2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League

The 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League will be the inaugural season of the UEFA Women's Nations League, an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of UEFA.[1] The results will be used to determine the leagues for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying competition. The top two teams with the exception of the prequalified host France qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
22 September – 5 December 2023
Nations League Finals and
promotion/relegation matches
21–28 February 2024
Teams51
Tournament statistics
Matches played49
Goals scored125 (2.55 per match)
Attendance257,264 (5,250 per match)
Top scorer(s)Denmark Pernille Harder
Latvia Karlīna Miksone
Malta Haley Bugeja
Poland Ewa Pajor
Slovakia Patrícia Hmírová
(3 goals each)

Format

The competition will begin with the league stage, featuring the national teams split into three leagues (A, B, and C) based on the UEFA coefficient ranking. Leagues A and B will feature 16 teams in four groups of four teams, while League C will consist of the remaining competition entrants split into groups of three or four teams.

The teams in each group will play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The four group winners of League A will advance to the Nations League Finals, which will feature single-leg semi-finals, a third place play-off and final. An open draw will determine the pairings and home teams for the semi-final matches, as well as which semi-final will have its teams host the third place play-off and final. The top two eligible teams in the Nations League Finals (excluding France) will qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[2]

In addition, the competition will feature promotion and relegation, taking effect in UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying (which will use an identical league structure). The group winners of Leagues B and C will be automatically promoted, while the fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B, as well as the lowest-ranked third-placed team in League B, will be automatically relegated. Promotion and relegation matches will also be 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.[3] The teams from the higher leagues will be seeded, and play the second leg at home. In the two-legged ties, the team that scores more goals on aggregate is the winner. If the aggregate score is level, extra time is played (the away goals rule is not applied). If the score remains level after extra time, a penalty shoot-out is used to decide the winner.[2]

League summary
LeagueTeamsPromotedRelegated
League A16—4–8
League B164–85–8
League C195–8—

Tiebreakers for group ranking

If two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:[2]

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.[lower-alpha 1] If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 apply;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  9. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
  10. Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  11. Position in the UEFA women's national team coefficient ranking.

Notes

  1. When there are two or more teams tied in points, criteria 1 to 3 are applied. After these criteria are applied, they may define the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there is a three-way tie on points, the application of the first three criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure is resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that are still tied.

Criteria for league ranking

Individual league rankings are established according to the following criteria:[2]

  1. Position in the group;
  2. Higher number of points;
  3. Superior goal difference;
  4. Higher number of goals scored;
  5. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
  6. Higher number of wins;
  7. Higher number of wins away from home;
  8. Lower disciplinary points total (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  9. Position in the UEFA women's national team coefficient ranking.

In order to rank teams in League C, which may be composed of different sized groups, the results against the fourth-placed teams in these leagues are not taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed first, second and third in their respective groups.[2]

The ranking of the top four teams in League A are determined by their finish in the Nations League Finals.[2]

Criteria for overall ranking

The overall UEFA Nations League rankings are established as follows:[2]

  1. The 16 League A teams are ranked 1st to 16th according to their league rankings.
  2. The 16 League B teams are ranked 17th to 32nd according to their league rankings.
  3. The League C teams are ranked 33rd onwards according to their league rankings.

Schedule

The competition will be played from September 2023 to February 2024.[4] It will begin with the league phase, and end with the Nations League Finals and promotion and relegation matches played in parallel.[3] Below is the schedule of the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League.[5]

Stage Round Match dates
League phase Matchday 1 21–22 September 2023
Matchday 2 26 September 2023
Matchday 3 26–27 October 2023
Matchday 4 31 October 2023
Matchday 5 30 November – 1 December 2023
Matchday 6 5 December 2023
Finals Semi-finals 21–28 February 2024
Third place play-off
Final
Promotion and relegation matches First leg
Second leg

Seeding

All 55 UEFA national teams were able to submit an entry for the competition by 23 March 2023 at the latest,[6] which also acted as entry for UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying.[3] In total, 51 teams entered the competition. Russia were not permitted to enter the competition, as Russian teams were suspended indefinitely from UEFA and FIFA competitions since 28 February 2022 due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.[7] In addition, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino did not submit an entry.

