How does the Nations League work and what must Ireland do?
A mere mention of the Nations League tends to bamboozle Irish fans but the stakes are far more clearcut when it comes to the women’s team.
Whereas three series of UEFA’s latest international competition have been contested, two under Stephen Kenny, Saturday sees the maiden equivalent version kick off.
There is also a key difference in the timing relevance of the outcome.
The men’s instalment is contested and generally used as a Plan B for teams – as Ireland are tenuously relying on – after the subsequent European qualifiers.
With the women, the two competitions are directly interconnected, one after the other.
Here’s a Q&A explainer to try simplifying UEFA’s latest brainchild:
How did Ireland end up in League B?
Rather harshly, according to ousted manager Vera Pauw. Late last year, she viewed this development as a means to favour the established countries reaching major tournaments.
UEFA allocated their 51 nations (excluding suspended) into three leagues depending on their coefficient.
The cutoff, crucially, was after the World Cup groups concluded in September 2022.
At that stage, the criteria, based on the three previous campaigns, the 2019 World Cup (20%), Euro 2022 (40%) and 2023 World Cup (40%), had Ireland straddling the League A and B threshold.
Scotland grabbed the last of 16 League A berths, leaving Ireland in 17th, top of League B.
A month later, Ireland beat Scotland in the World Cup qualification playoff.
What are our prospects of topping the group?
Extremely high. FIFA rankings, albeit an imperfect science, are the prevailing metric when it comes to comparing nations.
Ireland are positioned 24, way ahead of Hungary in 42nd place, followed five spots later by Northern Ireland. Albania, whom
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