2025 UEFA Women's Nations League

2025 UEFA Women's Nations League
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
February – June 2025
Nations League Finals and
promotion/relegation matches

October – December 2025
Teams52
Women's European Qualifiers
2025
2027
Women's Nations League
2027

The 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League will be the second season of the UEFA Women's Nations League, an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition will be played between February and June, with the finals tournament taking place between October and December. The results also determine the leagues for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 qualifying competition.

Format

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The competition will begin with the league stage, featuring the national teams split into three leagues (A, B, and C) based on the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying ranking.[1] Leagues A and B feature 16 teams in four groups of four teams, while League C consists of the remaining competition entrants split into groups of three or four teams. The teams in each group play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.

The four group winners of League A advance to the Nations League Finals, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and a final, all played over two legs (this differs to the previous edition where all the Nations Leagues Finals matches were single-legged).[2] An open draw will determine the pairings and order of legs for the semi-final matches, as well as which semi-final pairing will have its teams host the first leg of the third-place play-off and final.[3]

In addition, the competition features promotion and relegation, taking effect in Women's World Cup 2027 qualifying (which uses an identical league structure). The group winners of Leagues B and C are automatically promoted, while the fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B, as well as the lowest-ranked third-placed team in League B, are automatically relegated. Promotion/relegation play-offs will also be held on a home-and-away basis, taking place in parallel with the Nations League semi-finals, to determine which of the other teams will be promoted, relegated or remain in their respective leagues. The third-placed teams of League A play the runners-up of League B, while the three best-ranked third-placed teams in League B play the three best-ranked League C runners-up. The teams from the higher leagues are seeded, and play the second leg at home.

In all two-legged ties, the team that score more goals on aggregate is the winner. If the aggregate score is level, extra time will be played (the away goals rule will not apply). If the score remains level after extra time, a penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winner.[3]

Tiebreakers

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Tiebreakers for group ranking

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If two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:[3]

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.[a] If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 apply;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  9. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
  10. Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  11. Position in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying ranking.[1]

Criteria for league ranking

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Individual league rankings are established according to the following criteria:[3]

  1. Position in the group;
  2. Higher number of points;
  3. Higher goal difference;
  4. Higher number of goals scored;
  5. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
  6. Higher number of wins;
  7. Higher number of wins away from home;
  8. Lower disciplinary points total (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  9. Position in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying ranking.[1]

When ranking teams in League C, and only in the case when it is composed of different-sized groups, the results against the fourth-placed teams are not considered when comparing teams placed first, second, and third in their respective groups.[3]

Criteria for overall ranking

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After the conclusion of all group matches, the overall UEFA Nations League rankings are established as follows:[3]

  1. The 16 League A teams are ranked 1st to 16th according to their league rankings.
  2. The 16 League B teams are ranked 17th to 32nd according to their league rankings.
  3. The League C teams are ranked 33rd onwards according to their league rankings.

The overall ranking is adjusted after the promotion/relegation play-offs, in order to establish the starting positions of the teams in Women's World Cup 2027 qualifying. The order of the teams is based on the overall rankings, with the following modifications:[3]

  1. The automatically promoted teams are ranked above teams from lower leagues that were promoted after their promotion/relegation matches
  2. The automatically relegated teams are ranked below teams from higher leagues that were relegated after their promotion/relegation matches

Schedule

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Below is the schedule for the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League.[2]

Stage Round Dates
League phase Draw 7 November 2024
Matchdays 1 & 2 19–26 February 2025
Matchdays 3 & 4 2–8 April 2025
Matchdays 5 & 6 26 May–3 June 2025
Promotion/relegation matches Draw 6 June 2025 (TBC)
First leg 22-28 October 2025
Second leg
Finals Draw 6 June 2025 (TBC)
Semi-finals
(Two legs)
20-28 October 2025
Third-place playoff
(Two legs)
26 November-2 December 2025
Final
(Two legs)

Seeding

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Teams league positions:
League A
League B
League C
Did not enter
Suspended by UEFA

The leagues will be formed based on the Women's Euro 2025 qualifying overall ranking,[1] taking into consideration the teams promoted and relegated at the conclusion of that competition. Teams will be seeded into pots based on the same rankings.[2][3]

Gibraltar announced their participation for the first time in October 2024, having not entered in the previous edition. This will be the Gibraltar women's team's first official competitive international tournament.[4][5]

Russia were suspended indefinitely from all UEFA and FIFA competitions on 28 February 2022 due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.[6] On 30 September 2024, UEFA confirmed they will not be permitted to enter this edition of the Women's Nations League, or to enter Women's World Cup 2027 qualifying.[2] In addition, Liechtenstein and San Marino did not submit an entry into the competition.

