The Nations League, Explained: Four Leagues, One Trophy, and a Format About to Change

The Nations League, explained without the jargon

Every September, somebody asks me the same thing: what is the Nation’s League actually for? Fair question. It’s made up of four divisions, with teams moving up and down through promotion and relegation. There are also play-offs, followed by a finals week that takes place nine months after the group stage. And somehow, there’s even a link to Euro qualifying that most people struggle to keep track of.

Let’s look at how the 2026/27 season works.

What it replaced

Before 2018, international weeks were friendlies. England would play a team ranked fortieth in the world, win 2-0, and nobody remembered it by Monday. Players pulled out. Stadiums were half empty.

UEFA's fix was to give those weeks a table. Same calendar, same windows, but now the games count for something: you can go up, you can go down, and at the top you can win a trophy. That is the whole idea.

The four leagues

All 54 UEFA nations are split by strength. The strong ones play each other, the weaker ones play each other, and you move between the divisions depending on how you do.

The four leagues range from Europe's strongest sides in League A to the smaller nations competing in League D.

How this season runs

The group matches will be played between 24 September and 17 November 2026, across three international windows.

Then it stops for four months, which is the part that confuses people. The league phase ends in November and nothing else happens until spring.

March 2027 is when things really start to get interesting. The League A group winners will face runners-up from other groups over two legs, while the play-offs will decide which teams move up or drop down. The four teams that win their quarter-finals will then meet in June for the semi-finals, third-place match and final.

Going up and going down

Normally it is simple enough. Win your group in B or C and you are promoted. Finish bottom of your League A group and you are in trouble.

This season is not normal, because the competition is being rebuilt. From 2028/29 there will be three leagues of 18 instead of four, so the numbers have to be forced to fit:

• Group winners in B and C go up automatically

• Every single League D team goes up, because League D is being scrapped

• The two worst fourth-placed teams in League A go down automatically

• The rest is settled in March play-offs between third-placed and bottom teams from the division above and below

So if you are Malta or Gibraltar, you are promoted this season no matter what happens on the pitch. Not the most dramatic finish to a division, but that is the price of restructuring.

But does any of it actually matter beyond winning the trophy?

Yes — and this is the part that’s really worth remembering. Nations League results feed into the Euro 2028 play-offs in March 2028. Depending on how many host nations qualify directly, between two and four spots at the Euros will be decided in those play-offs, and group winners from this competition get a route in.

In other words, a country that misses out in normal qualifying can still reach a major tournament because of how it did in the Nations League eighteen months earlier. That is not nothing.

Where the 2026/27 season stands

Four matchdays are gone and League A already has a story or two.

Portugal have won all three of their matches and are six points clear at the top of their group, including a 4–2 victory in Denmark. Spain have also won both of their games, beating England 3–2 at Wembley before edging past Croatia 3–2 in Seville.

The result of the round, though, belonged to Greece. They beat Germany 1-0 through a deflected Dimitris Kour Belis strike — their first win over Germany at the eleventh attempt, and a bad night for Jürgen Klopp in his new job. He got his first win a few days later against Serbia, with Florian Wirtz running the game.

The last two matchdays are in November. Groups that look settled now usually are not.

Common questions

Does winning the Nations League really count as winning a major trophy?

Yes. Portugal won the first edition in 2019, France lifted the trophy in 2021, and Spain won the third in 2023. It may not carry the same weight as the World Cup, but no national team is going to turn down a medal.

Why are the finals held so long after the group stage?

Because international football only gets specific windows in the calendar. Group matches are happen in autumn, followed by the sports/tournaments in spring summer.

How many team in nations league?

All 54 UEFA member nations take part, divided across the four leagues.

Can a smaller country really make it all the way to the finals?

Not directly. The finals are for League A teams only, so a country has to climb the divisions first. Greece did exactly that before beating Germany this month.

Does the Nations League have any impact on World Cup qualifying?

Not for the 2026 World Cup, though — those qualifying matches have already been completed.

Definitely one to keep an eye on.

November settles most of the group positions, while March is when the promotion and relegation battles are decided. So if your team is in League A and currently sitting third, that March play-off could be the one that really matters.

Live tables and fixtures for the club competitions are on the matches pages, and the Nations League results from this window are in our news section.