UEFA Nations League phase
The UEFA Nations League starts in autumn 2023 and is composed of a league stage, matches for promotion and relegation, and finals comprising two semi-finals, a third-place match and a final.
In the league stage, teams will be split into three leagues based on their current UEFA women’s national team coefficient rankings.
Leagues A and B each consist of 16 teams drawn into four groups of four; League C consists of 19 teams drawn into four groups of four and one group of three (note that the actual group composition of League C will depend on the number of participating teams).
All matches will be played over six matchdays, with each team playing one home match and one away match against all the other teams in their group.
The ultimate goals of this phase of the competition are to win the Nations League title and to achieve the best possible starting position for the next phase.
Every four years, the Nations League finals will also serve as the European Qualifiers for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, i.e. the first edition will qualify teams for the 2024 Olympic Tournament in France.
The Nations League ranking at the end of the league stage will establish who plays in the Nations League finals as well as what starting league position teams will have in the European Qualifiers phase. Depending on the league stage ranking after Matchday 6, teams will either maintain their position in the league, be automatically promoted or relegated, or will enter promotion and relegation matches.
Nations League finals
The four group winners in League A will progress to the Nations League finals.
The finals will be played in single-leg knockout matches, with semi-finals, a third-place match and a final, and will be organised by the teams involved.
For 2024, the two finalists will join France as Europe’s three Women’s Olympic Football Tournament representatives (along with the third-placed team if France reach the final).
Automatic promotion/relegation
For the upcoming European Qualifiers:
• the winners and runners-up of League A stay in League A;
• the winners of Leagues B and C will be promoted to the next league;
• all fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B, as well as the lowest-ranked third-placed team in League B, will be relegated to the next league;
• the two lowest-ranked runners-up and all third and fourth-placed teams in League C will stay in League C.
Additional promotion/relegation matches
All remaining teams are involved in promotion and relegation matches, played on a home-and-away basis, and have another chance to compete for a better starting league position in the European Qualifiers:
• the third-placed teams in League A play matches against the League B runners-up, with the winners playing in League A and the defeated teams in League B;
• the three best-ranked third-placed teams in League B play matches against the three best-ranked League C runners-up, with the winners playing in League B and the defeated teams in League C.
These matches take place in parallel with the Nations League finals.
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