Key
Rise Promoted after UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying
Fall Relegated after UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying
League A
Pot Team Prv Rank
1  Spain 1
 Germany 2
 France 3
 Italy 4
2  Iceland 5
 Denmark 6
 England 7
 Netherlands 8
3  Sweden 9
 Norway 10
 Austria 11
 Belgium 12
4  Portugal Rise 17
 Scotland Rise 18
 Switzerland Rise 19
 Wales Rise 20
League B
Pot Team Prv Rank
1  Finland Fall 13
 Czech Republic Fall 14
 Republic of Ireland Fall 15
 Poland Fall 16
2  Serbia 21
 Ukraine 22
 Northern Ireland 23
 Turkey 24
3  Croatia 25
 Hungary 26
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 27
 Slovenia Rise 33
4  Romania Rise 34
 Belarus Rise 35
 Greece Rise 36
 Albania Rise 37
League C
Pot Team Prv Rank
1  Slovakia Fall 28
 Azerbaijan Fall 29
 Malta Fall 30
 Israel Fall 31
 Kosovo Fall 32
2  Luxembourg 38
 Montenegro 39
 Georgia 40
 Bulgaria 41
 Latvia 42
3  Faroe Islands 43
 Armenia 44
 North Macedonia 45
 Estonia 46
 Lithuania 47
4  Kazakhstan 48
 Moldova 49
 Cyprus 50
 Andorra 51
 Gibraltar
Did not enter
Team Rank
 Liechtenstein
 San Marino
Banned from entering
Team Rank
 Russia

Draw

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The draw will take place on 7 November 2024 at 13:00 CET in Nyon, Switzerland.[2]

Teams will be drawn from their seeding pots into groups for each league, starting with League C, then League B, and finally League A. In each league, all teams are drawn from Pot 1 and assigned to groups in ascending order until the pot is empty, then the draw continues with Pot 2 and so on.[2]

For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as Belarus and Ukraine, cannot be drawn in the same group. Due to excessive travel restrictions, only one of the Faroe Islands and Malta can be drawn with Kazakhstan.[2]

League A

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Group A1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation A1-1 A1-2 A1-3 A1-4
1 A1-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for Nations League Finals TBD TBD TBD
2 A1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
3 A1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs TBD TBD TBD
4 A1-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group A2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation A2-1 A2-2 A2-3 A2-4
1 A2-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for Nations League Finals TBD TBD TBD
2 A2-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
3 A2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs TBD TBD TBD
4 A2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group A3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation A3-1 A3-2 A3-3 A3-4
1 A3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for Nations League Finals TBD TBD TBD
2 A3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
3 A3-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs TBD TBD TBD
4 A3-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group A4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation A4-1 A4-2 A4-3 A4-4
1 A4-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for Nations League Finals TBD TBD TBD
2 A4-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
3 A4-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs TBD TBD TBD
4 A4-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Nations League Finals

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The pairings and order of legs will be determined via an open draw on approximately 6 June 2025.[2]

Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
20–28 Oct 2025
 
 
 
 
26 Nov – 2 Dec 2025
 
 
 
 
 
20–28 Oct 2025
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Third place play-off
 
 
26 Nov – 2 Dec 2025
 
 
 
 
 
 

League B

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Group B1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation B1-1 B1-2 B1-3 B1-4
1 B1-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League A TBD TBD TBD
2 B1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 B1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs or relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
4 B1-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group B2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation B2-1 B2-2 B2-3 B2-4
1 B2-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League A TBD TBD TBD
2 B2-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 B2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs or relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
4 B2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group B3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation B3-1 B3-2 B3-3 B3-4
1 B3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League A TBD TBD TBD
2 B3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 B3-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs or relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
4 B3-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group B4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation B4-1 B4-2 B4-3 B4-4
1 B4-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League A TBD TBD TBD
2 B4-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 B4-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs or relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
4 B4-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League C TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Ranking of third-placed teams

