The positives of the Nations League and an extended international break

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But the international game is important, and the Nations League and this new extended window are rare examples of new ideas in football that actually make sense and are an improvement on what came before.

This late September break follows the summer-long anticipation of a new league season, the end of a big international tournament, and the return to the weekly routine of supporting your team. When it arrives, it feels more like an unnecessary interruption than a necessary break.

It might feel all the more intrusive as it is longer than usual, but this has an upside for followers of both the international game and for those who prefer to stick to club football.

The extended three-week break means there will now be no international break in October, as has been the case previously.

It means fewer interruptions for club managers and fans but also more consecutive sessions for international teams to work on their own game with their players.

This allows them to work in a more detailed, in-depth manner, when it has previously been difficult to do so during the season.

This international break also sees the return of the Nations League for the 2026-27 season. If there are international breaks anyway, they may as well be some kind of competitive games that allow the countries involved to develop their game.

The Nations League format works well for this as it pits similarly ranked teams against each other, and provides incentives in the shape of promotion and relegation between the various leagues, and also a possible route to Euro 2028 qualification.

England, for example, spent the previous Nations League campaign in League B after being relegated from their League A group in 2022, when they failed to win a single game against Hungary, Italy, or Germany.

This means that their games in the last edition were against lower-ranked teams Greece, the Republic of Ireland, and Finland.

But subsequent promotion from that group meant they were rewarded this time around with games against Croatia and the Czech Republic, and an especially big game against Spain this weekend.

This kind of setup has been very helpful for teams lower down the rankings. They now get to play competitive games against teams at a similar level to themselves, rather than waiting for big tournament qualifiers where seeded group draws mean they mostly play teams ranked much higher, and regularly suffer heavy defeats.

The Nations League gives them a chance to build and improve all aspects of their game rather than just trying to limit the number of goals they concede.

At the top end of the international game, there have been some high-profile managerial moves following the World Cup.

Some of the biggest names in the game are now managing national teams and playing their first games with their new squads in these upcoming fixtures.

This extended window gives managers a better chance of getting their players up to speed on their styles of play than two shorter, separate windows in September and October would.

One of the most high-profile of those new to the international game is the former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

During his first game in charge against the Netherlands on Thursday night, Klopp could be seen on the touchline indicating to the players when to press the opposition.

In the club game, working with the players every day, this kind of thing would be drilled into the players during those regular training sessions, but for a group of players from various clubs new to his methods, Klopp was gesturing from the technical area mid-game.

As it turned out, many of the players had pre-empted the instruction and were already on the move as Klopp made his signal, applying pressure to the Dutch build-up play.

It nevertheless showed how the manager is adapting to this different style of management, and how this longer break will help these aspects become more instinctive for his players, rather than always having to rely on instructions from the touchline.

Barcelona legend Xavi was in the opposing dugout in his new role as manager of the Netherlands, while legendary former France international and three-time winner of the Champions League with Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, is now in charge of the French national team.

But it’s at the lower levels that the Nations League is most beneficial. National teams such as Kosovo, Gibraltar, and San Marino have all secured their first-ever competitive victories in previous editions of this tournament.

Like Uefa, Concacaf also runs a Nations League tournament that offers similar benefits for teams in the Caribbean and Central American regions, who get to play competitive games against each other.

They can work out how to win games, rather than just looking to limit the damage against the region’s dominant teams.

The Asian confederation is also looking to introduce a Nations League in order to see similar benefits for those teams further down the rankings.

This international break may seem like a nuisance to many, but international football itself has many supporters, especially from followers of clubs further down the various league pyramids.

It is also an important part of the game for many countries who don’t have high-profile, lucrative domestic leagues.

International football also offers an alternative to the club game at the top level, which is now more about the business of football than it is about the game of football.

As we saw at the Fifa World Cup this summer, international football is not without its own problems, mostly from Fifa itself, but it is nevertheless a welcome alternative to the increasingly waywardly capitalistic club game.

Though this international break might feel like an unwanted interruption, this part of the game is key to football’s ecosystem as a sport and pastime, and the Nations League provides plenty of competitive intrigue, from the competitive clashes lower down the rankings to the big-name managers taking their first steps in the international game.

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