Any upcoming surprises in the Nations League?

The season has only just started, but it is already time for the first international break, with the Nations League and other fixtures kicking into action over the coming days. These will be the first international fixtures for European teams after this summer’s tournament as we start the new cycle heading towards the World Cup in 2026.

Most teams will play two matches over the coming days and it will give managers a chance to evaluate their options with a number of new managers in place and certain players having retired and needing to be replaced. The positive side to the Nations League, still a relatively new competition, is that it offers competitive matches rather than simply friendlies, which many felt were largely a waste of time.

How does it work?

The Nations League was introduced for the first time in 2018 and was a success, so it has been kept on since then with fans preferring it as a stop gap in between the major international tournaments. Based on their ranking, the competing European nations are divided into four leagues. These leagues are then divided into four groups (or two for Group D), each containing four teams. The nations will then battle it out in a round-robin format, playing each other home and away.

Teams finishing top of their group get promoted, while those finishing bottom are relegated. Winners of League A meet in a finals tournament, containing semi-finals and a final, which will decide the Nations League champion. The groups are as follows:

League A

Group A1: Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Scotland

Group A2: Italy, Belgium, France, Israel

Group A3: Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group A4: Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Serbia

League B

Group B1: Czechia, Ukraine, Albania, Georgia

Group B2: England, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Greece

Group B3: Austria, Norway, Slovenia, Kazakhstan

Group B4: Wales, Iceland, Montenegro, Türkiye

League C

Group C1: Sweden, Azerbaijan, Slovakia, Estonia

Group C2: Romania, Kosovo, Cyprus, Lithuania*

Group C3: Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Northern Ireland, Belarus

Group C4: Armenia, Faroe Islands, North Macedonia, Latvia

League D

Group D1: Gibraltar*, San Marino, Liechtenstein

Group D2: Moldova, Malta, Andorra

The 2024/25 edition has been expanded with a new knockout round to be played in March 2025. The League A group winners and runners-up will participate in home-and-away quarter-finals, with the winners of these ties qualifying for the final tournament in June 2025.

The upcoming fixtures

The first of the fixtures takes place on Thursday 5th with some intriguing ties lined up. Denmark take on Switzerland with the home team looking to make amends for a disappointing European Championship. The Swiss, on the other hand, will be looking to build on their run to the quarter finals back in June and we can expect an attacking match between these two. Portugal take on Croatia in another interesting tie on Thursday, two teams who will have hoped and expected more at the recent Euro Championships. Scotland and Poland are also in action as they look to go again, qualification for any major tournament can be regarded as a success but at the same time they will look to build a better team for more consistency. Serbia have the daunting task of taking on Euro winners Spain in the final match from Group A on Thursday. There are other matches from League C and D with the likes of Sweden and Bulgaria in action. 

There are only two matches on Friday from League A, these are Belgium versus Israel and one of the biggest clashes of the round, France against Italy. The latter of these two matches is bound to be an interesting match, despite Italy’s poor performance at the recent Euro, they will be looking to claw back some respect on the international stage after putting up a poor defence of the title they won in 2021. Türkiye travel to Wales in League B in what is likely to be a challenging match for both teams and the likes of Austria and Romania are also in action on Friday. 

Germany host Hungary on Saturday, a repeat of the clash between these two teams a few months ago at the European Championships. The other match from League A is Netherlands at home to Bosnia & Herzegovina with a big clash taking place in League B as England travel to Dublin to take on neighbours Ireland. England’s poor performances in the last Nations League saw them relegated to League B and they will be taking on teams who are second tier nations in European Football, a different challenge than what they will have expected. The Czech Republic take on one of the surprise teams of the last championship, Georgia and the likes of Greece and Ukraine are also in action. 

Round two of the fixtures begins on Sunday and Spain are in action again, this time on the road as they travel to Switzerland in what could potentially be a tricky fixture. Portugal will be confident of getting the better of Scotland whereas Denmark will be hoping to do the same against Serbia and Croatia should be able to beat Poland. There are no fixtures from League B on Sunday, so it’s the lesser nations in League C and D that make up the rest of the entertainment. 

Only two League A matches on Monday as France host neighbouring Belgium in what has the potential to be an interesting tie between two of Europe’s top teams. The second match is Israel versus Italy, a match the away side will really be hoping to pick up three points in. Türkiye are back in action in League B as they welcome Iceland and a potentially interesting match could be Norway taking on Austria. 

The final day of Nations League action is Tuesday where the highlight is without a doubt the clash between Netherlands and Germany. These two old rivals have produced many classic clashes over the years and the chance for them to go head to head again at the start of this Nations League is certainly an interesting prospect. The other match from League A is Hungary against Bosnia & Herzegovina. England return to Wembley to take on Finland whereas Ireland remain in Dublin to host Greece in League B and another interesting match could be the Czech Republic versus Ukraine. 

Players will then get a few days of rest and return to their clubs for a few weeks until they will be called back up to represent their countries again for another round of Nations League matches in mid October.

PS: Odds might have changed since the writing and publication of this article.

Last updated: 05.09.24