How promotion, relegation and knockouts work in Nations League
Teams finishing at the top of groups in leagues B and C will earn promotion for the next Nations League cycle, while teams that finish second in a League B or League C group will face either a third-placed or bottom-placed team from the league above them in a promotion/relegation play-off.
Key points
- Wales are in a three-way battle alongside Norway and Denmark to qualify for the Nations League quarter-finals [Getty Images] While England's League A campaign has gone well so far, Wales' has been trickier.
- A third-place finish would put them in a play-off to avoid relegation in March, while coming last in the group may ensure a drop down to League B.
- Scotland are now unable to reach the top spot in Group B1 and are unlikely to make the promotion/relegation play-offs.
As the Nations League format is changing for the next cycle, taking place across 2028 and 2029, all League D teams are guaranteed promotion to League C.
Additional details
- Should they beat Ukraine and Hungary fail to beat Georgia in November's first round of fixtures, they will guarantee top spot and promotion.
- The eight teams to finish in the top two of the four League A groups will play in the knockout rounds that start in March 2027.
- A win for them and Hungary doing the same would mean the two sides face off in a promotion-decider in the final round of games.
- The new format will consist of three larger leagues, meaning there will not be a League D in the next campaign.
- Thomas Tuchel's side sit second after four matches in Group A3, with a point in either of their final two matches in November against Croatia and Spain enough to secure a place in the final eight teams.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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