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The DFB selection at the EM 2022 in England
Photo:
JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
From autumn 2023, the European Football Union (Uefa) will introduce extensive reforms in the competitions of the women's national teams.
As the Uefa Executive Committee decided, the new system provides for a combination of a newly introduced Nations League and a European qualification for the first time in the run-up to the EM 2025.
Uefa hopes that this will result in "more meaningful games" and "greater sporting and commercial interest" in national team football.
He was "convinced that this format will help all European national associations and keep the dream of qualifying for a major international tournament alive," said Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin.
League format with three strength classes
In the newly created Nations League, the teams initially play in a league format with three strength classes each in groups of four or three.
Promotion and relegation games follow, as well as a final phase in which the four best teams fight for the title.
In addition, the group phase is about creating a good starting position for the so-called European Qualifiers.
Nations League the road to the Olympics
These will also be played in the same format on six matchdays.
The eight best-placed teams in the final table of the A-League, the top tier, qualify directly for the EM 2025. The remaining seven starting places are awarded over two play-off rounds in the first and second leg.
The final tables of the European qualification after promotion and relegation serve as a starting point for the subsequent Nations League.
Qualifying for the 2027 World Cup finals follows the same principles.
Every four years, the Nations League finals also serve as a qualifying path for the Olympic football tournament, so the European representatives for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be determined in the first edition.
So far, the Olympic starting places have been allocated at the World Championships.
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