How does the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League work? Format, teams, dates, 2026 World Cup qualification

The league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League begins on Thursday, September 5, 2024, with the conclusion of the Nations League Finals set for Saturday, June 8, 2025. Euro 2024 winners Spain will be looking to defending the title they won in 2022/23, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and France, led by Kylian Mbappé, are also bidding to lift the trophy for a second time.

2024/25 UEFA Nations League: how does it work?

The 54 UEFA member associations have been split into four Leagues (A, B, C and D) based on their results in the 2022/23 Nations League. The best performers from the previous edition are in League A, followed by League B, and so on.

2024/25 UEFA Nations League fixtures

Leagues A, B and C all have four groups of four teams (three Leagues of 16 teams accounts for 48 countries), while the remaining six nations are split into two groups of three teams in League D. In the top four Leagues, each team plays six matches (home and away against the other countries in the group), which is reduced to four games in League D.

The league phase will be played between Thursday, September 5 and Tuesday, November 19. Once it’s over, the top two teams in each of the groups in League A (eight teams) progress to the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals, a two-legged tie which will be played in March 2025.

After that come the Nations League finals, consisting of two semifinals, the third-place playoff and the final. Those rounds will be one-off games played in a single host country, which has yet to be decided (but will be one of the four semifinalists), in June 2025.

The four countries that finish bottom of their respective groups in League A are relegated to League B for the next edition of the Nations League, with the four League B winners promoted in their places.

Promotion and relegation playoffs

The four third-placed teams in League A play a two-legged promotion/relegation playoff against the four second-placed teams in League B, also in March 2025, with the winner securing their place in League A for the next edition. The promotion and relegation system between Leagues B and C works in an identical manner.

The top two teams in League D are both promoted to League C, while the two worst-ranked League C teams are automatically relegated to League D. The two best-ranked League C teams then play two-legged promotion/relegation playoffs against the two second-placed teams in League D, with the winner playing in League C next time around.

2024/25 UEFA Nations League: key dates

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

The 2024/25 UEFA Nations League is partly linked to qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada in June and July 2026.

Of the 16 European qualifiers for the final tournament, 12 will qualify for through a separate qualification competition, which will have 12 groups and run from March 2025 to March 2026. The winners from each group will book their spots at the World Cup, with the 12 runners-up and the four best Nations League group winners that haven’t already qualified taking part in a 16-team playoff.

The 16 countries will be drawn into four paths of four teams, who will play single-leg semifinals and finals to determine which four extra European teams play in the World Cup.