Wales find themselves in League B for the 2024-2025 Nations League after being relegated in the previous season, where they finished fourth place in their group. The Dragons will be looking to redeem themselves and make it back to League A, but that all depends on how they fare against their current group opponents. So, let’s take a look at who Wales will be facing and what their chances look like.
Wales’ Competition in Group B4
The draw for the UEFA Nations League group phase took place on February 8th, 2024, in Paris. Wales was drawn against Iceland, Montenegro, and Türkiye in Group 4 or League B. The main competition they face in this group is the Turkish side, who have recently proven themselves a formidable force in the recently concluded EURO 2024 tournament, where they made it to the quarter-finals. Wales on the other hand, did not qualify for the tournament having been defeated by Poland in the qualifying playoffs.
All the top betting sites covering football will usually provide odds on who’s most likely to win the group. There’ll also be odds on who’ll be getting promoted or relegated. Lucky for Wales, winning the group is no longer the only chance of reaching the top league.
New Rules Offer Up an Extra Chance for Wales
Several changes have been made to this fourth edition of the UEFA Nations League. One of those changes is that the third-ranked teams of League A and the runners-up of League B will play a home-and-away promotion/relegation playoff. Same for League B and C teams in the same position.
Should Wales fail to win their group and end up as runner-ups instead, this playoff will offer another opportunity to get promoted. However, should they come in third place, they’ll have to win a playoff against the runners-up of League C in order to not be relegated. And coming in fourth-ranked in their group will surely see them relegated. It’s safe to say that they’ll be focusing on landing in one of the top two ranks.
About the UEFA Nations League
The men’s UEFA Nations League is an international competition created to reduce the occurrence of meaningless friendly matches and instead offer competitive encounters among equally ranked teams. It’s also an avenue for teams to qualify for the UEFA European Championship (Euro) and the FIFA World Cup.
First held in 2018-2019, the competition takes place every two years. The 54 UEFA member countries are split into four groups: A, B, C, and D. They are also divided into pots, indicating their rankings from the previous season. Like other major international competitions, group matches are determined by a random draw.
Those in League A have a chance to move on to the Finals tournament, while teams in leagues B, C, and D will be playing for a promotion to the league above. For the 2024-2025 season, several changes have been made to the competition in order to offer up more opportunities for teams to qualify, get promoted, or avoid relegation.
Generally, Wales’ chances depend on their squad strength, form, and the quality of their opponents. Fortunately, their historical performance shows they can perform well in League B, having topped their group in the 2020-2021 season.
