Follow all the action from the Nations League. The fourth edition of this international team tournament started in September 2024. There are six rounds of league matches between then and November, before the playoff rounds next year. The final will take place on the 8th of June 2025.
In this article, you’ll find our predictions for the Nations League, tips for selected games, the match schedule, the format of the competition and much more.
The three previous winners of the Nations League were Portugal, France and Spain. Will there be a new name on the trophy in 2025?
UEFA Nations League matches: predictions and tips
The draw for the Nations League Finals, as well as the promotion and relegation playoffs, took place on the 22nd November. Here is the schedule for the finals and the playoff matches.
Nations League Finals – Quarter-Finals
Netherlands 🆚 Spain
Spain are the defending Nations League champions, whilst the Netherlands finished runners-up in the inaugural competition in 2019. The Spanish are also the current European Champions, having defeated England 2-1 in the final last July.
Spain are currently on a run of 16 matches unbeaten (winning 14) in all competitions. Their last loss in a competitive match was in March 2023, when they lost 2-0 away to Scotland in a European Championship qualifying group match.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands have won just one of their previous five matches, a 4-0 home win over Hungary in the Nations League group stage. They reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 before being defeated 2-1 by England.
These two teams have been infrequent opponents of late, meeting just six times over the last 35 years. Four of those meetings were in friendlies, with the Netherlands winning the first three times before a 1-1 draw in their last encounter in 2020.
The two competitive matches between these sides were in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. In 2010, they met in the World Cup final. Andrés Iniesta scored the only goal of the match deep into extra-time to claim the prestigious trophy for Spain. Four years later, they met in the group stage of the finals, with the Netherlands winning that match 5-1.
Croatia 🆚 France
Croatia lost to Spain after a penalty shootout decided the 2023 Nations League final, whereas France claimed the trophy in the previous tournament in 2021.
Croatia have been inconsistent of late, having won three and lost three of their last 10 games, with four matches having been drawn. The Croatians are a bit of an enigma in international football. In the Euros, they have never progressed beyond the quarter-finals, whilst in the last two World Cups they have finished second and third respectively.
France have won four of their previous five matches, with the only anomaly in that sequence being a surprising goalless draw at home to Israel. The French were eliminated at the semi-final stage of Euro 2024, after finishing runners-up at the World Cup two years before.
These sides met in the group stages of the previous two Nations League tournaments. France won both matches in 2020—4-2 at home and 2-1 in Croatia. However, it was a different story in 2022. Croatia drew 1-1 at home before winning 1-0 at the Stade de France.
Denmark 🆚 Portugal
This is the first time Denmark have progressed to the Nations League finals, after finishing a distant second behind Spain in their group. After winning their first two group-stage matches, the Danes proceeded to draw twice and lose twice in their remaining four fixtures.
That followed a round of 16 defeat to hosts Germany in Euro 2024, after Denmark managed to progress from their group without winning a match, having drawn all three games. They are currently on a run of just two wins from their last 11 competitive matches.
Portugal won the inaugural Nations League competition when hosting the finals in 2019, with a 1-0 win over the Netherlands being enough to win the trophy. They topped their qualifying group to reach the 2025 finals, finishing unbeaten with four victories and two matches drawn. Talismanic striker Cristiano Ronaldo is still going strong, scoring in four of those six matches. He will hope to play a prominent role in the finals, although by the time of the semi-finals he will have just turned 40 years of age.
The last five meetings between these sides have all come in the European Championships. Portugal have won four of those matches, with the solitary Danish success back in 2011.
Italy 🆚 Germany
Italy have finished in third place in the previous two Nations League finals, whereas this is the first time Germany have reached the finals of this fledgling tournament. Italy had seemed set to top their qualifying group before a 3-1 home defeat to France in their final match saw their opponents overtake them on goal difference. The Italians had a poor Euros, as they exited in the round of 16 after losing 2-0 against Switzerland.
