New Delhi: International break is here with Thomas Tuchel making his debut as England’s manager during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia. However, in Europe, the excitement over the international break is down to the Nations League campaign. This is a revamped edition of the Nations League, which features quarter-finals in the top tier and promotion/relegation playoffs for all four tiers.
The second-placed teams from the group phase in second-placed sides in the group phase of the second and third tiers, and a second in the fourth will get a chance to earn promotion by beating teams who came third or fourth on the level above. UEFA explained that it had a sense of “continuity” between the group phase that concluded in November and the finals in June, making March the knockout stage of international football.
Nations League’s new format
The Nations League 2024-25 started in September last year and the finals will happen in June with 54 teams being put into four tiers, labelled A to D, during the group phase. The teams were then split into four pools of four in Leagues A, B and C and two three-team groups in League D.
The group phases were played through September, October and November, with the teams finishing first in Leagues B, C and D earning promotion for the next edition of the 2026-27 edition with the teams finishing last in A, B and two of the four pools in tier C were relegated. While some teams have retained their place in their tier, others have managed to earn a spot in the quarter-finals and play-offs.
In the play-offs, the promotion/relegation played in home-and-away fixtures between the third-placed teams of League A and the runners-up in League B, the third-placed teams of League B and runners-up of League and two of the fourth-placed teams of League and both the runners-up of League D. Belgium, are currently eighth in the FIFA world rankings and could to League B if they fail to beat Ukraine in the two legs.
Scotland are equally under the pressure of dropping to second-tier against Greece with the Republic of Ireland at risk of relegation to League C when they come face to face against Bulgaria.
UEFA Nations League playoffs
March 20th, Thursday
League A/B playoffs
Turkey vs Hungary
Ukraine vs Belgium
Austria vs Serbia
Greece vs Scotland
League B/C playoffs
Kosovo vs Iceland
Bulgaria vs Republic of Ireland
Armenia vs Georgia
Slovakia vs Slovenia
March 23rd, Sunday
League A/B play-offs
Hungary vs Turkey
Belgium vs Ukraine
Serbia vs Austria
Scotland vs Greece
League B/C play-offs
Iceland vs Kosovo
Republic of Ireland vs Bulgaria
Georgia vs Armenia
Slovakia vs Slovenia
Thursday, March 26
League C/D play-offs
Gibraltar vs Latvia
Malta vs Luxembourg
Tuesday, March 31
League C/D play-offs
Latvia vs Gibraltar
Luxembourg vs Malta
UEFA Nations League Quarterfinals
UEFA Nations League is back this month 🙌#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/SKgvtiu5NO
— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) March 1, 2025
The top teams in each of the four League A groups have qualified for the final eight of the tournament, which will again be played in a two-leg format.
Thursday, March 20
Netherlands vs Spain
Croatia vs France
Denmark vs Portugal
Italy vs Germany
Sunday, March 23
Spain vs Netherlands
France vs Croatia
Portugal vs Denmark
Germany vs Italy
Nations League finals
In the previous edition of the Nations League, the teams finishing first in the League A groups progressed to the final four. However, they will this time face the top-tier of the runners-up in home-and-away quarter-finals, with the winners of these ties qualifying for a four-team tournament in June.
The Nations League finals, which will be a single game will be hosted by the winner in the quarter-final between Germany and Italy, with the semi-finals set for June 4th and 5th, followed by a third-placed playoff and the final on June 8th.
How Nations League relate to FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification?
The ongoing Nations League is set to decide four spots in UEFA qualification for the World Cup 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Starting from this week until March 2026, UEFA’s 16 World Cup nations, (which has increased from 13 teams in 2022, with teams qualifying increased from 32 to 48 teams) will be decided through 12 groups of either four or five.
The teams will be playing home-and-away games against each other. Group winners get an automatic qualifying for te World Cup, taking the first 12 spots. For the remaining four spots, the runners-up from the 12 qualifying groups, along with the four best Nations League group winners who didn’t finish in the top two of their World Cup qualifying group, will be selected based on their overall ranking in the Nations League (where League A winners are ranked higher than those from League B, and so on). These teams will be divided into four paths.
Each path will consist of two rounds of single-match play-offs, with the winners from each of the four sections locking a place in the World Cup.
The international break has returned as teams return for relegation/qualification playoffs in the four-tiers of the Nations league along with the top-tier playing quarter-finals. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
