UEFA Nations League: How does the 2024/25 format work?
Germany have qualified for the new quarter-final round of the UEFA Nations League after a change to the format was made for 2024/25. bundesliga.com explains how the European version of the international competition works now…
What is the Nations League?
The Nations League was introduced by UEFA for the 2018/19 season with the intention of replacing friendly matches with more frequent competitive fixtures against European nations of comparable level.
What is the format?
All UEFA national teams were originally divided into divisions ‘leagues’ based on their UEFA coefficients following the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Within each league there are groups of three or four teams. The current 2024/25 format sees four groups of four across Leagues A, B and C, while League D is two groups of three.
Teams can be promoted or relegated from one league to another. Under the current rules, the teams that finish bottom of groups in Leagues A and B are automatically relegated, while third-placed teams will contest a two-legged play-off against runners-up from the league below. The winners of groups in League B, C and D are automatically promoted to the league above.
Relegation from League C is different in that the four last-placed teams go into a head-to-head league, whereby the two teams with the worst overall record are relegated to League D.
In previous years, only the four group winners in League A would advance to the knockout rounds, which consisted of single-legged semi-finals and a final/third-placed play-off played in the country of one of the four teams (where possible. If not, an alternate country will be chosen to host).
As of 2024/25, the top two from each four group will go into a quarter-final round which pits a group winner against a runner-up from another group. The winners on aggregate over the four two-legged, home-and-away ties will then advance to the Nations League Finals, which continue as above.
What are the 2024/25 groups?
Group A1
Portugal, Croatia, Poland, Scotland
Group A2
Italy, France, Belgium, Israel
Group A3
Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group A4
Spain, Denmark, Serbia, Switzerland
Group B1
Georgia, Czech Republic, Albania, Ukraine
Group B2
Greece, England, Ireland, Finland
Group B3
Norway, Austria, Slovenia, Kazakhstan
Group B4
Turkey, Wales, Iceland, Montenegro
Group C1
Sweden, Slovakia, Estonia, Azerbaijan
Group C2
Romania, Kosovo, Cyprus, Lithuania
Group C3
Belarus, Bulgaria, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg
Group C4
North Macedonia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands
Group D1
Gibraltar, San Marino, Liechtenstein
Group D2
Moldova, Malta, Andorra
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When is the Nations League held?
Each Nations League campaign takes place every two years and precedes qualifying for the European Championship or World Cup. The campaigns so far have been in 2018/19, 2020/21, 2022/23 and now 2024/25.
The league or group phase of the tournament is played over the three international breaks in September, October and November.
The knockout phase then continues in the new year. The League A quarter-finals and the promotion/relegation play-offs are in the March window, before the Finals tournament (semi-finals and final from League A) are played in June.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was held in November and December of that year, meant there was a change to the scheduling for the 2022/23 edition and the league phase was played in June and September 2022.
2024/25 Nations League schedule
League phase:
- Matchday 1: 5-7 September 2024
- Matchday 2: 8-10 September 2024
- Matchday 3: 10-12 October 2024
- Matchday 4: 13-15 October 2024
- Matchday 5: 14-16 November 2024
- Matchday 6: 17-19 November 2024
League A quarter-finals and League A/B and B/C play-offs:
- First leg: 20 March 2025
- Second leg: 25 March 2025
League C/D play-offs:
- First leg: 26 March 2025
- Second leg: 31 March 2025
Finals tournament:
- Semi-finals: 4-5 June 2025
- Third-place play-off: 8 June 2025
- Final: 8 June 2025
What’s the link to tournament qualifying?
The Nations League provides teams another chance to qualify for the Euros in the event they miss out via the main qualifying phase, which follows the Nations League in the two-year run-up to the finals. Under previous regulations going into Euro 2024, three out of the 24 spots at the Euros finals came via the Nations League.
Teams that finished top of their group could enter the play-offs, if they had not already qualified for the tournament. That only applies to League A, B and C. League D no longer has its own play-off path, with those teams only able to feature in the play-offs if there are gaps from higher leagues.
The qualification process for Euro 2028 in the UK and Ireland is yet to be confirmed.
The Nations League is also linked to World Cup qualifying when played in that qualifying cycle. For the 2026 edition in Canada, Mexico and the USA, where UEFA will have 16 out of the 48 finalists, the format for qualification is there will be 12 European groups, where the winners qualify automatically for the World Cup.
The 12 group winners-up will then be joined by the four best-ranked Nations League group winners who are not qualifying group winners or runners-up to play in four play-off ties of single-leg semi-finals and finals to determine the final four UEFA places.
What’s the trophy?
The trophy was unveiled during the inaugural league phase draw and is made of silver. It weighs 7.5 kg and is 71 cm tall.
What’s the anthem?
Like all UEFA competitions, the Nations League also comes with its own theme tune. It is a mix of classical and electronic music recorded by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, and is sung in Latin. The composers are Giorgio Tuinfort and Franck van der Heijden.
Previous winners
2018/19 – played in Portugal
Final: Portugal 1-0 Netherlands
Third-place play-off: Switzerland 0-0 England (England won 6-5 on pens.)
2020/21 – played in Italy
Final: Spain 1-2 France
Third-place play-off: Italy 2-1 Belgium
2022/23 – played in the Netherlands
Final: Croatia 0-0 Spain (Spain won 5-4 on pens.)
Third-place play-off: Netherlands 2-3 Italy
How’s Germany’s record in the Nations League?
European football’s newest trophy is the only one that still eludes Germany so far. Despite being three-time Euros winners, four-time world champions and also 2017 Confederation Cup victors, Germany are yet to reach the Finals of the Nations League.
They finished third in Group A1 in 2018/19, second in A4 in 2020/21 and third in A3 in 2022/23.
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