For Europe’s lowest-ranked teams – the likes of Georgia, Luxembourg, Kosovo and Macedonia – international football has long been something of a treadmill, with one heavy defeat soon followed by another.
But those four teams are top of their groups in the Nations League’s fourth tier. As it stands, they are the sides who will progress to a Euro 2020 play-off, with one of them securing their place at the competition. It is unlikely any would have even been in contention to make it through the traditional qualifying process.
“When you’ve looked at some of the qualifying campaigns we’ve seen previously, when San Marino and Liechtenstein park the bus and there’s a cheer when they get out of their half, that does those teams no good,” said former England defender Danny Mills on BBC Radio 5 live.
“Now teams can show some attacking prowess and try different things. They can make progress. It has worked and it is now competitive.”
One team for whom it has certainly worked is Gibraltar.
Their first competitive fixture came in 2014 as they featured in qualification for Euro 2016.
But it was a chastening experience – their first two matches ended in 7-0 defeats by Poland and the Republic of Ireland, and a third 7-0 defeat later in the group, this time to Germany, was followed by an 8-1 thrashing by Poland and a 6-0 home loss to Scotland.
They would go on to lose every match in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, taking their run to 22 straight defeats in competitive games.
But the Nations League has changed all that. After losses to Macedonia and Liechtenstein, October’s double-header saw them record the first competitive wins in their history, in back-to-back games against Armenia and Liechtenstein.
Remarkably, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they could qualify for Euro 2020 via the Nations League play-offs.
Gibraltar striker Lee Casciaro, who works as a policeman in the country’s Ministry of Defence, told BBC Radio 5 live’s Football Daily: “You want to play against big nations – that’s a dream for any kid that plays football. But playing against nations lower down the ranking does help you to improve.
“We are still learning. We will see when the Euro 2020 qualifiers start in March what impact it has had. The Nations League is going to be easier for us because we’re competing against teams at our level so it is important for us, the minnows. I don’t know what most managers think of it but it has been an inspiration for us.”
