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Following last year’s promotion from League B, the Three Lions are set to once again compete amongst Europe’s elite. Although more familiar with being a top seed, Thomas Tuchel’s men were placed in pot three ahead of February’s draw. Consequently, a tough set of opponents was always inevitable.
Drawn into Group A3, England will take on reigning world champions Spain, 2022/23 Nations League runners-up Croatia, and fellow newly-promoted outfit Czechia.
Should they occupy one of the top two positions at the conclusion of the group stage and win a subsequent quarter-final, a place in next summer’s Nations League Finals awaits. Of course, there is also the threat of relegation back to the second tier.
All but one of UEFA’s 55 affiliated members will participate in the 2026/27 Nations League, with Russia currently banned from continental and international competition due to Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
These teams have been divided into four leagues and 14 groups, based on their overall performance during the previous edition of the Nations League.
However, the structure will be streamlined to three leagues and 12 groups ahead of the 2028/29 campaign (more on this to follow).
So, let’s take a closer look at England’s Nations League journey….
UEFA Nations League 2026/27 – Key information
Dates: 24th September 2026 to 13th June 2027 (inclusive of group phase, League A quarter-finals, all play-off ties, and Nations League Finals)
Teams: 54 – the 55 UEFA-affiliated members minus Russia.
Groups: 14 – 4 x League A, 4 x League B, 4 x League C, and 2 x League D
Previous Nations League winners: Portugal (2018/19), France (2020/21), Spain (2022/23), Portugal (2024/25)
England’s Group A3 opponents (seeding in brackets): Spain (1), Croatia (2), and Czechia (4)
Group A3
England will play six matches in total, meeting each of their Group A3 opponents at home and away within a round-robin format. The group stage segment stretches out across autumn, facilitated by three international breaks throughout the first few months of the new season.
The promotion/relegation playoffs and League A quarter-finals – which England may or may not be involved in depending on how they progress – take place in the last week of March, before an overall champion is declared at the Nations League Finals roughly three months later.
Thomas Tuchel’s toughest tests come at the start and end of the group stage, where three-time finalists Spain lie in wait. The Three Lions tackle away trips to Prague and Rijeka on matchday two and three respectively, ahead of the return legs against Czechia and Croatia at Wembley. It all ends with a mid-November visit to the Spanish capital, which may well have a major bearing on England’s final position in the group.
England’s 2026/27 Nations League schedule in full (including potential subsequent ties):
Group Stage (all 2026)
26th September: England v Spain (Wembley, London)
29th September: Czechia v England (Fortuna Arena, Prague)
3rd October: Croatia v England (Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka)
6th October: England v Czechia (Wembley, London)
12th November: England v Croatia (Wembley, London)
15th November: Spain v England (Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid)
25th to 30th March 2027: League A quarter-finals and all promotion/relegation play-off ties.
9th to 13th June 2027: Nations League Finals (host country to be confirmed)
How did England fare in the last Nations League campaign?
England entered the 2024/25 Nations League with a point to prove, having been cast adrift at the bottom of their group last time around.
Either of the two sobering defeats to Hungary – the lowest-ranked of all League A teams – could have cost Gareth Southgate his job, but particularly the humiliating 4-0 drubbing at Molineux.
Nevertheless, things improved immeasurably. Less than three months after making a second consecutive appearance in the final of the European Championships, England secured maximum points from their opening two Nations League encounters.
At one stage it looked as if Declan Rice and Jack Grealish would commit their international allegiance to Ireland, but both players scored as Lee Carsley’s side ran out comfortable winners in Dublin.
Three days later on home soil, Harry Kane bagged a brace against Finland to make it back-to-back 2-0 victories.
However, England’s momentum stalled when they faced Greece at the start of the October international break. A double from Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis either side of Jude Bellingham’s late strike earned the visitors a narrow triumph, as a stunned Wembley watched on.
But there was a positive response at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium later that week, as Rice and Grealish once again found the net alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold to clinch a hard-earned 3-1 win.
The pivotal fixture of the campaign came the following month, when England travelled to the Greek capital ahead of matchday five. Following several tepid performances, the Three Lions registered a mightily impressive 3-0 triumph to leapfrog their opponents at the summit of Group B2.
