Nations League 2026/27: overview and schedule

The fifth edition of this international team tournament will start in September 2026. There will be six rounds of league matches between then and November, before the playoff rounds start in March 2027. The final will take place on 13^th June 2027. The four previous winners of the Nations League were Portugal (twice), France and Spain.

In this article, you’ll find all the information you need on the 2026/27 Nations League, including the tournament schedule, the format of the competition and much more.

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 from each group will progress to the knockout stages. This quarter-final round will feature each of 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.

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 that filled many international breaks.

Where will the 2026/27 Nations League finals be held?

The semi-finals and final of the 2026/27 Nations League will be held between the 9^th and 13^th June 2027. The venue for the Nations League Finals will not be announced until after the four qualifying teams are known.

Nations League groups 2026/27

The draw for the group stage will take place in early 2026. The teams will be seeded into pots based on their final Nations League ranking after the last tournament, taking into account the leagues in which they played and the subsequent promotion/relegation playoff matches.

There is one variable still to be determined, as the league C/D playoff matches will not take place until March 2026.

League C vs League D playoff

The league C vs League D playoffs will not take place until 2026. The first-leg matches will take place on 26^th March 2026, with the second-leg matches on 31^st March 2026.

🇬🇮 Gibraltar vs 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 vs 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.

Full 2026/27 Nations League match schedule

2026

• Matchdays 1 – 4 (21^st September – 6^th October) 
• Matchdays 5 – 6 (9^th – 17^th November) 

2027

• Knockout round promotion/relegation playoffs (22^nd – 30^th March) 
• League A quarter-finals (22^nd – 30^th March) 
• Final tournament (9^th – 13^th June)

2026/27 Nations League seeding pots

These are the seeding pots from which teams will be drawn in the 2026/27 Nations League tournament.

League A

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot 3

Pot 4

League B

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot 3

Pot 4

League C

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot 3

Pot 4

* These places will be filled by the winning teams from the League C/D promotion/relegation playoffs.

League D

Pot 1

Pot 2

* These places will be filled by the losing teams from the League C/D promotion/relegation playoffs between Latvia and Gibraltar, and Luxembourg and Malta, depending on the Nations League ranking of the defeated teams.

Previous Nations League finals

There have been four previous Nations League tournaments. Here are the results of the finals of each one:

2024/25

Host country: Germany

Final: Portugal 2-2 Spain (Portugal won 5-3 on penalties). (Match goalscorers—Portugal: Nuno Mendes, Cristiano Ronaldo. Spain: Martín Zubimendi, Mikel Oyarzabal)

Third-place playoff: Germany 0-2 France (Goalscorers—Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise)

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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