The2018–19 UEFA Nations League D was the fourth and lowest division of the2018–19 edition of theUEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the internationalfootball competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations ofUEFA.[1]
League D consisted of the lowest 16 UEFA members ranked from 40 to 55, who were split into four groups of four. The top two teams of each group, as well as the best ranked third-place team, were promoted to the2020–21 UEFA Nations League C.[2]
In addition, League D was allocated one of the four remainingUEFA Euro 2020 places. Four teams from League D which had not already qualified for the European Championship finals competed in the play-offs for each division, which were played in October and November 2020. The play-off berths were first allocated to the group winners, and if any of the group winners had already qualified for the European Championship finals, then to the next best ranked team of the division, etc. If there were fewer than four teams in League D which had not already qualified for the European Championship finals, and League D had no group winner available, the best team in the overall ranking would be selected. The play-offs consisted of two "one-off" semi-finals (best-ranked team vs. fourth best-ranked team and second best-ranked team vs. third best-ranked team, played at home of higher-ranked teams) and one "one-off" final between the two semi-final winners (venue drawn in advance between semi-final 1 and 2).[3][4]
Teams were allocated to League D according to theirUEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying group stage on 11 October 2017. Teams were split into four pots of four teams, ordered based on their UEFA national team coefficient.[5][6] The seeding pots for the draw were announced on 7 December 2017.[7]
The group draw took place at theSwissTech Convention Center inLausanne, Switzerland on 24 January 2018, 12:00CET.[8][9][10][11] For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan could not be drawn into the same group (due to theNagorno-Karabakh conflict). Due to excessive travel restrictions, any group could only contain a maximum of one of the following pairs: Andorra and Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan, Gibraltar and Kazakhstan, Gibraltar and Azerbaijan.[12]
Source:UEFA Rules for classification:Tiebreakers (P) Promoted Notes:
^Due to revamp of the format for the2020–21 UEFA Nations League, the second-placed teams in each group and the best third-placed team among all groups were also promoted.
^abTied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Source:UEFA Rules for classification:Tiebreakers (P) Promoted Notes:
^Due to revamp of the format for the2020–21 UEFA Nations League, the second-placed teams in each group and the best third-placed team among all groups were also promoted.
Source:UEFA Rules for classification:Tiebreakers (P) Promoted Notes:
^Due to revamp of the format for the2020–21 UEFA Nations League, the second-placed teams in each group and the best third-placed team among all groups were also promoted.
Source:UEFA Rules for classification:Tiebreakers (P) Promoted Notes:
^Due to revamp of the format for the2020–21 UEFA Nations League, the second-placed teams in each group and the best third-placed team among all groups were also promoted.
The prize money to be distributed was announced in March 2018.[21] Each team in League D received a solidarity fee of €500,000. In addition, the four group winners received double this amount with a €500,000 bonus fee. This meant that the maximum amount of solidarity and bonus fees for a team from League D was €1 million.
The four best teams in League D according to the overall ranking that did not qualify forUEFA Euro 2020 through thequalifying group stage competed in the play-offs, with the winners qualifying for the final tournament. If there had been fewer than four teams in League D that had not qualified, the remaining slots would have been allocated to teams from another league, according to the overall ranking.
^CEST (UTC+2) for matchdays 1–4 (September and October 2018),CET (UTC+1) for matchdays 5–6 (November 2018).
^The Andorra v Georgia match, originally scheduled on 16 November 2018, was moved to the previous day at the same time to allow for an equal rest period.[16]
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Moldova
