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UEFA Women's Nations League

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UEFA Women's Nations League
Organising bodyUEFA
Founded2 November 2022; 2 years ago (2022-11-02)
RegionEurope
Number of teamsMaximum of 55
Related competitionsUEFA Nations League
Current champions Spain (1st title)
Most successful team(s) Spain (1 title)
Websiteuefa.com/womensnationsleague
2025 UEFA Women's Nations League

The UEFA Women's Nations League is a biennial international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body.

The competition feature three leagues, with promotion and relegation between them in addition to a final tournament to determine the champions. It also acts as part of the qualifying process for the UEFA Women's Championship, FIFA Women's World Cup and Women's Olympic Football Tournament, depending on the season.

History

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On 2 November 2022, the UEFA Executive Committee approved a new women's national team competition system, which was publicly announced the following day. This included the announcement of a women's Nations League competition beginning in 2023. The new system came as part of the UEFA women's football strategy for 2019 to 2024 and was approved after discussions between representatives of national associations and the recommendation of the UEFA Women's Football Committee. The Women's Nations League acts as the first phase of a two-part women's national team competition cycle, with the other phase being the European qualifiers for the UEFA Women's Championship or FIFA Women's World Cup.[1]

The new system is designed to create more competitive matches, with teams facing others of similar strength, while generating a greater sporting and commercial interest in women's national team football. However, the system still gives all national teams a chance of qualifying for major international tournaments. The interconnected competition cycles are intended to encourage the long-term development of women's national teams.[2]

Format

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The competition begins with the league stage, featuring the national teams split into three leagues (A, B, and C). Leagues A and B both consist of 16 teams in 4 groups of 4, while League C consists of the remaining competition entrants split into groups of three or four. 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, organized by the participating teams, which feature single-leg semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and a final. In Summer Olympic years, the Nations League Finals determine the teams that will qualify for the Women's Olympic Football Tournament.

In addition, the competition features promotion and relegation, which takes effect in the next edition of qualification for the UEFA Women's Championship or FIFA Women's World Cup (both of which have 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 (conditional upon the number of entrants), are automatically relegated. Promotion/relegation matches are also held on a home-and-away basis, taking place in parallel with the Nations League Finals, with the winners going into the higher league and the losers going into the lower league. The third-placed teams of League A will play the runners-up of League B, while the three best-ranked third-placed teams in League B will play the three best-ranked League C runners-up (conditional upon the number of entrants), with the team from the higher league hosting the second leg.[2]

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The Women's Nations League is linked with qualification for the UEFA Women's Championship and FIFA Women's World Cup. The qualifiers for both competitions use the same league stage system as the Women's Nations League, with teams split into Leagues A, B, and C. Teams in qualification are split into leagues based on the results of the prior edition of the Women's Nations League. The results of the qualification league stage determine which teams qualify automatically for the Women's Euro or World Cup, and which teams enter the play-offs. In addition, teams are automatically promoted and relegated using the same format as in the Women's Nations League, though no promotion/relegation matches take place. This determines the league composition for the next edition of the Women's Nations League.[2]

Results

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Finals

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Season Hosts Final Third-place play-off
Winners Score Runners-up Third Score Fourth
2023–24
Finals 		 France
 Netherlands
 Spain
Spain 		2–0
France
Germany 		2–0
Netherlands

Finals appearances by team

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Team Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total
 Spain 1 (2024) 1
 France 1 (2024) 1
 Germany 1 (2024) 1
 Netherlands 1 (2024) 1

Team performances

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This table shows the overall performance of each team per Nations League season, including the intervening UEFA Women's Championship or FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying competitions which use an identical league structure, and teams' promotion/relegation between the leagues.