Germany could not take advantage of hosting the Euros, as they lost 2-1 to Spain in the quarter-finals, with the match being decided after extra-time. The Germans made light work of qualifying for these Nations League finals, scoring 18 goals in their six group matches. That included home wins of 5-0 against Hungary and 7-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
These sides were in the same group in the 2022/23 Nations League. Despite Italy winning the group and Germany finishing third, it was the Germans who got the better of their encounters. A 1-1 draw in Bologna was followed by a decisive 5-2 home win in Mönchengladbach.
1st leg matches on 20th March 2025, 2nd leg matches on 23rd March 2025
Nations League promotion/relegation playoffs
League A vs League B
Turkey 🆚 Hungary
These sides have met five times since 2007. Hungary have won four of those matches, whilst the other match in that sequence was a draw. In their three most recent matches, Hungary have won on each occasion without conceding a goal.
Ukraine 🆚 Belgium
These two teams met as recently as June 2024 in the group stage of the European Championships. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, a result which left all four teams in the group on four points. However, the goalless draw was not good for Ukraine, who were subsequently eliminated on goal difference.
Austria 🆚 Serbia
After being drawn together in the qualifying groups for the 2018 World Cup, Austria and Serbia produced two exciting matches when they met. They each won their home fixture 3-2, although ultimately it was Serbia who progressed to the final as group winners, whilst Austria could only finish fourth. More recently, they met in a friendly match in Vienna in June 2024. The home side won that game 2-1.
Greece 🆚 Scotland
This will be the first meeting between these nations for nearly 30 years. They last met in a European Championship qualifying group in 1995, with Scotland winning 1-0 at Hampden Park. The previous year, Greece had won the reverse fixture 1-0.
1st leg matches on 20th March 2025, 2nd leg matches on 23rd March 2025
League B vs League C
Kosovo 🆚 Iceland
These sides met for the only time in a World Cup qualifying group seven years ago. Iceland won both matches—2-0 at home and 2-1 in Kosovo.
Bulgaria 🆚 Republic of Ireland
In the four competitive meetings between these teams since 2009, each match ended in a draw. Three of the games finished 1-1, whilst the other match was goalless.
Armenia 🆚 Georgia
These nations were drawn in the same group for the 2020/21 Nations League. Although Georgia achieved a 2-2 draw in the away match, a late goal secured a 2-1 win for Armenia in Tbilisi.
Slovakia 🆚 Slovenia
The last six matches between these nations have all been in World Cup qualifying groups. The two previous meetings, in 2021, both ended in draws, whilst Slovenia had won three of their previous four encounters prior to that.
1st leg matches on 20th March 2025, 2nd leg matches on 23rd March 2025
League C vs League D
Gibraltar 🆚 Latvia
These sides met in a World Cup qualifying group in 2021. Latvia won both the home and away match by a score of 3-1.
Malta 🆚 Luxembourg
Malta have not played Luxembourg in a competitive match since 1995. They have met in friendlies four times since then, with Malta having won twice, Luxembourg having won once, and one match having been drawn.
1st leg matches on 26th March 2026, 2nd leg matches on 31st March 2026
Full Nations League match schedule
2024
- Matchday 1 (5th – 7th September)
- Matchday 2 (8th – 10th September)
- Matchday 3 (10th – 12th October)
- Matchday 4 (13th – 15th October)
- Matchday 5 (14th – 16th November)
- Matchday 6 (17th – 19th November)
2025
- Knockout round playoffs (20th – 23rd March)
- League A quarter-finals (20th – 23rd March)
- Final tournament (4th – 8th June)
UEFA Nations League winner predictions
The group stage is now over with eight teams remaining in the running for the title of Nations League champions 2024/25.
The eight qualified teams are:
Group Winners
Portugal
France
Germany
Spain
Group Runners-up
Croatia
Italy
Netherlands
Denmark
What is the UEFA Nations League format?
The Nations League will comprise four leagues. Leagues A, B, and C will feature 16 teams each, divided into four groups of four teams, whilst League D will feature six teams divided into two groups of three teams.
