The Union of European Football Associations is introducing the Women’s Nations League starting in 2023-4. The Women’s Nations League is a biennial tournament involving women’s national teams in UEFA, to be played in the twelve months following each Women’s World Cup or Women’s European Championship.

Teams in the Women’s Nations League are divided into three leagues. There are sixteen teams in League A, sixteen in League B, and nineteen in League C. Teams in League A play for the Women’s Nations League championship, and teams in Leagues B and C play for promotion to the next higher league.

ALLOCATION TO LEAGUES

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

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

Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, and San Marino did not enter, whilst Russia are disqualified due to the invasion of Ukraine starting on THU 24 FEB 2022.

LEAGUE PHASE

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

In League A, there are four groups, each containing four teams. The first placed teams in each group advance to the elimination phase. The third placed teams in each group play in the League B promotion playoffs, and the last placed teams are relegated to League B for the 2025 Women’s European Championship qualifiers.

LEAGUE A NED ENG BEL SCO FRA AUT NOR POR GER DEN ISL WAL ESP ITA SWE SUI		ADVANCE TO ELIMINATION PHASE FRA GER NED ESP
		LEAGUE B PROMOTION PLAYOFFS BEL ISL NOR SWE
		RELEGATED TO LEAGUE B POR SCO SUI WAL

In League B, there are four groups, each containing four teams. The first placed teams in each group are promoted to League A, and the second placed teams play in the League B promotion playoffs. The top three third placed teams play in the League C promotion playoffs, and the remaining teams are relegated to League C.

		PROMOTED TO LEAGUE A CZE FIN IRL POL
LEAGUE B IRL HUN NIR ALB FIN CRO SVK ROU POL SRB UKR GRE CZE BIH SVN BLR		LEAGUE B PROMOTION PLAYOFFS BIH CRO HUN SRB
		LEAGUE C PROMOTION PLAYOFFS NIR SVK UKR
		RELEGATED TO LEAGUE C ALB BLR GRE ROU SVN

In League C, four groups each contain four teams, and one group contains three teams. The first placed teams are promoted to League B, and the top three second placed teams [excluding results against fourth placed teams] play in the League C promotion playoffs.

		PROMOTED TO LEAGUE B AZE ISR KOS MLT TUR
LEAGUE C MLT LVA AND MDA TUR LTU LUX GEO AZE MNE CYP FRO ISR EST KAZ ARM KOS BUL MKD		LEAGUE C PROMOTION PLAYOFFS BUL LVA MNE

PLAYOFFS

The promotion playoffs are played in February of even years. Each playoff series is played over two legs, between teams from two different leagues.

There are four League B promotion playoffs, each between a third placed team from League A and a second placed team from League B. The winning team is placed in League A for the 2025 Women’s European Championship qualifiers, and the losing team is placed in League B.

LEAGUE B PROMOTION SRB ISL HUN BEL BIH SWE CRO NOR		TO LEAGUE A BEL ISL NOR SWE
		TO LEAGUE B BIH CRO HUN SRB

There are three League C promotion playoffs, each between a third placed team from League B and a second placed team from League C. The winning team is placed in League B for the 2025 Women’s European Championship qualifiers, and the losing team is placed in League C.

LEAGUE C PROMOTION LVA SVK MNE NIR BUL UKR		TO LEAGUE B NIR SVK UKR
		TO LEAGUE C BUL LVA MNE

ELIMINATION PHASE

The first placed teams in the four League A groups advance to the elimination phase, held in February of even years.

The teams are drawn into two semifinal matches. The winners contest the final match, and the losers contest the third place match. The semifinal winners also qualify for the women’s football tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

ELIMINATION PHASE ESP NED ESP FRA FRA GER   NED GER

CHAMPION ESP

WOMEN’S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION

The qualifiers for the 2025 Women’s European Championship will be held in a similar format. The teams will be divided into three leagues, based on promotion and relegation from the 2023-4 Women’s Nations League.

Teams in League A will have the opportunity to qualify directly for the Women’s European Championship, whilst teams in Leagues B and C may only qualify through the playoffs.