As the fallout begins from Sunday's breaking news, that 12 of the top clubs in Europe, including six in England, have signed up to compete in a new, midweek competition that will rival the Champions League, the international game is facing up to its biggest ever battle for survival.
Buoyed by the success of the 2018 World Cup, international football looked to have re-established a firm footing in the football calendar but the major clubs have merely been biding their time before trying to assert their dominance once again.
The immediate impact on international football comes from the threat, however enforceable it may be, that players from clubs in the new 'Super League' will be banned from Uefa and Fifa tournaments such as the European Championships and World Cup.
With 50% of the clubs signed up for the new competition coming from England, the Three Lions talent pool may be cut at a stroke.
That in itself may not be the death knell of the international game. Supporters, keen to rally around the existing structure, may come to find even more in common with a national team drawn from players outside of the so-called 'big six'.
But if the ban is not enforceable, or a compromise is reached whereby the new, revamped Champions League continues as the major midweek competition, a further increase in club matches and increased demand on players is inevitable.
Those autumn midweeks where Nations League matches or tournament qualifiers are played will surely be highly prized by either the Champions League or the new Super League and the window for international football will surely be squeezed even more.