#nations-league

#nations-league

The play-offs are more complex than ever. From the 12 qualifying groups, the second place teams automatically book their spot in the qualification. The remaining four spaces are decided by Nations League performance, with group winners who finished outside the top tow of the World Cup qualifying group able to gain a place in the play-offs. Northern Ireland gained their place this way, with all group winners from Nations League A and B finishing inside the top two of their World Cup qualifying groups.

Getting their World Cup qualifying adventure underway with a routine performance over the weekend as they cruised their way to a 4-0 romp at home against Kosovo, the Swiss have now won all of their previous four appearances across all competitions and they are enjoying their longest winning run since the summer of 2021. Signing off June's international fixtures with another stellar 4-0 victory against the USA, Yakin's side have continued on a rise up the FIFA rankings.

With a plethora of recent sporting events, including the French Open finals and an exhilarating Nations League matchup, the latest Munster hurling final emerged as a standout experience.

Since the competition itself has no historical relevance and little actual prestige, the attempts to juice these matches with Significance scan as pretty silly.

"In my opinion, whoever wins is always a fair winner. And, we lost to a great team," De la Fuente said.

"We analyzed the [Portugal] game well. It's true that the third place game is a bit less important. But tomorrow it's not about finishing third or fourth in the Nations League, it's about playing well and preparing for the World Cup qualifiers."

Deschamps emphasized the importance of maintaining an attacking formation, stating, 'If we have the ball, there's no problem. When you don't have it, it's about being strong enough defensively.'

In the heat of the moment, I'd say we played well. We had some stretches of play we haven't had for a while. We weren't consistent over the 90 minutes, but we did get better.