All to know about the 2024-2025 UEFA Nations League

EXPLAINER

When does the 2024-2025 Nations League start and what is the format? How many countries are playing? Al Jazeera answers.

The first round of the 2024-2025 UEFA Nations League will begin on September 5, as Spain start their title defence with an away match against Serbia in Belgrade.

Here’s everything to know about the fourth edition of the tournament:

⚽ What is the UEFA Nations League?

The Nations League is a biennial international men’s football competition played by 54 teams that are member associations of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

The first edition of the Nations League took place in 2018-19 and the competition is played in a league structure, featuring promotion and relegation.

UEFA, the governing body for European football, says the tournament was devised “to minimise meaningless friendlies and give nations competitive encounters with equally ranked teams”.

⚽ Which teams are playing in the 2024-2025 Nations League?

The 54 participating teams were divided into four leagues based on their results in the 2022-2023 Nations League, the last edition of the competition.

Teams were then divided into groups, again based on their 2022-2023 UEFA Nations League rankings:

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: 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

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

⚽ When will the tournament be staged?

The league phase will feature six rounds.

• Match day 1: September 5-7, 2024
• Match day 2: September 8-10, 2024
• Match day 3: October 10-12, 2024
• Match day 4: October 13-15, 2024
• Match day 5: November 14-16, 2024
• Match day 6: November 17-19, 2024

• Knockout round playoff draw: November 2024
• Knockout round playoffs: March 20-25, 2025
• League A quarterfinals: March 20-25, 2025
• Final tournament: June 4-8, 2025

⚽ What is the format?

• Each team in Leagues A, B and C will play six matches in their group, while teams in League D will play four. All fixtures will be on a home-and-away basis.
• The League A group winners and runners-up will play in two-legged quarterfinals, with the winners of these ties qualifying for the final four.
• The fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B are automatically relegated to Leagues B and C respectively. The two lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams in League C are relegated to League D, the bottom tier.
• The four group winners in Leagues B and C, and the two group winners in League D, are automatically promoted to Leagues A, B and C, respectively.

⚽ Which team is not playing in the Nations League?

Russia is the only team that will not play in the 2024-2025 Nations League.

Both UEFA and world football’s governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), decided in February 2022 that all Russian teams – national and club sides – would be suspended from participation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

⚽ Who are the favourites to win the 2024-2025 Nations League?

Spain, which won the Nations League in 2022-23 and the Euro 2024 title, is among the tournament’s favourites.

Former champions France and Portugal, along with Germany and England, are considered to be strong contenders.

⚽ Which countries have won the UEFA Nations League?

• 2018-2019: Portugal – beat Netherlands 1-0 in the final
• 2020-2021: France – beat Spain 2-1 in the final
• 2022-2023: Spain – beat Croatia 5-4 on penalties in the final

⚽ How much is the prize money for winning the UEFA Nations League?

The exact prize money for the 2024-2025 Nations League has yet to be disclosed.

At the 2022-2023 Nations League, Spain collected 10.5 million euros ($11.7m) for winning the event, while runners-up Croatia received 9 million euros ($10m).

⚽ How is World Cup qualification linked to the UEFA Nations League?

The 2024-2025 Nations League will be partially linked with European qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The 12 group winners after the first round (group stage) will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the runners-up of each group will enter the World Cup playoffs.

The four best-ranked Nations League group winners who do not qualify either of those ways will also go into the World Cup playoffs.

Throughout the 2024-2025 UEFA Nations League, you can keep up to date on all the latest football news, as well as live text commentary of select matches, via the Al Jazeera Sport football page.