UEFA confirms new Nations League composition
October 11, 2017
National associations divided in four leagues based on coefficient rankings
Following the conclusion of this week’s European Qualifiers group stage matches, UEFA has confirmed the composition of the four leagues for the UEFA Nations League 2018-19.
The format of the new national team competition features promotion and relegation and sees the 55 European national teams divided into four leagues in accordance with UEFA’s national association coefficient rankings.
The UEFA Nations League will be played in four leagues A to D, with League A containing the 12 highest-ranked teams.
League B contains the next 12 teams, League C the 15 following and League D the last 16 teams. The competition starts on 6 September 2018.
Each league will contain four groups of three or four teams. The league phase will be played over six matchdays from September to November 2018.
The composition of the groups within each league will be decided by means of a draw, which will take place on Wednesday 24 January 2018 at the Swiss Tech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Promotions and relegations between the leagues (four teams move up, four teams move down) will take effect for the second edition of the UEFA Nations League in September 2020. From that moment on, the composition of the leagues will be exclusively determined by the rankings of the previous edition.
The four League A group winners will play the Finals in June 2019 to determine the first UEFA Nations League winner. The Finals consist of four matches – semi-finals, third-place match and final – to be played in one of the finalist countries.
The UEFA Nations League aims to ensure the continued success of national team football by replacing most friendlies with competitive matches and by allowing all nations to play against equally-ranked teams.
