UEFA Women’s Nation League explained

Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses will discover their opponents for the league stage of the 2027 UEFA Women’s Nations League, when the draw is conducted in Switzerland on Tuesday 3 November at 12pm GMT.

Launched in 2023, the Women’s Nations League forms part of a European nation’s qualification campaign towards forthcoming major competitions. 2027’s Nations League in fact acts as part of qualification for two tournaments: the UEFA Women’s EURO 2029 and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

Ahead of Tuesday’s draw, here’s a breakdown of how the UEFA Nations League works and how it impacts England’s qualification for both the Women’s EURO 2029 and 2028 Olympic Games.

How is the Nations League set up?

The 53 participating nations have been split into three leagues – League A, League B and League C. Each league is then divided into between four and six groups.

England are one of the 16 nations that make up League A.

Teams in each group will play each other home and away, with three points awarded for a win and one for a draw. While Leagues A and B are made up of four groups of four teams, League C has six groups, varying between three and four teams within each.

Ahead of the draw, teams within each league are divided into pots, based on the final overall 2026 Women’s European Qualifier rankings. Teams will only be drawn against teams from within their own respective league.

League A pots going into the draw are as follows:

Pot 1: Germany, Spain, Denmark, France
Pot 2: England, Norway, Netherlands, Italy
Pot 3: Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Iceland, Austria
Pot 4: Switzerland, Portugal, Scotland, Wales

What happens after the league stage?

Following conclusion of the league stage, the four League A group winners will meet in the semi-finals, accompanied by a third-place play-off and final, which will crown the Nations League winner. 

All matches in the final stages of the competition – semi-finals, third-place match, and final – are played over two legs.

Teams who finish four in each League A group will be relegated to League B, with the League B group winners promoted.

Each group winner of League C will be promoted to League B, with teams finishing at the bottom of League B – as well as two of the lowest-ranked third-placed teams – falling into League C.

How does the Women’s Nations League influence qualification for major competitions?

Come the end of the Women’s Nations League’s league stage, the finishing position of teams, and league they are positioned in, will determine where they start in the league system for the Women’s EURO 2029 qualifiers.

As explained earlier, England – as the nominated representative nation for Great Britain – currently occupy a spot in League A. It is nations in League A that are in contention for Olympic qualification; however, finishing in a strong position in League A will prove crucial in order to advance to the knockout finals stage to secure an Olympic berth.

When will fixtures be played?

The league stage fixtures will all be played ahead of the FIFA 2027 Women’s World Cup, which gets underway in Brazil on 24 June 2027.

League Stage

Matchdays 1 and 2: 23 February 2027 – 6 March 2027
Matchdays 3 and 4: 13 April 2027 – 24 April 2027
Matchdays 5 and 6: 7 June 2027 – 15 June 2027

Semi-Finals: 4 October 2027 12 October 2027
Third Place Play-Off and Final: 23 November 2027 – 4 December 2027