7 Nations Army - W&T

So is everyone . The Nations League is a) a way to give some meaning to pointless international friendlies and b) another way for teams to qualify for the Euros/World Cup c) a way to win a trophy. Although this time it is a lot harder to qualify through Nations League.

Edit: good video here.

I'll add: the Nations League is a way to compare apples-to-apples and oranges-to-oranges (pun not really intended, Pete, but I will definitely claim it as my "goal") by having teams of (supposed) similar quality play meaningful games.

In other words: rather than have Georgia (not a powerhouse; currently in Pot C / the third tier) play England (powerhouse light; currently in Pot A / the first tier), the Nations League has Georgia play Albania and England play Belgium. Then, when it comes time to qualify for the European championship, the winner of each tier earns a spot. So, should Georgia play well in the Nations League, they will then enter a 4-team "tournament" with the other Pot C / third tier group winners, with the winner of that tournament going to the next European Championship. Plus, each Pot's (I think, technically, UEFA is calling them "leagues") Group Winners during qualification, earn promotion into the higher pot, with the losers relegated to a lower pot (and, on a personal note, you never really want to be relegated to lower pot - it's just not worth it), so we continue to have teams of similar skill at each level (so, for example, when Haaland inevitably begins to help Norway win a few more international games, the entire team may be promoted to Pot A, instead of letting dear Erling beat up on the likes of Scotland and Northern Ireland).

So, it's a way to turn many friendlies into more meaningful games pitting teams of similar skill or stature against each other (rather than the nature of friendlies being "one of the big guns" against "minnows"), while also providing a path for so-called "lesser" teams to reach the federation's premier tournament, all while creating extra cash (cue music: it's all about the money money money)

Make sense?

Right - qualification isn't for "Major Tournaments" (apologies if I implied it is), but only for UEFA's Major Tournament. Wouldn't want to send North Macedonia to the World Cup and lose any possible "performance points" that could lead to losing a federation spot in the World Cup (one less European team in the world's tournament).

Also, I realized my "conclusions" were, essentially, the exact same as yours. So, you get credit for answering Walor's question and not me.

My real point was that UEFA Nations League games are in a tiered structure like classic FA "pyramid" so games are, mostly, between teams of similar ability and not like friendlies which pit teams of disparate accomplishments in often one-sided affairs. So, part of the point of Nations League is to not only add more meaning to each match, but to help "lesser" teams schedule games they might actually win (or, at least, compete in), rather than take money from the FA for a glorified training exercise.