The draw for the league phase took place on 2 May 2023, 13:00 CEST, at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.[6][8] Teams were split into leagues based on their UEFA women's national team coefficient ranking.[9] Teams were divided into four pots of four in Leagues A and B, and three pots of five and one pot of 4 in League C.[10] For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan (due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict), as well as Belarus and Ukraine (due to the Belarusian involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine), cannot be drawn in the same group. Due to winter venue restrictions, a group could contain a maximum of two of Sweden, Norway and Iceland in League A, and two of Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Latvia and Lithuania in League C. Due to excessive travel restrictions, only one of Andorra, the Faroe Islands and Malta could be drawn with Kazakhstan.[10]

League A
Pot Team Coeff Rank
1  England 46,178 1
 Germany 43,043 2
 France 42,584 3
 Sweden 40,823 4
2  Spain 40,472 5
 Netherlands 39,910 6
 Norway 38,715 7
 Denmark 37,535 8
3  Italy 36,455 9
 Belgium 34,794 10
 Austria 33,963 11
 Iceland 33,348 12
4   Switzerland 33,101 13
 Wales 29,942 15
 Portugal 29,744 16
 Scotland 29,335 17
League B
Pot Team Coeff Rank
1  Republic of Ireland 28,877 18
 Poland 28,458 19
 Czech Republic 27,508 20
 Finland 26,757 21
2  Serbia 26,517 22
 Slovenia 26,445 23
 Northern Ireland 25,711 24
 Romania 24,877 25
3  Ukraine 24,359 26
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 23,091 27
 Slovakia 19,213 28
 Hungary 18,552 29
4  Greece 17,556 30
 Croatia 17,523 31
 Belarus 16,890 32
 Albania 16,826 33
League C
Pot Team Coeff Rank
1  Malta 16,021 34
 Israel 15,543 35
 Azerbaijan 14,876 36
 Turkey 14,865 37
 North Macedonia 14,483 38
2  Kosovo 14,226 39
 Montenegro 12,668 40
 Luxembourg 12,051 41
 Estonia 9,750 42
 Moldova 9,654 43
3  Lithuania 9,649 44
 Kazakhstan 8,662 45
 Latvia 8,543 46
 Bulgaria 8,200 47
 Cyprus 8,032 48
4  Faroe Islands 7,020 49
 Georgia 6,977 50
 Armenia 6,500 51
 Andorra 1,958 52
Did not enter
Team Coeff Rank
 Gibraltar 0 —
 Liechtenstein 0 —
 San Marino 0 —
Banned from entering competition
Team Coeff Rank
 Russia 32,203 14

League A
Main article: 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A

Group A1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Netherlands England Belgium Scotland
1  Netherlands 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 6[lower-alpha 1] Qualification for Nations League Finals — 2–1 5 Dec 4–0
2  England 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6[lower-alpha 1] 1 Dec — 1–0 2–1
3  Belgium 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4 Qualification for relegation play-offs 2–1 31 Oct — 1 Dec
4  Scotland 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1 Relegation to League B 31 Oct 5 Dec 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked on head-to-head points: Netherlands 3, England 0.

