The 2024âÂÂ25 UEFA Nations League was the fourth season of the UEFA Nations League tournament, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from September to November 2024 (league phase), March 2025 (League A quarter-finals and both League A/B and B/C play-offs), June 2025 (Nations League Finals), and March 2026 (League C/D play-offs).
Spain were the defending champions, having won the 2023 finals.
The UEFA national teams were divided into four leagues, with Leagues A, B, and C featuring 16 teams each, divided into four groups of four teams, while League D featured 6 teams divided into two groups of three. The teams were allocated to leagues based on the 2022âÂÂ23 UEFA Nations League overall ranking. Each team played six matches within their group, except for teams in League D which played four, using the home-and-away round-robin format on double matchdays in September, October and November 2024.
On 25 January 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee confirmed an altered format for the Nations League following the league phase. In the top division, League A, the group winners and runners-up advanced to a new quarter-final round, played home-and-away over two legs in March 2025. In each tie, group winners faced a runner-up from a different group, with the group winner hosting the second leg. The four quarter-final winners qualified for the Nations League Finals, retaining its previous format, which will be played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off and final. The semi-final pairings are determined by means of a draw. The host country for the Nations League Finals was selected from among the four qualified teams by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.
For the first time, teams also competed in separate play-offs for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league, whereas in previous editions it was only based on standings. The group winners in Leagues B, C, and D were directly promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group in Leagues A and B were directly relegated. As League C had four groups while League D had only two, the two lowest-ranked League C teams were automatically relegated (a change from the previous editions, which featured relegation play-outs between the fourth-placed teams of League C). As part of the format change, promotion/relegation play-offs were introduced, with the third-placed teams of League A facing the runners-up of League B, the third-placed teams of League B facing the runners-up of League C, and the two best-ranked fourth-placed teams of League C facing the runners-up of League D. The matches were scheduled to be played home-and-away over two legs in March 2025 (League A/B and B/C) and March 2026 (League C/D), with the winners going to the higher league and the losers entering the lower league.
In all two-legged ties, the higher-ranked teams hosted the second leg. The team that scored more goals on aggregate was the winner. If the aggregate score was level, extra time was played (the away goals rule was not applied). If the score remained level after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner.
The 2024âÂÂ25 Nations League was partially linked with European qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the format confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 28 June 2023. The twelve group winners of FIFA World Cup qualification after the first round (group stage) qualified directly for the World Cup. Then, the second round (play-offs) was contested by the twelve group runners-up, along with the four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group. The play-offs were split into four play-off paths, played in two single-match knockout rounds (semi-finals and finals, with the home teams to be drawn), from which an additional four teams also qualified.
If two or more teams in the same group were equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:
Notes
Individual league rankings were established according to the following criteria:
Following the completion of the league phase, the interim overall UEFA Nations League rankings were established as follows:
Following the completion of the League A knockout stage and promotion/relegation play-offs, the final overall UEFA Nations League rankings were established. Within each of the groups listed below, teams were ordered based on their interim overall ranking.
Below was the schedule of the 2024âÂÂ25 UEFA Nations League.
To allow for enough teams to participate in the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification group stage in March 2025, the League C/D promotion/relegation play-offs were played in March 2026. However, if any of the teams due to participate in these ties had advanced to the World Cup play-offs in March 2026, the League C/D promotion/relegation play-offs would have been cancelled, and all teams would have remained in their respective leagues for the following edition.
The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 9 February 2024, the day following the draw.
54 of 55 national teams within UEFA confederation participated the competition. Russia, slated to participate in League C, were suspended due to Russian invasion of Ukraine. The teams which finished bottom of their group in Leagues A and B, as well as the losers from the relegation play-outs of League C, from the 2022âÂÂ23 season moved down a league, while the group winners of Leagues B, C and D moved up. The remaining teams stayed in their respective leagues.
In an interview with the Polish website meczyki.pl, UEFA vice-president Zbigniew Boniek said that all ten teams from CONMEBOL, South America's football federation, could join the UEFA Nations League from the 2024âÂÂ25 edition of the competition. The plans, which would act as a response to FIFA's biennial World Cup plans, were intended as part of enhanced cooperation between the two organisations following the signing of a memorandum of understanding and the opening of a joint office in London. However, such an expansion was not possible after CONMEBOL submitted a request to FIFA to maintain the round-robin qualification format for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On 25 January 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee confirmed the format for the 2024âÂÂ25 UEFA Nations League, with no South American teams to be added.
In the 2022âÂÂ23 access list, UEFA ranked teams based on the 2022âÂÂ23 UEFA Nations League overall ranking, with slight modifications: teams that were relegated in the previous season were ranked immediately below those who were promoted, and rankings shifted with the removal of Russia. The seeding pots for the league phase were based on the access list ranking. The seeding pots, draw procedure, and fixture list procedures were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Hamburg, Germany, on 2 December 2023.
The draw for the league phase took place at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris, France, on 8 February 2024, 18:00 CET. The draw, originally planned to take place in Madrid, was relocated due to the Luis Rubiales scandal.
For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan (due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict) could not be drawn into the same group. Due to excessive travel restrictions, only one of England, Iceland, the Republic of Ireland or Wales could be drawn with Kazakhstan. No winter venue restrictions were necessary for countries with a risk of severe winter weather, and several other potential political and excessive travel restrictions were not required because the teams concerned were either in different leagues or the same draw pot.
Starting from the 2024âÂÂ25 season, the overall rankings were split into interim and final versions. While the interim overall rankings were based on league rankings, explicitly ordering teams from higher leagues over those from lower ones, the final overall rankings took into account the results of the League A knockout stage and promotion/relegation play-offs, updating the interim overall rankings accordingly.
Following the conclusion of the league phase in November 2024, an interim overall ranking was established based on the results of each league.
The final overall ranking, established at the conclusion of the competition, adjusted the interim overall ranking by taking into account the results of the League A knockout stage and promotion/relegation play-offs. Teams that were promoted at the end of the 2024âÂÂ25 season were ranked above those who were relegated, with the final rankings reflecting the composition of leagues for the 2026âÂÂ27 UEFA Nations League.
Based on the interim overall ranking, the four best-ranked Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their World Cup qualifying group joined the twelve group runners-up in the World Cup qualification second round (play-offs). If fewer than four Nations League group winners had been selected, the remaining spot(s) would have been allocated to the best-ranked remaining team(s) in the Nations League interim overall ranking that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group.