League of Nations - The fight for European participation is also underway

The Hungarians started their first competition in the third tier, i.e. in the C division, then as a result of the reorganization they moved up to the second division B division, where they won their group and came to the top, so now they can compare their skills with rivals such as the European champions Italy, the European silver medalist English and the German team. Although the chances of this are minimal from the perspective of the opponents, the leading performance also means that the team of national team captain Marco Rossi will fight for the trophy of the series for the first time, as the four group winners of the A division will be able to fight for the final triumph in June 2023 in a tournament of four.

However, the more important advantage of playing in the A division is that it offers a very good chance to participate in the European qualifiers if the Hungarian national team misses the first two places in the traditional qualifying series next year. The 12-team field of the additional qualifiers is formed based on the League of Nations. Basically, it would be made up of the four group winners of divisions A, B and C, but if one of the first-placed teams qualifies from the qualifying round, then the right goes to the next highest-ranked team in that division. This means that the top league has four additional qualifying places, and the last time only Iceland did not make it directly to the continental competition from the A division, so then the islanders could play an additional qualifier as the last in the group, and then it was the Hungarians who knocked them out of the European Championship. If at least 12 of the top 16 teams make it out of the traditional qualifying series for the European Championship, then the remaining four lagging teams will definitely be in the additional qualifiers, and there is a very good chance of that.

The third round of the NL starts on Wednesday with the Poland-Wales match. The other matches of the first round will be held from Thursday to Saturday. Already in the opening round, there will be such prestigious meetings as the Spanish-Portuguese match on Thursday, the Belgian-Dutch match on Friday and the Italian-German clash on Saturday - precisely in the Hungarian group. The French, the defending champions, welcome the Danes at the start. From the first round, the Scottish-Ukrainian match was postponed to September 21 in the B division, because they are currently playing each other in the World Cup qualifiers, and then the winner will fight against the Welsh on Sunday for participation. Also in the second division, Russia's match against the Albanians was canceled because the former were excluded due to their war against Ukraine, which also means that they will definitely be relegated to the third line.

The first four rounds of the Nations League will be held in June, and the last two in September. The basic system of the series has not changed: the group winners of divisions B, C and D are promoted to the one higher division, while the group runners-up of divisions A, B and C are eliminated, so they will be listed one lower in the next round.

Nations League, Round 1:

The division:

Group 1 (Friday):

France-Denmark, Saint-Denis 20.45

Croatia-Austria, Osijek 20.45

Group 2 (Thursday):

Spain-Portugal, Seville 20.45

Czech Republic-Switzerland, Prague 20.45

Group 3 (Saturday):

HUNGARY-England, Puskás Arena 18.00

Italy-Germany, Bologna 20.45

Group 4:

Wednesday:

Poland-Wales, Wroclaw 18.00

Friday:

Belgium-Netherlands, Brussels 20.45

Division B:

Group 1 (Saturday):

Armenia-Ireland, Yerevan 15.00

Group 2 (Thursday):

Israel-Iceland, Haifa 20.45

Group 3 (Saturday):

Finland - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Helsinki 18.00

Montenegro-Romania, Podgorica 20.45

Group 4 (Thursday):

Slovenia-Sweden, Ljubljana 20.45

Serbia-Norway, Belgrade 20.45

Division C:

Group 1 (Saturday):

Lithuania-Luxembourg, Vilnius 18.00

Turkey - Faroe Islands, Istanbul 20.45

Group 2 (Thursday):

Cyprus-Kosovo, Larnaca 18.00

Northern Ireland - Greece, Belfast 20.45

Group 3 (Friday):

Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan, Nur-Sultan 16.00

Belarus-Slovakia, Novi Sad 20.45

Group 4 (Thursday):

Georgia-Gibraltar, Tbilisi 18.00

Bulgaria - North Macedonia, Razgrad 18.00

Division D:

Group 1 (Friday):

Latvia-Andorra, Riga 18.00

Liechtenstein-Moldova, Vaduz 20.45

Group 2 (Thursday):

Estonia-San Marino, Tallinn 18.00

(Source: Source: sportrajongo.hu, mti/Photo: pixabay, mti)