UEFA has announced a full revamp of the UEFA Men's Nations League that will begin after UEFA Euro 2028, with a new system that is similar to the transition between the Group Stages in Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League to the new League phase, in which teams will play against each other only once, either at home or away, except for one team.
In short, instead of four leagues, three with four groups of four teams (Leagues A,B,C) and another with two smaller groups of three teams (League D), Nations League will have three leagues, A,B,C, each made of three groups with six teams each, so 18 teams in each league.
Each of the teams in each group will play six matches in total against five different opponents, two teams per group, home or away, except for the opponent of the same group, they only one they will face twice, home and away. If there are 55 teams participating, one of the groups from League C will have seven teams and will start one window earlier.
As with the club competitions, the quarter-finals, Final Four, and the Promotion/Relegation Play-offs will remain unchanged, but the European Qualifiers (which are held alternatively between Nations League years and World Cup/UEFA Euro years) will also change, with a League 1 with 36 teams from Nations League - Leagues A and B, and a League 2 with the remaining 18 or 19 teams from the UNL.
Why? "The new formats will improve competitive balance, reduce the number of dead matches, offer a more appealing and dynamic competition to fans, while ensuring a fair qualification chance for all teams and without adding any additional dates in the international calendar", said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
The UEFA Nations League 2026/27 will remain with the current format, with the league phase between September and November 2026, and play-offs and finales between March and June 2027.
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