UEFA Nations League |
MATCH INFO
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MATCH :
| Georgia
V/s Albania
|
COMPETITION : | Round 4
|
DATE: | 14-10-2024
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TIME:
| 9:30 PM IST (UTC +5:30)
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STADIUM:
| Mikheil Meskhis sakhelobis Stadioni
|
Georgia | Lineup |
Possible XI: Mamardashvili; Gvelesiani, Kashia, Dvali; Kakabadze, Kochorashvili, Kiteischvili, Chakvetadze, Lochoshvili; Mikautadze, Kvaratskhelia.
|
Albania | Lineup |
Possible XI: Strakosha; Hysaj, Ismaili, Kumbulla, Mitaj; Laci, Ramadani; Asani, Asllani, Bajrami; Daku. |
Preview: Georgia Vs Albania
The hosts are lingering at the bottom of the group in the standings:
Georgia will be bidding to return to winning ways when they continue their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign with a clash against Albania on Monday night.
The hosts will enter the match off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Ukraine, but they remain top of Group 1 in League B, while Albania are third, with the visitors losing 2-0 to the Czech Republic in their last game.
Georgia made a huge impression at Euro 2024, making it to the last-16 stage of the competition in their first-ever major tournament, and they famously recorded a 2-0 win over Portugal in the group stage.
Willy Sagnol's side then beat Czech Republic 4-1 in their opening 2024-25 Nations League fixture, before recording a 1-0 victory over Albania to move onto six points in Group 1 of League B.
The Crusaders will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 loss to Ukraine, with Mykhaylo Mudryk netting the only goal of the contest in the 35th minute, and it was a frustrating night for Sagnol's team.
Georgia remain top of their section, though, and they will be bidding to record a third win in the group ahead of their November fixtures with Ukraine and Czech Republic.
The Crusaders need to finish first to guarantee promotion, and they have been joined on six points by the Czech Republic, so there will be pressure on the hosts to return to winning ways on Monday night.
Live Score
About UEFA Nations League:
History
The UEFA Nations League is a international football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body.
The first tournament began in September 2018. The four group winners from League A qualified for the finals, played in Portugal in June 2019. The competition replaces the international friendly matches previously played on the FIFA International Match Calendar, with European national teams engaging in more frequent competitive matches against other European national teams of comparable level.
Since 1999, various UEFA bodies had discussed national associations' needs for more competitive fixtures, including more attractive international friendlies, more competitive matches and increased revenue. In 2001, UEFA proposed three potential formats for a new national team competition, with a first edition tentatively planned for 2004–2007. However, this ultimately did not come to fruition.
In October 2013, Norwegian Football Association President Yngve Hallén confirmed that talks had been held to create a third full national-team international tournament for UEFA members in addition to the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship.
The concept of the UEFA Nations League would see all of UEFA's member associations' national teams divided into a series of groups based upon a ranking formulated using their recent results, where they would be promoted and relegated to other groups according to their results within the group. The proposed tournament would take place on dates on the FIFA International Match Calendar that were previously allocated for international friendlies and would not affect the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship.
In March 2014, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino stated that one of the benefits of the proposal would be to help "less glamorous" national associations arrange games.
The Royal Belgian Football Association's general secretary, Steven Martens, said that lower-ranked nations would still benefit financially from the competition, as the television contract with UEFA would be centralised. The UEFA Nations League was unanimously adopted by the 54 UEFA member associations at the XXXVIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Astana on 27 March 2014.