2024/25 UEFA Nations League: All you need to know

The fourth edition of the UEFA Nations League is nearing its conclusion, with the league phase complete and the knockout stage and play-offs mapped out.

The finals will be staged by one of the four nations that qualify and are scheduled for 4 to 8 June 2025.

What stage are we at in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League?

The league phase of the 2024/25 Nations League took place in September, October and November 2024. Teams earned promotion, experienced relegation, ensured another edition in their league or secured a place in either the quarter-finals or play-offs.

The competition resumes on Thursday 20 March 2025 with the first legs of the League A/B play-offs, League B/C play-offs and quarter-finals. The second legs take place three days later on Sunday 23 March 2025. The quarter-final winners advance to the finals in June 2025.

The League C/D play-offs will take place on Thursday 26 and Tuesday 31 March 2026.

How will the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League finals work?

The semi-finals are scheduled for Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 June 2025. The winners advance to the final on Sunday 8 June, while the two beaten semi-finalists will contest the match for third place earlier the same day.

Previous Nations League finals

NurPhoto via Getty Images

2019: Portugal 1-0 Netherlands (Porto)
2021: France 2-1 Spain (Milan)
2023: Croatia 0-0 Spain (aet, Spain win 5-4 on pens, Rotterdam)

What are the dates for the 2024/25 Nations League?

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/B and League B/C play-offs: 20-23 March 2025
League A quarter-finals: 20-23 March 2025
Final tournament: 4-8 June 2025
League C/D play-offs: 26-31 March 2026

What changes have been made for the 2024/25 Nations League?

The UEFA Nations League has been expanded with a new knockout round to be played in March 2025, thereby creating continuity between the group phase ending in November and the finals played in June.

The League A group winners and runners-up will participate in home-and-away quarter-finals, with the winners of these ties qualifying for the finals.

The fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B are automatically relegated to League B and C respectively. The two lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams in League C, meanwhile, are relegated to League D.

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 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.

The expansion of the UEFA Nations League into the International Match Calendar window of March will only concern a select number of teams and the remaining teams will already be available to start the European Qualifiers.

Which sides met in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League?

League A

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

League B

Group B1: Czechia, Ukraine, Albania, Georgia
Group B2: England, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Greece
Group B3: Austria, Norway, Slovenia, Kazakhstan
Group B4: Wales, Iceland, Montenegro, Türkiye

League C

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

League D

Group D1: Gibraltar*, San Marino, Liechtenstein
Group D2: Moldova, Malta, Andorra

*Determined following the 2022/23 play-outs in March 2024

What is the Nations League?

The UEFA Nations League was devised to minimise meaningless friendlies and give nations competitive encounters with equally ranked teams.

Teams from all the European associations compete in a league structure featuring promotion and relegation. In the first edition of the tournament, they were divided into 12 teams in League A, 12 in League B, 14 in League C and 16 in League D.

As outlined above, the 2024/25 edition began with 16 teams in Leagues A, B and C, and six in League D.