Published on Nov 18, 2024
The UEFA Nations League's fourth edition is reaching its conclusion with issues over promotion, relegation and play-offs to be settled.
The competition was created to remove the unpopular friendlies from the calendar by replacing them with meaningful fixtures - and as before, it will be partially linked with European qualification for the next World Cup in 2026.
Sky Sports takes a look at UEFA's newest competition and everything you need to know about the latest edition...
Qualified for UNL finals: France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain
Relegation from League A to League B: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Switzerland
League A/B playoffs: Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Austria
Promotion from League B to League A: England, Norway
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League B/C playoffs: Armenia, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia
Relegation from League B to League C: Finland, Kazakhstan, Montenegro
Promotion from League C to League B: North Macedonia, Sweden
Possible relegation from League C to D: Azerbaijan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg
League C/D playoffs: Malta
Promotion from League D to League C: Moldova
How does the league phase work?Forget about the new Champions League format - the Nations League still follows the conventional system whereby each team will play six matches in their group, one home and one away against the other three nations in the group.
The 54 UEFA member associations participating were divided into four leagues based on their results in the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League. Two years ago, England and Wales were relegated to League B while Scotland were promoted to League A. Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland remain in Leagues B and C respectively.
The fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B are automatically relegated to League B and C respectively. As before, the four group winners in Leagues B and C, as well as the two group winners in League D, are automatically promoted to Leagues A, B and C respectively.
The two lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams in League C, meanwhile, are relegated to League D.
And the winners of the four League A groups progress to the final?No - that's changed since the last edition. Now, the Nations League has been expanded with an additional knockout round to be played in March 2025.
The League A group winners and runners-up will participate in home-and-away quarter-finals between March 20-25, with the winners of these ties qualifying for the finals next June.
Scotland could still reach the Nations League finals; if they win in Poland, and Croatia lose to Portugal, it will come down to goal difference - which is guaranteed to be at least level with one-goal margins in both matches.
Scotland would take second place based on more away wins.
Any other changes to the format?
Furthermore, the third-ranked teams of League A and the runners-up of League B, as well as the third-ranked teams of League B and the runners-up of League C, will play a home-and-away promotion/relegation play-off.
There will also be play-offs between the two best-ranked fourth-placed teams from League C and the two runners-up from League D.
So when are the Nations League finals?
The finals - to be staged by one of the four nations that qualify - are set to take place in June 2025.
The semi-finals will take place on June 4/5. The winners progress to the final on June 8, while the two beaten semi-finalists will face off for third place earlier on the same day.
When is the draw for the promotion/relegation play-offs?Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The draw for the promotion/relegation play-offs will be held on November 22 2024 along with the draw for the League A quarter-finals.
Do teams qualify for World Cup 2026 through Nations League?Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The road to Canada, Mexico, and the United States technically starts here. When it comes to the draw for World Cup qualification, each national team involved will also be placed in a ranked table, based on the performance in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League.
Essentially, the four highest-ranked teams who do not then secure an automatic place at the 2026 World Cup will be granted a playoff safety net.
For 2026 World Cup qualifying, there will be 12 groups of either four or five teams. Only the group winners will qualify automatically for the tournament.
The 12 group runners-up and four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, will be drawn into four play-off paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn).
The four path winners will qualify for the World Cup finals.
Nations League 2024/25 draw in fullLeague A
League B
League C
League D
Scotland 2-3 Poland
Portugal 2-1 Scotland
Croatia 2-1 Scotland
Scotland 0-0 Portugal
Scotland 1-0 Croatia
Poland vs Scotland - 18/11/24
Republic of Ireland 0-2 England
England 2-0 Finland
England 1-2 Greece
Finland 1-3 England
Greece 0-3 England
England 5-0 Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland 0-2 England
Republic of Ireland 0-2 Greece
Finland 1-2 Republic of Ireland
Greece 2-0 Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland 1-0 Finland
England 5-0 Republic of Ireland
Wales 0-0 Turkey
Montenegro 1-2 Wales
Iceland 2-2 Wales
Wales 1-0 Montenegro
Turkey 0-0 Wales
Wales vs Iceland - 19/11/24
Northern Ireland 2-0 Luxembourg
Bulgaria 1-0 Northern Ireland
Belarus 0-0 Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland 5-0 Bulgaria
Northern Ireland 2-0 Belarus
Luxembourg vs Northern Ireland - 18/11/24
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