Last month the AFC postponed (or possibly even rejected) a proposed AFC Nations League at its Executive Committee meeting because - according to the ASEAN Zonal Association's post on X - higher-ranked AFC members felt that the proposed format required them to play too many games against Asian opponents and would leave them with fewer opportunities to play teams from elsewhere in the world.
After reading that news, I thought about devising a proposal which would satisfy high, mid and low-ranked AFC members and I eventually used as a template the new two-league format for U17 and U19 EURO qualifying which started in season 2024-25.
Annually the: - 47 AFC men's national teams would play in two leagues - A and B - in 6 groups x 4 teams each (one group in League B would have 3 teams), home-and-away matches played every September, October and November;
- winners of the 6 x League A group would be ranked based on their record in the group games and the highest-ranked team would win the AFC Nations League title; - bottom teams in the 6 x League A groups would be automatically relegated and the winners of the 6 x League B groups would be automatically promoted; - 6 x home-and-away promotion-relegation playoffs every March would be decided by a draw between third-ranked teams in the 6 x League A groups and the runners-up in the 6 x League B groups, with the playoff winners to the next League A and the losers to the next League B;
Furthermore, in odd years League A would double as the Asian Cup (to be moved to even years with 16 teams) and World Cup Qualifiers (for example, in season 2029-30 the winners of the 6 x League A groups and the 2 x highest-ranked runners-up would automatically qualify for the World Cup while the third-ranked runner-up would qualify for the inter-confederation playoff).
Advantages: - simple format for fans to understand; - fans will become used to the idea that the September, October and November FIFA international windows every year are when the AFC Nations League is played (which doubles as Qualifiers in odd years) and that it will be completed in just three consecutive months (and March for the promotion-relegation playoffs); - the format features exactly 600 games per 4-year cycle, double the number in the 2023-27 AFC cycle; - March (except for the 12 teams in the promotion-relegation playoffs) and June are free every year for friendlies (and 2 x FIFA Series games every March in even years which is to be significantly expanded from 2026 after the 2024 pilot edition); - more high-stakes games to increase fan engagement and AFC revenue from media and sponsorship sales and Asian national federation revenue from stadium ticket and hospitality sales; - an annual objective and pathway for every team; - entering the March window of odd years, 30 teams would still have the opportunity to qualify for Asian Cup or World Cup 15 months before the final tournament, while entering the September window of odd years 24 teams would still have the opportunity to qualify 9 months before the final tournament; - regular competitive games would increase commercial opportunities for national federations to increase fan engagement and awareness of their national team brand, consequently leading to gaining secure better local sponsors (this has happened in smaller countries in Concacaf since its Nations League was launched in 2018).
I have sent this idea to the AFC and five Asian Zonal Associations.
Comments
After reading that news, I thought about devising a proposal which would satisfy high, mid and low-ranked AFC members and I eventually used as a template the new two-league format for U17 and U19 EURO qualifying which started in season 2024-25.
Annually the:
- 47 AFC men's national teams would play in two leagues - A and B - in 6 groups x 4 teams each (one group in League B would have 3 teams), home-and-away matches played every September, October and November;
- winners of the 6 x League A group would be ranked based on their record in the group games and the highest-ranked team would win the AFC Nations League title;
- bottom teams in the 6 x League A groups would be automatically relegated and the winners of the 6 x League B groups would be automatically promoted;
- 6 x home-and-away promotion-relegation playoffs every March would be decided by a draw between third-ranked teams in the 6 x League A groups and the runners-up in the 6 x League B groups, with the playoff winners to the next League A and the losers to the next League B;
Furthermore, in odd years League A would double as the Asian Cup (to be moved to even years with 16 teams) and World Cup Qualifiers (for example, in season 2029-30 the winners of the 6 x League A groups and the 2 x highest-ranked runners-up would automatically qualify for the World Cup while the third-ranked runner-up would qualify for the inter-confederation playoff).
Advantages:
- simple format for fans to understand;
- fans will become used to the idea that the September, October and November FIFA international windows every year are when the AFC Nations League is played (which doubles as Qualifiers in odd years) and that it will be completed in just three consecutive months (and March for the promotion-relegation playoffs);
- the format features exactly 600 games per 4-year cycle, double the number in the 2023-27 AFC cycle;
- March (except for the 12 teams in the promotion-relegation playoffs) and June are free every year for friendlies (and 2 x FIFA Series games every March in even years which is to be significantly expanded from 2026 after the 2024 pilot edition);
- more high-stakes games to increase fan engagement and AFC revenue from media and sponsorship sales and Asian national federation revenue from stadium ticket and hospitality sales;
- an annual objective and pathway for every team;
- entering the March window of odd years, 30 teams would still have the opportunity to qualify for Asian Cup or World Cup 15 months before the final tournament, while entering the September window of odd years 24 teams would still have the opportunity to qualify 9 months before the final tournament;
- regular competitive games would increase commercial opportunities for national federations to increase fan engagement and awareness of their national team brand, consequently leading to gaining secure better local sponsors (this has happened in smaller countries in Concacaf since its Nations League was launched in 2018).
I have sent this idea to the AFC and five Asian Zonal Associations.