For this 2024-2025 version of its competition, UEFA has indeed decided to change the rules a little more. No changes for the group stage, which will once again take place with groups of four nations divided into four Leagues (A, B, C and D). On the other hand, a new knockout round has been added in order to create “a continuity between the group stage, which ends in November, and the final stage, played in June.”
An asset for the top four
Quarter-finals will therefore take place next March with the top two of the four groups of League A who will face each other according to a draw. The winners will then obviously qualify for a Final Four identical to what we already knew in previous editions. With the very important difference that these four nations qualified for the Final Four will receive a significant advantage: they will automatically join a group of only four teams for the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
These qualifiers will include a total of twelve groups: five with four teams and seven with five teams. Given that the top teams in each group will qualify, Belgium would only have three opponents to beat instead of four. Also knowing that the second team in the group will qualify for a play-off between sixteen teams: twelve from these qualifiers and four from… the Nations League. The competition that begins this week can indeed serve as a lifeline: the four highest-ranked group winners who are neither winners nor runners-up in the World Cup qualifying group will have the opportunity to play in these play-offs.
Julien Duranville only needed 19 professional matches to join the Devils: he is just behind Hazard but faster than Lukaku and Doku
Furthermore, not finishing among the top two in the group would be very damaging. The third-placed team will have to play a promotion/relegation play-off with a second-placed team from Ligue B; while the fourth-placed team will be sent directly to Ligue B for the following edition.
The final argument for playing this Nations League seriously: the bonus awarded by UEFA. The amount for this 2024-2025 edition has not been revealed, but it should be quite similar to the 2022-2023 edition won by Spain. For example, La Roja was rewarded with 10.5 million euros while Croatia, the unfortunate finalist, received 9 million euros. An amount that is obviously not insignificant, especially for a nation like Belgium that has just suffered two consecutive failures in major tournaments…
This Champions League which is so inspired by the Super League!
