While most football fans are counting the days before World Cup 2026, the next edition of UEFA Nations League, the fifth already, is getting ready to roll after the summer, as the draw for the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League quietly took place on Thursday. The groups for all 54 teams has been made (some still TBD), divided into four leagues.
The four best teams last season, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal, were put in different groups in League A, with big headline encounters including France vs. Italy, Germany vs. Netherlands, Portugal vs. Norway, and the "group of death" with Spain, England, and Croatia.
Nations League 2026/27 format and dates explained
As a reminder of the Nations League format, each team will play six games, one home and one away against each opponent in the group. Those matches will take place between September and November 2026.
The winners and runner-ups of each League A group will participate in quarter-finals in March 2027. In that March window there will also be promotion and relegation play-offs between leagues B, C, and D.
The semifinals and final will all be played between June 9-13, 2027. Portugal is the reigning champion after beating Spain in June 2025, claiming their second title since the competition launched in 2018/19.
These are the groups for the UEFA Nations League 2026/27:
Some teams, with *, will decided their qualification after the play-offs in March.
League A
Group A1: France, Italy, Belgium, Türkiye
Group A2: Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Greece
Group A3: Spain, Croatia, England, Czechia
Group A4: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Wales
League B
Group B1: Scotland, Switzerland, Slovenia, North Macedonia
Group B2: Hungary, Ukraine, Georgia, Northern Ireland
Group B3: Israel, Austria, Republic of Ireland, Kosovo
Group B4: Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Sweden
League C
Group C1: Albania, Finland, Belarus, San Marino
Group C2: Montenegro, Armenia, Cyprus, Latvia or Gibraltar*
Group C3: Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Faroe Islands, Moldova
Group C4: Iceland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Luxembourg or Malta*
League D
Group D1: Gibraltar or Latvia*, Malta or Luxembourg*, Andorra
Group D2: Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein