International football returns for the first time since November 2019 with the opening round of fixtures of the UEFA Nations League 2020-21. Euros 2020 which were scheduled to take place during the June-July window were postponed by a year until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the second edition of the Nations League is set to kick-off the road for the 2022 World Cup cycle, with all eyes on the qualification for Qatar. UEFA Nations League 2020-21: Schedule, Format, Groups, Participating Teams And All You Need to Know About the Football Tournament.

The national teams from UEFA’s member associations will be divided into different leagues, with sides present in the League A competing to become the champions of the second edition of the international footballing competition. Teams from League B onwards will compete in promotion and relegation format. How to Watch UEFA Nations League 2020-21 Live Streaming Online in India?

Teams in League A have been divided into four Groups (A, B, C &D) and winners of each of those groups will qualify for the play-offs which will consist of two semi-finals, one third and fourth place decider and one final to determine the new winners of UEFA Nations League. Portugal won the opening edition so before the tournament starts let's take a look at all the teams in the top league.

League A Group 1

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina are in a group of death and very few will give them any chance of making it to the play-offs. They will have to play the opening fixtures with new Barcelona signing Miralem Pjanic as he recently tested positive for coronavirus.

Italy

The Italians look far from the team that missed out on the 2018 World Cup qualifications as Roberto Manchini has once again turned them into a major force at the international level. The Italy side will have 2019-20 Golden Boot winner Ciro Immobile in their ranks, who will be hoping to shine for his national team as well.

Poland

Poland have an outside chance of making it out of this group but will have to do without star player Robert Lewandowski, who recently guided Bayern Munich to a second treble, for the opening round of fixtures.

Netherlands

The Dutch will start as one of the favourites but received a huge blow before the tournament’s start as manager Ronald Koeman left for Barcelona. Caretaker Dwight Lodeweges will lead the national team in the opening fixtures with Louis Van Gall tipped to replace the departing Koeman

League A Group 2

Belgium

The Red Devils will again start as one of the favourites in yet another international footballing competition. With the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Dries Mertens and several other superstars in their team, the Roberto Martinez-led side will fancy their chances.

Denmark

The Danes are one of the dark horses in this year’s competition and will be looking to make a huge impression under mew manager Kasper Hjulmand. The Danish side will rely on the likes of Christian Eriksen, Kasper Schmeichel to come up with match-winning moments.

England

Gareth Southgate’s side impressed in the 2018 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals and also finished third in the last edition of the Nations League. So the English side will be looking to go a step further and have handed a maiden call-up to Jack Grealish after Marcus Rashford pulled out due to injury.

Iceland

Iceland have been punching above their weight when it comes to international competitions but will have their hands full in such a competitive group. Premier League duo of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Berg Gudmundsson have been included in the squad despite some doubts about their participation.

League A Group 3

Croatia

The beaten finalists of the 2018 World Cup will once again start as one of the favourites in this year’s competition. They have superstars such as Ivan Perisic, Luka Modric and a lot of the burden will fall on them to lead Croatia into the play-offs.

France

The reigning World champions will once again be one of the favourites to lift the trophy come next year. With the likes of Anthony Martian, Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba at the top of their form, Didier Deschamps men will fancy their chances in this competition.

Portugal

The defending champions received huge boost ahead of the start of the tournament as skipper Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn’t play in the group stages last year, has been named in the squad for the opening fixtures. The 35-year-old’s inclusion will surely help the Portuguese side to win the group.

Sweden

Sweden boss Janne Andersson was forced into a last-minute reshuffle with Martin Olsson left out of the squad after a number of coronavirus scares at Helsingborgs IF. Young Alexander Isak is one of the players to watch out on the Sweden squad.

League A Group 4

Germany

The 2014 World Champions are undergoing a rebuild after a disappointing performance in last year’s World Cup. But with a number of Bayern Munich players in their squad, they are expected to give a good account of themselves.

Spain

Luis Enrique is back as the coach of Spain after he stepped down because of a health scare. The former Barcelona has included youngsters in his squad for the opening fixtures of the tournament with Barcelona’s Ansu Fati and Manchester City’s Ferran Torres getting their call-ups.

Switzerland

Switzerland finished third in the last edition of the UEFA Nationals League and were beaten by eventual champions Portugal in the semi-s. So they will be hoping to replicate a similar kind of performance this year as well.

Ukraine

Ukraine, under Andriy Shevchenko, they include eight uncapped players in their squad with veteran keeper Andriy Pyatov skippering the side. Against some of the top teams in the world, Ukraine will be looking for positive performance more than anything else.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 02, 2020 05:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).