In the top division, Group A, the top two teams will progress to the knockout stages. This quarter-final round will comprise the four group winners playing a second-placed team from a different group over a two-legged tie.
The four quarter-final winners will progress to the Nations League finals, which retain the previous format, consisting of one-legged semi-finals and a final.
There is also promotion between each tier of groups. The four winners of the ‘B’ and ‘C’ groups are promoted, whilst the nations finishing bottom in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups are relegated accordingly.
As there are four ‘C’ level groups and just two ‘D’ level groups, the top nation in each of the ‘D’ groups gets promoted, whilst the two worst-ranked bottom teams of the ‘C’ groups get relegated.
In a further change in format, there are also promotion and relegation playoffs. The teams finishing in third place in the ‘A’ level groups will play the runners-up in the ‘B’ level groups, whilst the teams finishing in third place in the ‘B’ level groups will play the runners-up in the ‘C’ level groups. The two best-ranked fourth-placed teams in the ‘C’ level groups will play the two runners-up of the ‘D’ level groups. All these matches will be played home-and-away, over two legs.
If this sounds overly complicated, remember that the idea of the Nations League is to give teams more competitive matches, rather than the previous rounds of ‘friendly’ matches which filled many international breaks.
Where will the Nations League final be held?
At this stage, the venue is still to be determined. Once the final four nations are determined, the host country will be decided from amongst those four teams.
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
The Nations League will also affect the European qualifying places for the 2026 World Cup. There will be 12 European qualifying groups, from which the 12 winners will directly qualify for the World Cup.
Then, the 12 runners-up in the qualifying groups will be joined by the best four Nations League group winners who did not finish in the top-two places in their European qualifying group.
Those 16 teams will contest playoffs, after which four additional teams will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
UEFA Nations League winner odds
What are the odds to win the Nations League?
These are the updated odds after the group stage.
| Nation | Odds |
|---|---|
| Spain | 4.05 |
| France | 4.60 |
| Portugal | 4.65 |
| Germany | 4.90 |
| Italy | 9.30 |
| Netherlands | 14.75 |
| Denmark | 16.25 |
| Croatia | 17.00 |
2024/25 Nations League groups
Group A1
- Croatia
- Portugal
- Poland
- Scotland
Group A2
- Italy
- Belgium
- France
- Israel
Group A3
- Netherlands
- Hungary
- Germany
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group A4
- Spain
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Serbia
Group B1
- Czech Republic
- Ukraine
- Albania
- Georgia
Group B2
- England
- Finland
- Republic of Ireland
- Greece
Group B3
- Austria
- Norway
- Slovenia
- Kazakhstan
Group B4
- Wales
- Iceland
- Montenegro
- Turkey
Group C1
- Sweden
- Azerbaijan
- Slovakia
- Estonia
Group C2
- Romania
- Kosovo
- Cyprus
- Lithuania
Group C3
- Luxembourg
- Bulgaria
- Northern Ireland
- Belarus
Group C4
- Armenia
- Faroe Islands
- North Macedonia
- Latvia
Group D1
- Gibraltar
- San Marino
- Liechtenstein
Group D2
- Moldova
- Malta
- Andorra
Previous Nations League finals
There have been three previous Nations League tournaments. Here are the results of the finals of each one:
2022/23
Host country: Netherlands
Final: Spain 0-0 Croatia (Spain won 5-4 on penalties)
Third place playoff: Italy 3-2 Netherlands (Goalscorers: Italy: Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi, Federico Chiesa. Netherlands: Steven Bergwijn, Georginio Wijnaldum)
2020/21
Host country: Italy
Final: France 2-1 Spain (Goalscorers: France: Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappé. Spain: Mikel Oyarzabal)
Third place playoff: Italy 2-1 Belgium (Goalscorers: Italy: Nicolò Barella, Domenico Berardi (pen). Belgium: Charles De Ketelaere)
2018/19
Host country: Portugal
Final: Portugal 1-0 Netherlands (Goalscorer: Gonçalo Guedes)
Third place playoff: England 0-0 Switzerland (England won 6-5 on penalties)
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