UEFA Nations League 2026/27 Format Explained

The UEFA Nations League puts Europe's 54 national teams into four leagues — A, B, C and D — ranked by strength. In 2026/27 League A has four groups of four, League B four groups of four, League C four groups of four and League D two groups of three: 14 groups in all. Teams play everyone in their group home and away, which makes six matchdays for a group of four and four for a group of three.

The league phase is played in two international windows: matchdays 1–4 from 24 September to 6 October 2026, and matchdays 5–6 from 12 to 17 November 2026. The quarter-finals and the promotion and relegation play-offs follow in March 2027 (25–30 March), and the four-team Finals close the edition from 9 to 13 June 2027. UEFA had not confirmed the Finals host when this guide was written.

From 2028/29 the Nations League moves to three leagues of 18 teams. The 2026/27 edition is the bridge between the old four-league shape and the new one, so its promotion and relegation rules are not the same as in earlier editions. More teams move up than down, League D disappears as a separate tier, and the positions that decide a team's fate are spread across final group places and, in League A, a ranking across groups.

That is worth knowing before reading any group table this autumn: the colours you may remember from 2024/25 do not apply. A third place in League A, for example, is not automatically safe.

The winners and runners-up of the four League A groups — eight teams — go through to the quarter-finals in March 2027. The quarter-final winners play the Finals in June for the trophy.

Third and fourth place are where the transition shows. Their outcome depends on a ranking of all the League A third-placed teams against each other, and of all the fourth-placed teams against each other, so it cannot be read from one group's table alone. Of the four third-placed teams, the two best-ranked stay in League A and the other two go into the League A/B play-offs; of the four fourth-placed teams, the two best-ranked go into those play-offs and the other two are relegated to League B. Until every League A group has finished, a table can only say which of the two outcomes a third or fourth place is heading for — which is why MatchCountdown marks those positions as depending on the cross-group ranking.

In League B the four group winners are promoted to League A. The runners-up play promotion play-offs against League A opposition, the third-placed teams stay in League B, and the fourth-placed teams play relegation play-offs to keep their place.

In League C the group winners are promoted to League B, the runners-up play promotion play-offs, and both the third- and fourth-placed teams stay in League C.

League D, the smallest league with two groups of three, is folded into League C for the new format: every League D team is promoted, whatever its final position.

After four matchdays France lead Group A1 on 10 points ahead of Italy (7), Belgium (6) and Türkiye (0); the Netherlands and Greece share the top of A2 on 8 with Germany on 5 and Serbia on 0; Spain lead A3 with 12 from 12 ahead of England (9), Croatia (3) and Czechia (0); and Portugal top A4 with 12 ahead of Denmark (6), Wales (3) and Norway (3).

Spain and Portugal are already certain of a top-two finish and a quarter-final place, since only one team in each group can still reach their points. Every other place is open going into matchdays 5 and 6 on 12–17 November, and each group's last two games kick off at the same time on its final night.

The Nations League Finals are on 9–13 June 2027: semi-finals on 9 and 10 June, the third-place match and the final on 13 June. UEFA's Executive Committee picks the host, preferably one of the four qualified teams, so the venue is only known after the quarter-finals. Portugal are the holders after winning the 2025 Finals, and the 2026/27 edition is expected to be linked to qualifying for Euro 2028.

Nations League matchdays sit inside FIFA's international windows, so there is no club football on the same days. A window packs several matchdays into about twelve days, with kickoffs spread across the evening in Central European Time. Group and knockout matches are 90 minutes plus stoppage time; a two-legged quarter-final or a play-off that ends level on aggregate goes to extra time and penalties, and so do the Finals' knockout matches.

MatchCountdown's Nations League page lists every fixture in your own time zone with a live countdown, all 14 group tables, the broadcasters we have been able to verify, and a calendar feed you can subscribe to once so every match lands in your calendar.