The 2026/27 UEFA Nations League has four leagues, group-stage home-and-away matches, and a League A knockout competition. What happens next depends on both your league and your group finish: League A and B have promotion/relegation play-offs, while every League D team moves up to League C. These are transitional rules for this edition, ahead of a planned three-league format in 2028/29.
What is the UEFA Nations League?
The UEFA Nations League is a competition for national teams from UEFA member associations. Teams are assigned to leagues according to the edition’s access list, then play opponents in their group. UEFA says it devised the competition “to minimise meaningless friendlies and give nations competitive encounters with equally ranked teams.”
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The rules below describe the 2026/27 edition, the competition’s fifth edition. UEFA plans to move to three leagues from 2028/29, so this season’s promotion and relegation arrangements are not a permanent template.
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Leagues and groups
Leagues A, B and C each have four groups of four teams. League D has two groups of three. Teams play every other team in their group twice: once at home and once away. A win earns three points, a draw earns one, and a loss earns none. The team with the most points finishes highest in its group, subject to UEFA’s tie-break rules.
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UEFA’s official 2026/27 overview lists the current groups. Because those names are specific to this edition and will change, check that overview for the latest group line-ups.
How ties on points are decided
UEFA does not automatically begin with overall goal difference. For teams level on points, the first comparison uses their matches against one another: points, goal difference and goals scored. If that leaves some teams tied, the relevant criteria are reapplied to those teams where the regulations require it. If the tie remains, UEFA moves through overall group goal difference and goals scored, away goals, wins, away wins, disciplinary points and position on the access list, in that order.
How the League A knockout stage works
The top two teams in each League A group qualify for the quarter-finals: four group winners and four runners-up. Each quarter-final is played over two legs, and the runner-up hosts the first leg. The four quarter-final winners advance to the finals, which consist of single-match semi-finals, a third-place match and a final. The winner of the final is the UEFA Nations League winner.
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Group position has different consequences in each league. The table shows the league movement rules for this edition; it does not replace League A’s separate quarter-final qualification route.
| League | Group finish | Outcome after the league phase |
|---|---|---|
| League A | 1st or 2nd | Qualifies for the quarter-finals. |
| League A | Two highest-ranked 3rd-place teams | Remain in League A. |
| League A | Two lowest-ranked 3rd-place teams and two highest-ranked 4th-place teams | Enter A/B play-offs against League B runners-up. The play-off result decides whether they play in A or B next edition. |
| League A | Two lowest-ranked 4th-place teams | Relegated to League B. |
| League B | 1st | Promoted to League A. |
| League B | 2nd | Enters A/B play-offs against the relevant League A teams; the result decides next edition’s league. |
| League B | 3rd | Remains in League B. |
| League B | 4th | Enters B/C play-offs against League C runners-up; the result decides next edition’s league. |
| League C | 1st | Promoted to League B. |
| League C | 2nd | Enters B/C play-offs against League B fourth-place teams; the result decides next edition’s league. |
| League C | 3rd or 4th | Remains in League C. |
| League D | Any finish | Promoted to League C. |
In practical terms, a group win does not have the same effect in every league: League B and C winners move up automatically, while League A winners advance to the quarter-finals. Nor do all bottom-placed teams go down: the League A and B play-offs affect some teams, League C’s third- and fourth-place teams stay put, and all League D teams are promoted.
2026/27 match dates
UEFA’s published schedule places the league-phase matchdays in two windows, followed by the knockouts and later League C/D play-offs:
- League phase: 24 September–6 October and 12–17 November 2026.
- League A quarter-finals and A/B and B/C play-offs: 25–30 March 2027.
- Finals: 9–13 June 2027.
- League C/D play-offs: 23–28 March 2028.
For the official competition details and schedule, see UEFA’s 2026/27 Nations League overview. Match dates can change, so check UEFA’s listing for current information.
Why the 2026/27 rules are transitional
UEFA plans to introduce three leagues from 2028/29, with 18 teams in each of the first two leagues. The 2026/27 movement system is intended to shape the field for that change. That is why it includes several play-off routes and League D’s universal promotion, rather than a simple rule that every group winner moves up and every last-place team moves down.
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