according to the overall ranking that did not qualify for UEFA Euro 2020 through the qualifying group stage competed in the play-offs, with the winners qualifying for the final tournament. If there had been fewer than four teams in League B that had not qualified, the remaining slots would have been allocated to teams from another league, according to the overall ranking.

League B
Rank Team
13 GW  Bosnia and Herzegovina
14 GW  Ukraine
15 GW  Denmark[H]
16 GW  Sweden
17  Russia[H]
18  Austria
19  Wales
20  Czech Republic
21  Slovakia
22  Turkey
23  Republic of Ireland[H]
24  Northern Ireland

Key

  1. GW Nations League group winner
  2. H UEFA Euro 2020 host
  3.   Team advanced to play-offs
  4.   Team qualified directly to final tournament

Notes
  1. CEST (UTC+2) for matchdays 1–4 (September and October 2018), CET (UTC+1) for matchdays 5–6 (November 2018).
  2. The Czech Republic v Ukraine match, originally scheduled for 20:45 CEST, was delayed to 21:00 CEST due to floodlight failure.
  3. The Ukraine v Slovakia match was played behind closed doors due to a UEFA punishment against Ukraine for the display of a banner with racist symbols in their UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying home match against Spain.[17]

References
  1. "UEFA Nations League receives associations' green light". UEFA. 27 March 2014.
  2. "Regulations of the UEFA Nations League 2018/19" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  3. "Format change for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  4. "UEFA Nations League format and schedule approved". UEFA.com. 4 December 2014.
  5. "UEFA Nations League format and schedule confirmed". UEFA. 4 December 2014.
  6. "Confirmed: How the UEFA Nations League will line up". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  7. "National Team Coefficients Overview" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  8. "UEFA Nations League draw seedings confirmed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  9. "UEFA Nations League format confirmed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  10. "All you need to know: UEFA Nations League draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. "League Phase Draw Press Kit" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. "UEFA Nations League 2018/19 League Phase draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  13. "UEFA Nations League 2018/19 – League Phase Draw Procedure" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  14. "UEFA Nations League calendar: all the fixtures". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  15. "UEFA Nations League 2018/19: Fixtures List – League Phase" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  16. "Summary UEFA Nations League B – Group 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  17. "Slováci budú hrať v Lige národov na Ukrajine bez divákov, pre trest z roku 2015" [Slovaks will play in Nations League in Ukraine without spectators due to 2015 punishment]. SME (in Slovak). Petit Press. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  18. "Summary UEFA Nations League B – Group 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  19. "Summary UEFA Nations League B – Group 3". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  20. "Summary UEFA Nations League B – Group 4". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  21. "2018/19 UEFA Nations League rankings" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  22. "UEFA Nations League solidarity and bonus fees". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
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