2022–23 UEFA Nations League

The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League will be the third season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.[1] The competition will be held from June to September 2022 (league phase), June 2023 (Nations League Finals) and March 2024 (relegation play-outs).[2]

2022–23 UEFA Nations League
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
2 June – 27 September 2022
Nations League Finals:
June 2023
Relegation play-outs:
March 2024
Teams55

Format

The 55 UEFA national teams will be divided into four leagues, with Leagues A, B and C featuring 16 teams each, divided into four groups of four teams. League D will feature 7 teams divided into two groups, with one containing four teams and the other containing three. The teams are allocated to leagues based on the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League overall ranking. Each team will play six matches within their group, except for one group in League D which will play four, using the home-and-away round-robin format on double matchdays in June and September 2022.[3][4]

In the top division, League A, teams compete to become the UEFA Nations League champions. The four group winners of League A qualify for the Nations League Finals in June 2023, which is played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, are determined by means of a draw. The host country will be selected among the four qualified teams by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.

Teams also compete for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league. In Leagues B, C and D, the group winners are promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group in Leagues A and B are relegated. As League C has four groups while League D has only two, the two League C teams which are to be relegated will be determined by play-outs in March 2024. Based on the Nations League overall ranking of the fourth-placed teams, the first-ranked team will face the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team will face the third-ranked team. Two ties will be played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home (the higher-ranked team will host the second leg). The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs will remain in League C, while the loser will be relegated to League D. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, with extra time played if away goals are also equal. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, with a penalty shoot-out used to decide the winner if no goals are scored during extra time.[2]

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. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
  5. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 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 6 to 10 apply;
  6. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  10. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
  11. 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).
  12. Position in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League access list.

Notes

  1. When there are two or more teams tied in points, criteria 1 to 4 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 four 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 2022–23 UEFA Nations League access list.

In order to rank teams in League D, which is composed of different sized groups, the results against the fourth-placed team in Group D1 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 4 teams in League A are determined by their finish in the Nations League Finals:[2]

  1. The winner is ranked 1st;
  2. The runner-up is ranked 2nd;
  3. The third-placed team is ranked 3rd;
  4. The fourth-placed team is ranked 4th.

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 16 League C teams are ranked 33rd to 48th according to their league rankings.
  4. The 7 League D teams are ranked 49th to 55th according to their league rankings.

Schedule

Below is the schedule of the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League.[2] Due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar taking place at the end of the year, the league phase will be played in June and September 2022. The relegation play-outs of League C will take place during the same international window as the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs.

Stage Round Dates
League phase Matchday 1 2–4 June 2022
Matchday 2 5–7 June 2022
Matchday 3 9–11 June 2022
Matchday 4 12–14 June 2022
Matchday 5 22–24 September 2022
Matchday 6 25–27 September 2022
Finals Semi-finals June 2023
Third place play-off
Final
Relegation play-outs First leg March 2024
Second leg

Teams
Map showing the leagues each national team will participate in.
  League A
  League B
  League C
  League D
  To be determined

All 55 UEFA national teams will enter the competition. The teams which finished bottom of their group in Leagues A and B, as well as the losers from the relegation play-outs of League C, from the 2020–21 season will move down a league, while the group winners of Leagues B, C and D will move up. The remaining teams will stay in their respective leagues.[5]

Teams below are ordered within their league by the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League overall ranking.

Key
Promoted in previous season
Relegated in previous season
League A
Team Prv Rank
 France TBD
 Belgium TBD
 Italy TBD
 Spain TBD
 Portugal 5
 Netherlands 6
 Denmark 7
 Germany 8
 England 9
 Poland 10
  Switzerland 11
 Croatia 12
 Wales 13
 Austria 14
 Czech Republic 15
 Hungary 16
League B
Team Prv Rank
 Ukraine 17
 Sweden 18
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 19
 Iceland 20
 Finland 21
 Norway 22
 Scotland 23
 Russia 24
 Israel 25
 Romania 26
 Serbia 27
 Republic of Ireland 28
 Slovenia 29
 Montenegro 30
 Albania 31
 Armenia 32
League C
Team Prv Rank
 Turkey 33
 Slovakia 34
 Bulgaria 35
 Northern Ireland 36
 Greece 37
 Belarus 38
 Luxembourg 39
 North Macedonia 40
 Lithuania 41
 Georgia 42
 Azerbaijan 43
 Kosovo 44
TBD[lower-alpha 1] 45
TBD[lower-alpha 1] 46
 Gibraltar 47
 Faroe Islands 48
League C or D[lower-alpha 1]
Team Rank
 Kazakhstan 45
 Cyprus 46
 Estonia 47
 Moldova 48
League D
Team Prv Rank
TBD[lower-alpha 1] 49
TBD[lower-alpha 1] 50
 Liechtenstein 51
 Malta 52
 Latvia 53
 San Marino 54
 Andorra 55
  1. Cyprus, Estonia, Kazakhstan and Moldova will participate in the League C relegation play-outs in March 2022 to determine the two teams to remain in League C and the two teams to be relegated to League D.

References
  1. "UEFA Nations League receives associations' green light". UEFA. 27 March 2014.
  2. "Regulations of the UEFA Nations League, 2020/21" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 13 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  3. "UEFA Nations League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  4. "What is the UEFA Nations League?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  5. "How the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League will line up". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
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