Key:

  •  1  – Champions
  •  2  – Runners-up
  •  3  – Third place
  •  4  – Fourth place
  • Rise – Promoted
  • Rise* – Promoted after promotion/relegation play-offs
  • Same position – No movement
  • Same position* – No movement after promotion/relegation play-offs
  • Fall – Relegated
  • Fall* – Relegated after promotion/relegation play-offs
  • Q – Qualified for upcoming UEFA Women's Nations League Finals
  • P/R – Participating in promotion/relegation play-offs
National team Seasons in league Season
Nations League
2023–24 		Euro 2025
qualifying 		Nations League
2025
A B C Lg Rk M Lg Rk M Lg Rk M
 Albania – 2 1 B 32 Fall C 37 Rise B
 Andorra – – 3 C 47 Same position C 51 Same position C
 Armenia – – 3 C 51 Same position C 44 Same position C
 Austria 3 – – A 8 Same position A 11 Same position A
 Azerbaijan – 1 2 C 37 Rise B 29 Fall C
 Belarus – 2 1 B 30 Fall C 35 Rise B
 Belgium 3 – – A 10 Same position* A 12 Same position A
 Bosnia and Herzegovina – 3 – B 21 Same position* B 27 Same position B
 Bulgaria – – 3 C 40 Same position* C 41 Same position C
 Croatia – 3 – B 23 Same position* B 25 Same position B
 Cyprus – – 3 C 46 Same position C 50 Same position C
 Czech Republic 1 2 – B 20 Rise A 14 Fall B
 Denmark 3 – – A 6 Same position A 6 Same position A
 England 3 – – A 5 Same position A 7 Same position A
 Estonia – – 3 C 41 Same position C 46 Same position C
 Faroe Islands – – 3 C 50 Same position C 43 Same position C
 Finland 1 2 – B 18 Rise A 13 Fall B
 France 3 – – A 2 Same position A 3 Same position A
 Georgia – – 3 C 48 Same position C 40 Same position C
 Germany 3 – – A 3 Same position A 2 Same position A
 Gibraltar – – 1 Did not enter C
 Greece – 2 1 B 29 Fall C 36 Rise B
 Hungary – 3 – B 24 Same position* B 26 Same position B
 Iceland 3 – – A 9 Same position* A 5 Same position A
 Israel – 1 2 C 35 Rise B 31 Fall C
 Italy 3 – – A 7 Same position A 4 Same position A
 Kazakhstan – – 3 C 44 Same position C 48 Same position C
 Kosovo – 1 2 C 36 Rise B 32 Fall C
 Latvia – – 3 C 38 Same position* C 42 Same position C
 Liechtenstein – – 1 Did not enter C
 Lithuania – – 3 C 42 Same position C 47 Same position C
 Luxembourg – – 3 C 43 Same position C 38 Same position C
 Malta – 1 2 C 34 Rise B 30 Fall C
 Moldova – – 3 C 49 Same position C 49 Same position C
 Montenegro – – 3 C 39 Same position* C 39 Same position C
 Netherlands 3 – – A 4 Same position A 8 Same position A
 North Macedonia – – 3 C 45 Same position C 45 Same position C
 Northern Ireland – 3 – B 26 Same position* B 23 Same position B
 Norway 3 – – A 12 Same position* A 10 Same position A
 Poland 1 2 – B 19 Rise A 16 Fall B
 Portugal 2 1 – A 13 Fall B 17 Rise A
 Republic of Ireland 1 2 – B 17 Rise A 15 Fall B
 Romania – 2 1 B 31 Fall C 34 Rise B
 Scotland 2 1 – A 15 Fall B 18 Rise A
 Serbia – 3 – B 22 Same position* B 21 Same position B
 Slovakia – 2 1 B 25 Same position* B 28 Fall C
 Slovenia – 2 1 B 28 Fall C 33 Rise B
 Spain 3 – – A 1 Same position A 1 Same position A
 Sweden 3 – – A 11 Same position* A 9 Same position A
 Switzerland 2 1 – A 14 Fall B 19 Rise A
 Turkey – 2 1 C 33 Rise B 24 Same position B
 Ukraine – 3 – B 27 Same position* B 22 Same position B
 Wales 2 1 – A 16 Fall B 20 Rise A
As of 6 November 2024

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New women's national team competition system". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "How will the new UEFA women's national team competition system work?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
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