Nations League 2026–27 — promotion, relegation and the knockout route
October 6, 2026 13:50
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE KNOCKOUTS
- The eight teams that finish in the top two of the four League A groups qualify for the Nations League quarter-finals, which begin in March 2027 and are played across two legs during the international break.
- Quarter-final winners will advance to single-match semi-finals on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 June 2027, with the final on Sunday 13 June.
PROMOTION AND RELEGATION RULES FOR THIS CYCLE
- Winners of groups in Leagues B and C will be promoted for the next Nations League cycle.
- Teams finishing second in a League B or C group will contest a promotion/relegation play-off against a third-placed team from the league above them. The losers of those relegation play-offs, together with the bottom-placed finishers in groups from League A and League B, will be relegated.
FORMAT CHANGE AFFECTING LEAGUES C AND D
- Because the Nations League format will change for the next cycle (taking place across 2028–29) all League D teams in this current cycle are guaranteed promotion to League C.
- Equally, no teams from League C will be relegated at the end of this cycle. The next campaign will consist of three larger leagues, meaning there will not be a League D.
CURRENT QUALIFYING PICTURE (examples from the ongoing groups)
- Portugal are already guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals after winning their opening four matches in Group A4.
- Spain can join them from Group A3 if they beat Croatia and the Czech Republic fail to beat England. If both England and Spain win on Tuesday, England would then need just one point from their final two matches (against Croatia and Spain) to secure a quarter-final spot. England sit second in Group A3 after three matches.
- In Group A1, France and Italy occupy the top two positions, with Belgium one point behind Italy in third; two of those three will advance.
- In Group A2, Netherlands and Greece are first and second, three points clear of Germany in third, while Serbia sit bottom on zero points.
- In Group A4, Denmark are second and three points clear of Wales and Norway; one of that trio will join Portugal.
NATIONAL TEAM SITUATIONS
- Wales have three points from four games after beating Norway 2-1 in Cardiff. With Portugal already qualified from their group, Wales will need close to maximum points from their remaining fixtures against Norway and Portugal to have a chance of reaching the last eight. A third-place finish would put Wales into a play-off to avoid relegation in March, while finishing last would guarantee relegation to League B.
- Scotland, who have three rounds of fixtures remaining, are third in League B1 but only behind Slovenia on goal difference; a win against Slovenia at Hampden Park on Tuesday would put them second behind Switzerland heading into the November break.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
- Tuesday's fixtures complete the fourth round of group matches. The final two full rounds of group-stage matches will be played in the November international window.