Group A2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation France Austria Portugal Norway
1  France 3 3 0 0 5 1 +4 9 Qualification for Nations League Finals — 30 Nov 2–0 31 Oct
2  Austria 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4 0–1 — 2–1 5 Dec
3  Portugal 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3 Qualification for relegation play-offs 5 Dec 31 Oct — 3–2
4  Norway 3 0 1 2 4 6 −2 1 Relegation to League B 1–2 1–1 1 Dec —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group A3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Denmark Germany Iceland Wales
1  Denmark 3 3 0 0 8 1 +7 9 Qualification for Nations League Finals — 2–0 5 Dec 31 Oct
2  Germany 3 2 0 1 9 3 +6 6 1 Dec — 4–0 5–1
3  Iceland 3 1 0 2 1 5 −4 3 Qualification for relegation play-offs 0–1 31 Oct — 1–0
4  Wales 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0 Relegation to League B 1–5 5 Dec 1 Dec —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group A4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Spain Sweden Italy Switzerland
1  Spain 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 9 Qualification for Nations League Finals — 5 Dec 1 Dec 5–0
2  Sweden 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6 2–3 — 31 Oct 1–0
3  Italy 3 1 0 2 1 2 −1 3 Qualification for relegation play-offs 0–1 0–1 — 5 Dec
4   Switzerland 3 0 0 3 0 7 −7 0 Relegation to League B 31 Oct 1 Dec 0–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Nations League Finals

The pairings and home teams will be determined by means of an open draw on 11 December 2023.[5]

Bracket
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
February 2024 – TBD
 
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4
 
February 2024 – TBD
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4
 
Winners Match 1
 
February 2024 – TBD
 
Winners Match 2
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4
 
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4
 
Third place play-off
 
 
February 2024 – TBD
 
 
Losers Match 1
 
 
Losers Match 2

Semi-finals
Winners Group 1/2/3/4Match 1Winners Group 1/2/3/4
Winners Group 1/2/3/4Match 2Winners Group 1/2/3/4

Third place play-off
Losers Match 1Match 3Losers Match 2

Final
Winners Match 1Match 4Winners Match 2

League B
Main article: 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League B

Group B1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation Republic of Ireland Hungary Northern Ireland Albania
1  Republic of Ireland 3 3 0 0 12 1 +11 9 Promotion to League A — 1 Dec 3–0 5–1
2  Hungary 3 1 1 1 4 7 −3 4 Qualification for promotion play-offs 0–4 — 3–2 5 Dec
3  Northern Ireland 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3 Relegation to League C or qualification for relegation play-offs 5 Dec 31 Oct — 1–0
4  Albania 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1 Relegation to League C 31 Oct 1–1 1 Dec —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group B2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation Finland Slovakia Croatia Romania
1  Finland 3 3 0 0 8 0 +8 9 Promotion to League A — 4–0 3–0 30 Nov
2  Slovakia 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4 Qualification for promotion play-offs 5 Dec — 4–0 31 Oct
3  Croatia 3 1 0 2 2 8 −6 3 Relegation to League C or qualification for relegation play-offs 31 Oct 1 Dec — 2–1
4  Romania 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1 Relegation to League C 0–1 0–0 5 Dec —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group B3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation Poland Serbia Greece Ukraine
1  Poland 3 3 0 0 7 3 +4 9 Promotion to League A — 2–1 5 Dec 2–1
2  Serbia 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 6 Qualification for promotion play-offs 31 Oct — 4–0 5 Dec
3  Greece 3 1 0 2 3 8 −5 3 Relegation to League C or qualification for relegation play-offs 1–3 1 Dec — 2–1
4  Ukraine 3 0 0 3 3 6 −3 0 Relegation to League C 1 Dec 1–2 31 Oct —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group B4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation Bosnia and Herzegovina Czech Republic Slovenia Belarus
1  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Promotion to League A — 1–0 1–1 5 Dec
2  Czech Republic 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6 Qualification for promotion play-offs 31 Oct — 5 Dec 2–1
3  Slovenia 3 0 2 1 2 4 −2 2 Relegation to League C or qualification for relegation play-offs 1 Dec 0–2 — 31 Oct
4  Belarus 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1 Relegation to League C 1–2 1 Dec 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 B2  Croatia 2 1 0 1 2 5 −3 3 Qualification for relegation play-offs
2 B1  Albania 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1
3 B4  Slovenia 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 1
4 B3  Ukraine 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0 Relegation to League C
Updated to match(es) played on 26 September 2023. Source: UEFA

