2024–25 UEFA Nations League

The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League will be the fourth season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The competition will be held from September to November 2024 (league phase), March 2025 (League A quarter-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs) and June 2025 (Nations League Finals).

2024–25 UEFA Nations League

Tournament details
Dates	League phase: September – November 2024 League A quarter-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs: March 2025 Nations League Finals: June 2025
Teams	Maximum of 55
← 2022–23 2026–27 →

Spain are the defending champions, having won the 2023 finals.

Format

The UEFA national teams will be divided into four leagues, with Leagues A, B and C featuring 16 teams each, divided into four groups of four teams. League D will feature 7 teams divided into two groups, with one containing four teams and the other containing three. The teams are allocated to leagues based on the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League overall ranking. Each team will play six matches within their group, except for one group in League D which will play four, using the home-and-away round-robin format on double matchdays in the FIFA International Match Calendar.^[1][2]

On 25 January 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee confirmed a modified format for the Nations League following the league phase.^[3][4] In the top division, League A, the group winners and runners-up will advance to a new quarter-final round, played home-and-away over two legs in March 2025. The winners will qualify for the Nations League Finals, retaining its previous format, which is played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, are determined by means of a draw. The host country will be selected among the four qualified teams by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.

Teams also compete for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league. The group winners in Leagues B, C, and D are promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group in Leagues A and B are relegated. As League C has four groups while League D has only two, the two worst-ranked League C teams will automatically be relegated (a change from the previous editions, which featured relegation play-outs between the fourth-placed teams of League C). As part of the format change, promotion/relegation play-offs will also be introduced, with the third-placed teams of League A facing the runners-up of League B, and the third-placed teams of League B facing the runners-up of League C. The matches will be played home-and-away over two legs in March 2025, with the winners going to the higher league and the losers entering the lower league.^[5]

In all two-legged ties, the higher seeded team host the second leg. The team that scores more goals on aggregate is the winner. If the aggregate score is level, extra time is played (the away goals rule is not applied). If the score remains level after extra time, a penalty shoot-out is used to decide the winner.^[6]

Tiebreakers for group ranking

If two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:^[6]

1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.^[a] If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 apply;
5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
7. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
8. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
9. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
10. Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
11. Position in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League access list.

Notes

1. When there are two or more teams tied in points, criteria 1 to 3 are applied. After these criteria are applied, they may define the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there is a three-way tie on points, the application of the first three criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure is resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that are still tied.

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League will be partially linked with European qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The twelve qualifying group runners-up and the four best-ranked Nations League group winners who are not qualifying group winners or runners-up will be drawn into four play-off paths of single-leg semi-finals and single-leg finals to determine the last four UEFA teams to qualify for the World Cup.^[7]

Schedule

Below is the schedule of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League.^[5]

Stage	Round	FIFA window^[8]
League phase	Matchday 1	2–10 September 2024
	Matchday 2
	Matchday 3	7–15 October 2024
	Matchday 4
	Matchday 5	11–19 November 2024
	Matchday 6
League A quarter-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs	First leg	17–25 March 2025
	Second leg
Finals	Semi-finals	2–10 June 2025
	Third place play-off
	Final

Teams

 

Map showing the leagues each national team will participate in.

  League A

  League B

  League C

  League D

  To be determined

All 55 UEFA national teams are able to submit an entry for the competition. The teams which finished bottom of their group in Leagues A and B, as well as the losers from the relegation play-outs of League C, from the 2022–23 season will move down a league, while the group winners of Leagues B, C and D will move up. The remaining teams will stay in their respective leagues.^[9]

In an interview with Polish website meczyki.pl, UEFA vice-president Zbigniew Boniek said that all ten teams from CONMEBOL, South America's football federation, could join the UEFA Nations League from the 2024–25 edition of the competition.^[10] The plans, which would act as a response to FIFA's biennial World Cup plans, were intended as part of enhanced cooperation between the two organisations following the signing of a memorandum of understanding and the opening of a joint office in London.^[11] However, such an expansion was made unlikely after CONMEBOL submitted a request to FIFA to maintain the round-robin qualification format for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.^[12] On 25 January 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee confirmed the format for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League, with no South American teams to be added.^[3]

Teams below are ordered within their league by the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League overall ranking.^[13]

