In the early hours of this morning, the results of the 2022-2023 UEFA Nations League group stage draw were released, although it is not a major play, and it is also regarded by many as a chicken rib, but this UEFA draw still attracted some attention, not only because of the big oolong they made in the Champions League draw before, but also because the results of this draw have many points worth saying.
The theme of this UEFA League A-league draw is "reunion", and many of the teams in the four groups that have recently staged classic showdowns have staged reunions. In group A1, the two sides of the last World Cup final, France and Croatia, were divided together. World Cup runners-up Croatia have changed a lot after the World Cup final three years ago, with veterans such as Rakitic and Mandzukic withdrawing from the national team, and Vlasic, Passaric and others gradually taking over. The French team has not changed much, but their performance in the European Championship also proves that they can be defeated if they are a little negligent.
The A2 group also had a pair of old rivals drawn together, with Iberian duo Spain and Portugal being placed in the same group after the last World Cup group stage, and they played 3-3 last time. The two teams are currently in completely opposite shapes, with star-studded Portugal playing poorly and having to play in the World Cup play-offs. Spain, which seems to have suffered a talent gap, has a good fighting ability after using many new players and young players, and finally forced Sweden to get the ticket to the World Cup.
This time the death group is A3, Germany, Italy and England three traditional strong teams plus Hungary are divided together, Italy and England are this year's European Championship finals between the two sides needless to say, and Germany and Hungary have also played each other in this European Championship group stage. Coincidentally, Germany and Hungary were again in the death group at the European Championships as they were this time, but the difficulty of replacing France and Portugal with Italy and England did not decrease.
In the A4 group, when Wales reached the historic final four of the 2016 European Championship, the opponent in the quarterfinals was Belgium in the same group stage, and the two teams were also divided into the same group in this World Preliminary Round, which was also an old opponent.
The UEFA Nations League may not be as important as the various preliminaries, but when these world-class teams meet, they will certainly create a lot of wonderful games.