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Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 B1 Third-placed team of group B1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for relegation play-offs
2 B2 Third-placed team of group B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 B3 Third-placed team of group B3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 B4 Third-placed team of group B4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League C
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

League C

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Group C1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification C1-1 C1-2 C1-3 C1-4
1 C1-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League B TBD TBD TBD
2 C1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 C1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
4 C1-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group C2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification C2-1 C2-2 C2-3 C2-4
1 C2-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League B TBD TBD TBD
2 C2-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 C2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
4 C2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group C3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification C3-1 C3-2 C3-3 C3-4
1 C3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League B TBD TBD TBD
2 C3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 C3-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
4 C3-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group C4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification C4-1 C4-2 C4-3 C4-4
1 C4-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League B TBD TBD TBD
2 C4-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 C4-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
4 C4-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Group C5

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification C5-1 C5-2 C5-3 C5-4
1 C5-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Promotion to League B TBD TBD TBD
2 C5-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs TBD TBD TBD
3 C5-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
4 C5-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

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Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 C1 Runner-up of group C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for promotion play-offs
2 C2 Runner-up of group C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 C3 Runner-up of group C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 C4 Runner-up of group C4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 C5 Runner-up of group C5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: February 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Overall ranking

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The results of each team's league rankings will used to calculate the overall ranking of the competition, using the ranking criteria, and will be used to determine the leagues and seeding for the upcoming 2027 Women's World Cup qualifying competition.[3]

League A League B League C

Rnk Team Pld Pts
1 A1-1 0 0
2 A2-1 0 0
3 A3-1 0 0
4 A4-1 0 0
5 A1-2 0 0
6 A2-2 0 0
7 A3-2 0 0
8 A4-2 0 0
9 A1-3 0 0
10 A2-3 0 0
11 A3-3 0 0
12 A4-3 0 0
13 A1-4 0 0
14 A2-4 0 0
15 A3-4 0 0
16 A4-4 0 0
First match(es) will be played: February 2025.
Source: UEFA

Rnk Team Pld Pts
17 B1-1 0 0
18 B2-1 0 0
19 B3-1 0 0
20 B4-1 0 0
21 B1-2 0 0
22 B2-2 0 0
23 B3-2 0 0
24 B4-2 0 0
25 B1-3 0 0
26 B2-3 0 0
27 B3-3 0 0
28 B4-3 0 0
29 B1-4 0 0
30 B2-4 0 0
31 B3-4 0 0
32 B4-4 0 0
First match(es) will be played: February 2025.
Source: UEFA

Rnk Team Pld Pts
33 C1-1 0 0
34 C2-1 0 0
35 C3-1 0 0
36 C4-1 0 0
37 C5-1 0 0
38 C1-2 0 0
39 C2-2 0 0
40 C3-2 0 0
41 C4-2 0 0
42 C5-2 0 0
43 C1-3 0 0
44 C2-3 0 0
45 C3-3 0 0
46 C4-3 0 0
47 C5-3 0 0
48 C1-4 0 0
49 C2-4 0 0
50 C3-4 0 0
51 C4-4 0 0
52 C5-4 0 0
First match(es) will be played: February 2025.
Source: UEFA

Notes

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  1. ^ When there are two or more teams tied on points, criteria 1 to 3 are applied. After these criteria are applied, they may define the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there is a three-way tie on points, the application of the first three criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure is resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that are still tied.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Women's European Qualifiers 2024 Overall League Rankings" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "2025 UEFA Women's Nations League and 2026 Women's European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup" (ZIP). UEFA Circular Letter. No. 53/2024. UEFA. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Regulations of the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League and 2026 Women's European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup". uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  4. ^ Gibraltar Women's National Team entered into UEFA Nations League Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Gibraltar Women's Football Gets Major Boost with Entry into Nations League". Gibraltar Chronicle. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  6. ^ "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.