Start time, pots and who England could play
Uefa Nations League will return later this year, kicking off a series of high-profile international matches. Before the games can begin, a draw will determine who will play whom.
Having suffered a relegation in 2023 – failing to win a single match in the previous tournament – Gareth Southgate’s England squad will be watching to see who they will have to compete against to hopefully move back up into League A.
When is the Nations League draw?
The draw will take place on Thursday evening in Paris but will be streamed live on Uefa.tv – which can be watched on Uefa’s official website.
It will get underway at 5pm UK time (6pm local time). The first draw will determine who among the lowest-rank league, League D, will compete against one another.
League A will be the last draw.
How does the Nations League draw work?
The 2024-25 men’s Nations League sees 54 national teams split into separate leagues – A, B, C and D – based on their results from the 2022-23 competition.
After a disappointing competition last year, England will now begin in League B.
Within each League there are different pots, organised by each team’s performance results in the qualifying group stage.
For Leagues A, B and C, the draw will see them placed into four pots with four teams. League D will have two groups of three teams.
Those in League A will have the chance of winning the competition should they qualify for the finals, while across the other four leagues/groups, teams will battle it out for promotion – or to avoid relegation.
Who is in each pot?
League A:
As hosts, Germany has been automatically added to League A.
Pot 1: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Netherlands
Pot 2: Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, Hungary
Pot 3: Switzerland, Germany, Poland, France
Pot 4: Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Scotland
League B:
Pot 1: Austria, Czechia, England, Wales
Pot 2: Finland, Ukraine, Iceland, Norway
Pot 3: Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, Montenegro
Pot 4: Georgia, Greece, Türkiye, Kazakhstan
League C:
Pot 1: Romania, Sweden, Armenia, Luxembourg
Pot 2: Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands
Pot 3: North Macedonia, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Cyprus
Pot 4: Belarus, Lithuania/Gibraltar*, Estonia, Latvia
League D:
Pot 1: Lithuania/Gibraltar*, Moldova
Pot 2: Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein
*Lithuania and Gibraltar are due to take part in a relegation play-off to determine who stays in League C and who drops down to League D. These matches will take place in March.
Who could England play?
No teams from the same pot can be drawn together, meaning England will not face Wales, Austria or Czechia, who are also in pot 1 in League B. They could potentially play any other national team from the other three pots.
England also cannot play a team in a different league, meaning they will not be able to take on Scotland who were promoted to League A after a good performance last year.
How does the tournament work?
Every country will play home and away matches against the other teams in their mini-group, which will be drawn on Thursday.
So for those in League A, B and C, that means they will have six matches in the group stage, whilst for D there will be four.
League A teams will be aiming to finish in the top two so they can progress to the two-legged quarter-final stage, where they will have the chance to reach the four-team finals in the summer of 2025.
Meanwhile, the results from the coming Nations League will determine who can play in the 2026 World Cup.
The 48-team World Cup in two year’s time will feature 16 teams from Europe. 12 of these spots will go to the winners of 12 qualifying groups, while the runners-up from those groups will get a second chance in a play-off round.
Those 12 runners-up will be joined in the play-off round by four more teams who finish outside the top two in their group, all of whom will earn a spot on the basis of their Nations League performances.
A strong performance in this Nations League is critical: it could give each team a path to football’s biggest tournament.