League C
Main article: 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League C

Group C1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Malta Latvia Andorra Moldova
1  Malta 3 3 0 0 8 0 +8 9 Promotion to League B — 5 Dec 5–0 2–0
2  Latvia 3 2 0 1 9 1 +8 6 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs 0–1 — 1 Dec 5–0
3  Andorra 3 1 0 2 2 10 −8 3 31 Oct 0–4 — 5 Dec
4  Moldova 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0 1 Dec 31 Oct 1–2 —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group C2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Turkey Luxembourg Georgia (country) Lithuania
1  Turkey 3 3 0 0 9 0 +9 9 Promotion to League B — 31 Oct 5 Dec 2–0
2  Luxembourg 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs 0–4 — 1–1 5 Dec
3  Georgia 3 0 2 1 1 4 −3 2 0–3 1 Dec — 31 Oct
4  Lithuania 3 0 1 2 0 4 −4 1 1 Dec 0–2 0–0 —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group C3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Azerbaijan Montenegro Cyprus Faroe Islands
1  Azerbaijan 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Promotion to League B — 31 Oct 1–1 5 Dec
2  Montenegro 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs 0–1 — 5 Dec 1 Dec
3  Cyprus 3 1 1 1 2 3 −1 4 1 Dec 0–2 — 1–0
4  Faroe Islands 3 0 0 3 1 4 −3 0 1–2 0–1 31 Oct —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group C4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Kazakhstan Estonia Israel Armenia
1  Kazakhstan 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 Promotion to League B — 1 Dec 26 Oct 5 Dec
2  Estonia 3 1 1 1 4 6 −2 4 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs 0–0 — 0–5 31 Oct
3  Israel 1 1 0 0 5 0 +5 3 31 Oct 5 Dec — 2 Dec
4  Armenia 2 0 0 2 2 6 −4 0 1–2 1–4 29 Nov —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2023. Source: UEFA

Group C5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Kosovo Bulgaria North Macedonia
1  Kosovo 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 4 Promotion to League B — 1 Dec 31 Oct
2  Bulgaria 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4 Possible qualification for promotion play-offs 0–0 — 5 Dec
3  North Macedonia 2 0 0 2 0 3 −3 0 0–2 0–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 26 September 2023. Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 C5  Bulgaria 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4 Qualification for promotion play-offs
2 C4  Israel 1 1 0 0 5 0 +5 3
3 C1  Latvia 2 1 0 1 4 1 +3 3
4 C3  Cyprus 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1]
5 C2  Luxembourg 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1]
Updated to match(es) played on 26 September 2023. Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked on away goals scored: Cyprus 1, Luxembourg 0.

Promotion and relegation matches

The promotion and relegation match pairings will be determined by means of a draw on 11 December 2023.[5]

League A vs League B
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
League B runner-up League A third place Feb Feb
League B runner-up League A third place Feb Feb
League B runner-up League A third place Feb Feb
League B runner-up League A third place Feb Feb

League B vs League C
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
League C runner-up League B third place Feb Feb
League C runner-up League B third place Feb Feb
League C runner-up League B third place Feb Feb

References
  1. "New women's national team competition system". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  2. "Regulations of the UEFA European Women's Championship including UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers". UEFA. 7 February 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  3. "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.
  4. "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: How it works". UEFA. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  5. "2023 European football calendar: Match and draw dates for all UEFA competitions". UEFA. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  6. "UEFA European Women's Championship 2023–25, including UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers – competition regulations, entry form and league stage draw for the UEFA Nations League phase". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 07/2023. Union of European Football Associations. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  7. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  8. "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: League Phase Draw". UEFA. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  9. "Women's National Teams Coefficients Overview: Matches considered up to 06/09/2022" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  10. "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: League stage draw on Tuesday". UEFA. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
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