England miss out on semis - how Nations League unfolded
England beat Spain 1-0 in the Nations League in February but lost 2-1 on Tuesday
- Published
The Women's Nations League group stage is now complete after an eventful final matchday.
France and Germany had already booked their place in the semi-finals with games to spare, but there were still two spots up for grabs.
World champions Spain defeated European champions England 2-1 in Barcelona to secure their place on matchday six, while Sweden thrashed Denmark 6-1 to top Group 4 ahead of their opponents and Italy.
Scotland and Wales played for pride after their relegations to League B were confirmed on Friday night, while in League B, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were looking to secure second-placed finishes in their groups to claim spots in the promotion play-offs.
BBC Sport reviews the campaign and looks at how England and Wales are preparing for this summer's Euros in Switzerland.
What is the Women's Nations League?
The league was launched in 2023, with the inaugural tournament offering qualification spots for the 2025 Women's European Championship.
Countries are placed into groups of three or four teams, across three different leagues, with promotion and relegation between the leagues depending on the match results.
And there's a lot at stake.
Teams are not only competing for the Nations League title but their finishing position will also determine where they start in the league system for the European qualifiers for the 2027 Women's World Cup.
What happened in the group stages?
Scotland had nothing but pride to play for when they travelled to the Netherlands to contest their sixth match in Group A1, but emerged with a respectable 1-1 draw.
New boss Melissa Andreatta's side fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Austria on matchday five, which confirmed their relegation to the second tier of the competition.
Kathleen McGovern cancelled out Jill Roord's opener on Tuesday to give Scotland their first and only point of the campaign.
Germany thrashed the Netherlands 4-0 in Bremen last week to confirm their passage as group winners with a game to spare, before demolishing Austria 6-0 on Tuesday.
France continued their flawless record in Group A2 by claiming a fifth victory from five games with a 4-0 demolition of Switzerland, before scoring two late goals to beat Iceland on Tuesday with Chelsea's Sandy Baltimore on target.
England began their Group A3 campaign with an underwhelming 1-1 draw in Portugal, but claimed an impressive 1-0 win at Wembley over reigning world champions Spain.
The Lionesses, who will defend their European title this summer, beat Belgium 5-0 at Bristol City's Ashton Gate in April but then fell to a 3-2 defeat by the same side four days later.
After the shock retirement of goalkeeper Mary Earps just five weeks out from the tournament in Switzerland, Sarina Wiegman's side thumped Portugal 6-0 at Wembley.
That victory set up a shootout with Spain for a last-four spot, but the Lionesses lost 2-1 and finished second in the group.
It was all to play for in Group A4, with three of the four sides still in contention.
Sweden and Denmark were joint top on nine points before the games kicked off, but the Swedes won their matchday six meeting 6-1 to reach the next stage.
Italy won 4-1 in Wales to finish second in the table behind Sweden. Rhian Wilkinson's side finished the campaign winless, and were already relegated to League B with a 1-0 defeat in Denmark on Friday night.
In Group B1, Poland were promoted to League A with a 4-0 win over second-placed Northern Ireland on Friday.
But Tanya Oxtoby's NI side claimed a promotion play-off place with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their last group game on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the promotion race in Group B2 went down to the final round of matches.
Emily Murphy's 89th-minute winner against Turkey on Friday completed a remarkable comeback to keep the Republic of Ireland within three points of group leaders Slovenia.
Carla Ward's side welcomed Slovenia to Cork on Tuesday knowing a big win would clinch promotion to League A. But a 1-0 victory - thanks to Saoirse Noonan's strike - meant their opponents pipped them to top spot with a superior head-to-head goal difference.
The Republic of Ireland will go into a promotion play-off instead.
How does the league work?
Teams were placed in each league based on their rankings at the end of the 2024 women's European qualifying league stage.
The four League A group winners will meet in two-legged semi-finals. The winners go into the final to decide who takes the Nations League title, while the losers go into a third-place play-off. Both the final and the third-place tie will also be played over two legs.
The teams who finish fourth in each League A group will be relegated to League B, and the League B group winners will be promoted.
Each group winner of League C will be promoted to League B, with the teams finishing at the bottom of League B, as well as two of the lowest ranked third-placed teams, dropping to League C.
Spain won the inaugural Women's Nations League title in 2024.
How can teams qualify for Women's World Cup?
The group standings at the end of the Nations League determine which teams are placed in each league for the European qualifiers for the 2027 Women's World Cup.
There will be another 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.
The top four teams in League B will be promoted.
Third-placed teams from League A will have to play the second-placed teams from League B to decide which four teams claim the final League A spots.
At the end of the World Cup qualifiers, the four League A winners will qualify directly for the Women's World Cup. Other teams will be entered into the play-offs to claim the remaining spots.
When are the finals fixtures?
Finals
Semi-finals (two legs): 22-28 October
Final/third-place play-off (two legs): 26 November-2 December
Promotion / relegation play-offs
Two legs in October 2025, exact dates TBC
The draws for the ties will be made on 6 June.