The Union of European Football Associations is introducing the Men’s Nations League starting in 2018-9. The Men’s Nations League is a biennial tournament involving all 55 men’s national teams in UEFA, to be played in the twelve months following each Men’s World Cup or Men’s European Championship.

Teams in the Men’s Nations League are divided into four leagues. There are twelve teams in League A, twelve in League B, fifteen in League C, and sixteen in League D. Teams in League A play for the Men’s Nations League championship, and teams in Leagues B, C, and D play for promotion to the next higher league.

ALLOCATION TO LEAGUES

In the inaugural Men’s Nations League, teams have been allocated to the leagues based upon the UEFA men’s national team coefficients:

• League A: Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland
• League B: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Rep, Denmark, Ireland Rep, Northern Ireland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales
• League C: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia
• League D: Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Faroe Is, Georgia, Gibraltar, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia FYR, Malta, Moldova, San Marino

LEAGUE PHASE

In the league phase, each league is divided into four groups, and teams in each group play one another twice. The league phase is held in September through November of even years, immediately after the Men’s World Cup or the Men’s European Championship.

In League A, each group contains three teams. The first placed teams in each group advance to the elimination phase, and the last placed teams are relegated to League B for the next edition of the tournament.

LEAGUE A NED FRA GER SUI BEL ISL POR ITA POL ENG ESP CRO		ADVANCE TO ELIMINATION PHASE ENG NED POR SUI
		RELEGATED TO LEAGUE B CRO GER ISL POL

Likewise, in League B, each group contains three teams. The first placed teams are promoted to League A, and the last placed teams are relegated to League C.

LEAGUE B UKR CZE SVK SWE RUS TUR BIH AUT NIR DEN WAL IRL		PROMOTED TO LEAGUE A BIH DEN SWE UKR
		RELEGATED TO LEAGUE C IRL NIR SVK TUR

In League C, one group contains three teams, and the other groups each contain four teams. The first placed teams are promoted to League B. In the groups with four teams, the last placed teams are relegated to League D. Of the four teams that finish third in their group, the one with the worst record against the teams who finished above them are also relegated to League D.

LEAGUE C SCO ISR ALB FIN HUN GRE EST NOR BUL CYP SVN SRB ROU MNE LTU		PROMOTED TO LEAGUE B FIN NOR SCO SRB
		RELEGATED TO LEAGUE D CYP EST LTU SVN

In League D, each group contains four teams. The first placed teams are promoted to League C.

LEAGUE D GEO KAZ LVA AND BLR LUX MDA SMR KVX AZE FRO MLT MKD ARM GIB LIE

PROMOTED TO LEAGUE C BLR GEO KVX MKD

ELIMINATION PHASE

The first placed teams in the four League A groups advance to the elimination phase, held in June of odd years. One of the participating teams is chosen to host the elimination phase. Portugal hosted the 2019 elimination phase.

The teams are drawn into two semifinal matches. The winners contest the final match, and the losers contest the third place match.

ELIMINATION PHASE POR SUI POR NED NED ENG   SUI ENG

CHAMPION POR

MEN’S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION

UEFA are also introducing a new format for the playoffs of the Men’s European Championship qualifiers. The top four teams in each league that did not qualify in the group phase of the Men’s European Championship will take part in the playoffs, with four places in the tournament available. Accordingly, each Men’s European Championship is guaranteed to contain at least one team from each league of the prior Men’s Nations League tournament.