In a busy soccer season where top players have suggested a possible strike, the Nations League is back this week but doesn’t seem like a main focus.
France captain Kylian Mbappé has chosen to skip the tournament, his likely replacement Antoine Griezmann has retired from the national team, and Romelu Lukaku decided to work on his fitness with his new club Napoli instead of joining the Belgium squad.
With several injuries affecting players in Germany and other countries—some serious ones for Spain’s Dani Carvajal and Germany’s Marc-André ter Stegen—the Nations League will provide a chance for newcomers to step in.
Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco has called up four players who could make their debuts to test them in these games, which are part of a lower-tier competition for European teams.
“We will not do it during the important World Cup qualification,” Tedesco said, looking ahead to the crucial stage in 2025.
The 2026 World Cup in North America is already on the radar for teams preparing for that tournament, with each team set to play two Nations League matches from Thursday to Tuesday.
The results over the next week, along with two more games in November, are the final opportunity to improve their seeding for the December 13 draw in Zurich for European World Cup qualifying groups.
Two teams aiming to boost their FIFA ranking and secure a spot in the second-seeded draw are Norway and Slovenia.
Europe’s most dangerous striker and one of its rising stars are set to face off again on Thursday in Oslo.
Erling Haaland and Benjamin Šeško, who were once teammates at Salzburg, are the main attractions when Norway takes on Slovenia in their League B group match.
Haaland has scored 11 goals in 10 matches for Manchester City this season, including a crucial goal in the Nations League that secured a 2-1 win over Austria last month.
Šeško has six goals in nine games for Leipzig, with three of those coming in the Champions League, and he scored four in just two Nations League matches, including a hat trick in a 3-0 victory against Kazakhstan.
While Thursday’s match won’t be decisive for the group, it will determine who is in the lead at the halfway point and in line for promotion to the top tier. The second match will take place in Ljubljana on November 14.
