Nations League: What next as group stage ends and how is World Cup affected?
Describe source, Getty PicturesThe Nations League returns in March 2025 with the two-legged quarter-finals as neatly as the promotion/relegation play-offs
The community stage for the new-explore Nations League is over.
The occasion will resume next yr with the knockout phases, plus relegation and promotion play-offs.
BBC Sport takes a explore at who has reached the quarter-finals, who has been promoted and relegated, and what’s left to be determined.
Who has reached the quarter-finals and when is the blueprint?
In League A – the head tier of the Nations League – the groups finishing first and second in each and every of the four groups progress to 2-leg quarter-finals, which is in a local to be played in March.
The eight groups through to the subsequent portion are:
Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
The blueprint for the quarter-finals will happen in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday, 22 November.
The winners of the closing-eight ties will progress to the Nations League Finals occasion, with semi-finals and a final in June.
Describe source, Getty Pictures
England beat the Republic of Eire on Sunday to net promotion to League A of the Nations League
The groups who own accomplished top of Nations League Groups B, C and D all secured computerized promotion. They are:
Promoted to League A: Czech Republic, England, Norway and Wales.
Promoted to League B: North Macedonia, Northern Eire, Sweden and Romania or Kosovo.
Promoted to League C: Moldova and San Marino.
Meanwhile, the groups who build bottom of League A and B are relegated to League B and C. The two groups who build bottom in League C with the worst files are relegated to League D. They are:
Relegated to League B: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Poland and Switzerland.
Relegated to League C: Albania, Finland, Kazakhstan and Montenegro.
Relegated to League D: Azerbaijan, Lithuania
Promotion/relegation play-offs will happen in March.
These ties will peek the groups who accomplished third in League A playing two-legged ties in opposition to second-placed facets from League B, with winner of those takes taking feature in League A.
Meanwhile, the third-feature groups in League B will face the second-placed facets in League C, with winners securing their feature in League B.
Lastly, the two nations who build bottom in League C with basically the most moving myth will play the runners-up of League D.
League A/B play-offs: Austria, Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Scotland, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
League B/C play-offs: Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo or Romania, Republic of Eire, Slovakia and Slovenia.
League C/D play-offs: Gibraltar, Latvia, Luxembourg and Malta.
What next for the Dwelling Nations?
England obtained their community in League B that methodology they are promoted automatically to League A and are not thinking about the subsequent stage of the Nations League.
Scotland, in the period in-between, own the play-offs to explore ahead to next yr as they explore to withhold their feature in League A.
Wales jumped over Turkey of their final match to acquire promotion from League B to League A and, worship England, can also not be thinking about March’s games.
Northern Eire obtained their community in League C and are promoted to League B.
Does Nations League affect World Cup qualifying?
Four groups will qualify for a play-off to reach the World Cup by strategy of the Nations League.
They are the four simplest-ranked community winners who build not hasten on to build in the head two of their World Cup qualifying community next yr.
With groups in the head Nations League division extremely at possibility of qualify for the World Cup through European qualifying – and many groups in the second tier too – it presents an further incentive for groups across Leagues B and C.
By finishing top of Neighborhood B2, England are extraordinarily at possibility of own a World Cup play-off protest banked, with the identical grief going through Neighborhood B4 winners Wales.
Northern Eire top C3, which presents them no lower than of conducting, however Scotland are not in the running to get a play-off protest throughout the Nations League.
The four groups who get into the play-offs by strategy of the Nations League would perhaps be attach in with the 12 groups who build second of their World Cup qualifying groups – with four spots for 2026 up for grabs.
Seedings for the World Cup qualifying groups will largely be determined by Fifa world rankings – and not Nations League finishes.
The exception is that the head seeds would perhaps be drawn out of the groups who build in the head two of every and every League A community – plus the four top countries by world rankings.
England’s world ranking of fourth, third in Europe, methodology they are extremely at possibility of be top seeds despite not having been in League A.