Key

	Promoted in previous season
	Relegated in previous season

League A Team Prv Rank   Spain 1   Croatia 2   Italy 3   Netherlands 4   Denmark 5   Portugal 6   Belgium 7   Hungary 8   Switzerland 9   Germany 10   Poland 11   France 12   Israel   17   Bosnia and Herzegovina   18   Serbia   19   Scotland   20	League B Team Prv Rank   Austria   13   Czech Republic   14   England   15   Wales   16   Finland 21   Ukraine 22   Iceland 23   Norway 24   Slovenia 25   Republic of Ireland 26   Albania 27   Montenegro 28   Georgia   33   Greece   34   Turkey   35   Kazakhstan   36
League C Team Prv Rank   Romania   29   Sweden   30   Armenia   31   Russia^[a]   32   Luxembourg 37   Azerbaijan 38   Kosovo 39   Bulgaria 40   Faroe Islands 41   North Macedonia 42   Slovakia 43   Northern Ireland 44   TBD^[b] 45–48   TBD^[b] 45–48   Estonia   49   Latvia   50	League C or D^[b] Team Rank   Cyprus 45   Belarus 46   Lithuania 47   Gibraltar 48 League D Team Prv Rank   TBD^[b]   45–48   TBD^[b]   45–48   Moldova 51   Malta 52   Andorra 53   San Marino 54   Liechtenstein 55

1. On 28 February 2022, Russia were suspended indefinitely from participating in UEFA and FIFA competitions due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.^[14] Therefore, it is unclear whether they will compete in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League.
2. Belarus, Cyprus, Gibraltar and Lithuania will participate in the League C relegation play-outs in March 2024 to determine the two teams to remain in League C and the two teams to be relegated to League D.

League A

Group A1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		A1-1	A1-2	A1-3	A1-4
1	A1-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for quarter-finals		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	A1-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	A1-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	A1-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League B		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group A2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		A2-1	A2-2	A2-3	A2-4
1	A2-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for quarter-finals		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	A2-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	A2-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	A2-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League B		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group A3

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		A3-1	A3-2	A3-3	A3-4
1	A3-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for quarter-finals		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	A3-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	A3-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	A3-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League B		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group A4

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		A4-1	A4-2	A4-3	A4-4
1	A4-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for quarter-finals		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	A4-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	A4-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	A4-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League B		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Quarter-finals

The first and second legs will be played in March 2025.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Group runner-up		Group winner	Mar '25	Mar '25
Group runner-up		Group winner	Mar '25	Mar '25
Group runner-up		Group winner	Mar '25	Mar '25
Group runner-up		Group winner	Mar '25	Mar '25

Nations League Finals

The host of the Nations League Finals will be selected from the four qualified teams. The semi-final pairings will be determined by means of an open draw. For scheduling purposes, the host team is allocated to semi-final 1 as the administrative home team.

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	June – TBD
	Winner quarter-final (host)
					June – TBD
	Winner quarter-final
					Winner Match 1
	June – TBD
					Winner Match 2
	Winner quarter-final
	Winner quarter-final
					Third place play-off
					June – TBD
					Loser Match 1
					Loser Match 2

Semi-finals

June 2025 (2025-06)

Winner quarter-final (host)	Match 1	Winner quarter-final

---

June 2025 (2025-06)

Winner quarter-final	Match 2	Winner quarter-final

Third-place play-off

June 2025 (2025-06)

Loser Match 1	Match 3	Loser Match 2

Final

June 2025 (2025-06)

Winner Match 1	Match 4	Winner Match 2

League B

Group B1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		B1-1	B1-2	B1-3	B1-4
1	B1-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League A		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	B1-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	B1-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	B1-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League C		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group B2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		B2-1	B2-2	B2-3	B2-4
1	B2-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League A		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	B2-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	B2-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	B2-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League C		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group B3

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		B3-1	B3-2	B3-3	B3-4
1	B3-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League A		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	B3-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	B3-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	B3-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League C		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group B4

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		B4-1	B4-2	B4-3	B4-4
1	B4-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League A		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	B4-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	B4-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	B4-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League C		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

League C

Group C1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		C1-1	C1-2	C1-3	C1-4
1	C1-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League B		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	C1-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	C1-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	C1-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible relegation to League D		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group C2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		C2-1	C2-2	C2-3	C2-4
1	C2-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League B		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	C2-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	C2-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	C2-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible relegation to League D		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group C3

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		C3-1	C3-2	C3-3	C3-4
1	C3-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League B		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	C3-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	C3-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	C3-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible relegation to League D		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group C4

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation		C4-1	C4-2	C4-3	C4-4
1	C4-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League B		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	C4-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for promotion play-offs		TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	C4-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	C4-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible relegation to League D		TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Ranking of fourth-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
1	C1	4th place Group C1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	C2	4th place Group C2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	C3	4th place Group C3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to League D
4	C4	4th place Group C4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

League D

Group D1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion		D1-1	D1-2	D1-3	D1-4
1	D1-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League C		—	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	D1-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	—	TBD	TBD
3	D1-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	TBD	—	TBD
4	D1-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Group D2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion		D2-1	D2-2	D2-3
1	D2-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Promotion to League C		—	TBD	TBD
2	D2-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	—	TBD
3	D2-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			TBD	TBD	—

First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

Promotion/relegation play-offs

The first and second legs will be played in March 2025.