It was an extra special night for versatile midfielder Curtis Jones, who netted his team’s third goal in his first-ever international appearance.
Failing to beat Ireland would have put their chances of returning to League A in serious jeopardy, but England handled this pressure despite making a slow start to proceedings.
Following a goalless first half, the hosts struck five times after the interval to blow away the Boys in Green. There were a remarkable five different scorers in white shirts, including Jarrod Bowen – who converted a well-worked set-piece within seconds of being introduced as a substitute – and debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
With both teams winning their final matches and a head-to-head tiebreaker used to determine who would finish first and second in the group, the result in Athens ultimately consigned Greece to the play-offs and confirmed their opponent’s promotion to League A.
Unfamiliar surroundings
The 2024/25 campaign was actually the first in which England didn’t participate in the Nations League’s top tier, having been a League A member for the previous six years.
Their strongest performance came during the competition’s inaugural edition in 2018/19, when Gareth Southgate led his country to the Nations League Finals for the first and only time.
Having lost to the Netherlands thanks to a disastrous period of extra time, England returned to the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques for the third-place play-off.
There they edged out Switzerland on penalties following 120 minutes of goalless action, before hosts Portugal clinched their maiden major trophy by defeating the Dutch in Porto.
Format changes
Following a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Istanbul earlier this year, it was announced that the Nations League would transition to a three-league competition in time for the 2028/29 campaign.
The lowest-ranked league (D) will be dissolved to accommodate this change, with its six current members being automatically promoted to the tier above at the end of the group stage.
That means there will be no League C/D relegation play-offs this time around, while there is little incentive for the minnows of Groups D1 and D2 as their progression to League C is already assured.
This has also resulted in a tweak to how relegation works in League A. Previously, the four teams who finished third in each League A group would enter the relegation play-offs, where they would be drawn against one of the League B runners-up.
The winner of these ties would either retain their place in League A, or achieve promotion to it. Meanwhile, those at the bottom of their group would automatically be demoted to League B.
For the 2026/27 campaign, only the two lowest-ranked teams who end the group stage in fourth position will suffer immediate relegation. Furthermore, the two highest-ranked third-place teams also retain their League A status.
Instead, the two lowest-ranked teams finishing third and the two highest-ranked teams finishing bottom enter the play-offs. This means that the maximum number of teams that can be relegated from League A is six, as opposed to eight in previous editions.
The restructure also impacts League B, where automatic demotion has been removed and only one team from each group is required to navigate a play-off tie.
A more lenient relegation process and the widening of the competition’s top three tiers reduces the level of jeopardy in this season’s Nations League, with far fewer teams likely to drop down a division. Whether or not England will be directly affected by this adjustment is entirely dependent on their performance – a top-two finish would see them advance to the League A quarter-finals.
Euro 2028
As in previous years, the Nations League provides a potential backdoor route for European Championship qualification. However, the process is even more complex than usual this time around.
With Euro 2028 being staged across Britain and Ireland, there are set to be four host nations for the first time in the competition’s history.
UEFA were understandably reluctant to offer automatic entry to England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, despite it being a standard prerequisite of hosting major international tournaments.
Nevertheless, the solution ensures all four countries have a strong chance of making the finals.
The hosts will enter qualifying as usual, hoping to confirm their place in the tournament by finishing as one of the 12 group winners or eight highest-ranked runners-up.
Two slots will be held in reserve for host nations that do not claim one of the aforementioned 16 berths, so, based on current FIFA rankings, it’s likely most, if not all, will qualify.
There’s also the Nations League security blanket to consider, which grants a play-off place to those who don’t manage to qualify via the conventional route.
The top-ranked participants in Leagues A, B, C, and D are all theoretically able to benefit from this failsafe, but it’s used by teams in the second and third tiers due to the parameters in place.
The number of teams that progress to the play-offs as a result of their Nations League performance is dependent on how many of the reserve host slots are filled, but it will definitely be less than the 12 that featured as part of Euro 2024 qualifying.
As they have sailed through each of the last four European Championships qualifying campaigns, an awful lot would need to go wrong for England not to make it through. Therefore, you can expect Wembley to be packed with boisterous natives in two summers’ time….