Women's Nations League: What is it and who is playing who?

7 April 2025

The Women's Nations League is well underway.

Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England are all taking part in the Women's Nations League, which is the last big competition before the Euros.

Read on to find out more about the competition and how the groups work.

What is the Women's Nations League?

The Women's Nations League was launched in 2023 and followed the same format as the Men's Nations League, which was started in 2018.

Its original purpose was to replace friendlies with more competitive matches.

Countries are placed by UEFA into groups of three or four teams across three different leagues, A, B and C, based on their rankings.

Teams then play each other in their groups twice over a few months, both at home and away.

The finishing position of the teams also determines where they start in the league system for the qualifiers of the 2027 Women's World Cup.

England, Scotland and Wales are all in League A, which has four groups made up of teams ranked one to 16.

Group A1 - Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Scotland

Group A2 - France, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland

Group A3 - England, Spain, Portugal, Belgium

Group A4 - Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Wales

In League A, the team that finishes top of each of the four groups will go into the semi-finals.

Teams who finish in the top two in each League A group stay in the top league for the World Cup qualifiers.

The team that finishes bottom of each group will be relegated to League B.

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are both in League B.

Group B1 - Poland, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania

Group B2 - Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Turkey, Greece

Group B3 - Serbia, Finland, Hungary, Belarus

Group B4 - Ukraine, Czech Republic, Albania, Croatia

The top four teams in League B will be promoted to League A.

The teams finishing at the bottom of League B and two of the lowest-ranked third-placed teams will drop to League C.

Group C1 - Slovakia, Faroe Islands, Moldova, Gibraltar

Group C2 - Cyprus, Malta, Georgia, Andorra

Group C3 - Luxembourg, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein

Group C4 - Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Lithuania

The four group winners will be automatically promoted to League B.

The group rankings at the end of the Nations League decide which teams are placed in each league for the qualifiers for the 2027 Women's World Cup.

There is also a draw in November 2025 to decide the groups within the three leagues.

Teams who finish in the top two in each League A group stay in the top league for the World Cup qualifiers.

While League A winners qualify directly for the World Cup at the end of the World Cup qualifiers, other teams enter play-offs.