League A vs League B

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
League B runner-up		League A third place	Mar '25	Mar '25
League B runner-up		League A third place	Mar '25	Mar '25
League B runner-up		League A third place	Mar '25	Mar '25
League B runner-up		League A third place	Mar '25	Mar '25

League B vs League C

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
League C runner-up		League B third place	Mar '25	Mar '25
League C runner-up		League B third place	Mar '25	Mar '25
League C runner-up		League B third place	Mar '25	Mar '25
League C runner-up		League B third place	Mar '25	Mar '25

Overall ranking

The results of each team will be used to calculate the overall ranking of the competition.^[6]

League A	League B
Rnk Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Nations League Finals 1st place 0 0 2 Nations League Finals 2nd place 0 0 3 Nations League Finals 3rd place 0 0 4 Nations League Finals 4th place 0 0 5 1st best quarter-final loser 0 0 6 2nd best quarter-final loser 0 0 7 3rd best quarter-final loser 0 0 8 4th best quarter-final loser 0 0 9 1st best group 3rd place 0 0 10 2nd best group 3rd place 0 0 11 3rd best group 3rd place 0 0 12 4th best group 3rd place 0 0 13 1st best group 4th place 0 0 14 2nd best group 4th place 0 0 15 3rd best group 4th place 0 0 16 4th best group 4th place 0 0 First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA	Rnk Team v t e Pld Pts 17 1st best group 1st place 0 0 18 2nd best group 1st place 0 0 19 3rd best group 1st place 0 0 20 4th best group 1st place 0 0 21 1st best group 2nd place 0 0 22 2nd best group 2nd place 0 0 23 3rd best group 2nd place 0 0 24 4th best group 2nd place 0 0 25 1st best group 3rd place 0 0 26 2nd best group 3rd place 0 0 27 3rd best group 3rd place 0 0 28 4th best group 3rd place 0 0 29 1st best group 4th place 0 0 30 2nd best group 4th place 0 0 31 3rd best group 4th place 0 0 32 4th best group 4th place 0 0 First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA
League C	League D
Rnk Team v t e Pld Pts 33 1st best group 1st place 0 0 34 2nd best group 1st place 0 0 35 3rd best group 1st place 0 0 36 4th best group 1st place 0 0 37 1st best group 2nd place 0 0 38 2nd best group 2nd place 0 0 39 3rd best group 2nd place 0 0 40 4th best group 2nd place 0 0 41 1st best group 3rd place 0 0 42 2nd best group 3rd place 0 0 43 3rd best group 3rd place 0 0 44 4th best group 3rd place 0 0 45 1st best group 4th place 0 0 46 2nd best group 4th place 0 0 47 3rd best group 4th place 0 0 48 4th best group 4th place 0 0 First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA	Rnk Team v t e Pld Pts 49 1st best group 1st place 0 0 50 2nd best group 1st place 0 0 51 1st best group 2nd place 0 0 52 2nd best group 2nd place 0 0 53 1st best group 3rd place 0 0 54 2nd best group 3rd place 0 0 55 Group D1 4th place 0 0 First match(es) will be played: September 2024. Source: UEFA

References

1. "UEFA Nations League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
2. "What is the UEFA Nations League?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
3. "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions approved". UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
4. "Nations League set to expand with new knockout round from 2024/25". UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
5. "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions" (PDF). UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
6. "Regulations of the UEFA Nations League, 2022/23". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2021. (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
7. "Lisbon to host UEFA Women's Champions League final in 2025". UEFA. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
8. "Men's International Match Calendar 2023–2030" (PDF). FIFA. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
9. "2022/23 UEFA Nations League: All you need to know". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
10. Włodarczyk, Tomasz. "Rewolucja w Lidze Narodów! Czeka nas mini-mundial. Polska może zagrać z Brazylią! [NASZ NEWS]". Meczyki.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 17 December 2021.
11. "UEFA and CONMEBOL renew and extend Memorandum of Understanding". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
12. "Países sudamericanos pedirán a la FIFA mantener el formato de las Eliminatorias" [South American countries will ask FIFA to maintain the format of the Qualifiers] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 22 August 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
13. "Overall ranking of the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
14. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.

External links

• Official website