Nations League : Cymru v Netherlands, Bale and Allen transfer latest
Monday, 6th Jun 2022 17:28 by Keith Haynes

This Wednesday after the celebrations and achievements of Sunday Wales face the Netherlands in a competition that has been kind to them through effort in recent years. Handing Wales rewards for inspirational finishes the tournament is now in its third year. It’s the Nations League. The game on Wednesday is reviewed here plus Gareth Bale and Joe Allen club latest.

Wales now face three games in seven days.

Many of the Welsh footballing public could be forgiven for forgetting the importance of this tournament. Much maligned in certain quarters Wales have again been given one of the harder groups. Last time round Cymru won their group aiding a fairer chance of qualifying for this years World cup. That now done an away defeat to Poland in the first game saw a very different side represent the principality on that occasion.

Wednesdays game against the Netherlands is one which Wales have to win with some really hard games to come. Where manager Rob Page goes with his selections is a decent question. The first names people always ask about are Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, but as we saw on Sunday Joe Allen is also crucial to his national side. Both Bale and Allen will make decisions on their club futures once this stretch of games is over - with both touted to return to their home countries. Bale favourite for Cardiff, and Joe Allen doing all he can to entice a contract from Swansea City.

Speaking to some well informed media contacts there is more and more of a belief that Bale could well sign for Cardiff and Allen will go to Swansea. The former possibly far more a likelihood, but we disagree. Nothing can move forwards in real time until Thursday when clubs can really get down to finishing their work. In Joe’s case he is giving the swans as much time as he can to get his move.

We will report on all these games as the week progresses.

June Matchdays
Matchdays 1 & 2: 1–8 June 2022
Matchdays 3 & 4: 9–14 June 2022

How it works
Leagues A, B and C all have 16 teams, which were drawn into four groups of four for the league phase.

The remaining seven teams, in League D, were split into two groups, one of four and the other of three. In all cases, teams will play all their group opponents home and away once in June and the other in September 2022.

The four group winners in League A will advance to the Finals in June 2023. The group winners in the other three leagues will all achieve promotion for the 2024/25 edition.

The teams finishing fourth in the groups in Leagues A and B will be relegated. The teams finishing fourth in the League C groups will enter the play-offs in March 2024, with the two teams defeated in those ties moving to League D.

League A
Group A1: France, Denmark, Croatia, Austria
Group A2: Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Czech Republic
Group A3: Italy, Germany, England, Hungary
Group A4: Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Wales

League B
Group B1: Ukraine, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Armenia
Group B2: Iceland, Russia*, Israel, Albania
Group B3: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Romania, Montenegro
Group B4: Sweden, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia

League C
Group C1: Turkey, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Faroe Islands
Group C2: Northern Ireland, Greece, Kosovo, Cyprus
Group C3: Slovakia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan
Group C4: Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Georgia, Gibraltar

League D
Group D1: Liechtenstein, Moldova, Andorra, Latvia
Group D2: Malta, Estonia, San Marino