The Nations League came to a close this week in terms of the actual group action, but further fixtures yet lie ahead: the semi-finals and final as usual for those competing at the top end, but also even more games in yet another an expanded Uefa competition.
This time around we have play-offs for promotion and relegation spots, and instead of just a final four encounter, we’ve got quarter-finals to look forward to too.
Scotland and Republic of Ireland are both involved in the playoffs, the former after Andy Robertson’s last-minute heroics, while aiming for Nations League glory this time around will be the likes of European champions Spain, along with France, Germany and Netherlands.
See the full draw along with explanations, rules and when the matches will take place and reaction to the draw in our live blog below:
Nations League draw - live
- Republic of Ireland face Bulgaria to stay in League B
- Scotland will play Greece in playoff to remain in League A
- Netherlands v Spain in biggest quarter-final draw
Scotland face Greece in play-offs as Nations League draw confirmed
12:17 , Jim van WijkScotland have been drawn against Greece in the Nations League play-offs to stay in the top tier, while the Republic of Ireland face Bulgaria looking to avoid relegation to League C.
Steve Clarke’s side produced a late upturn in form to finish third in Group A1 after Andy Robertson headed a stoppage-time winner against Poland in Warsaw on Monday night.
Despite a 2-1 victory at Wembley, Greece ended as runners-up in Group B2 behind England, who responded with an impressive 3-0 win in Athens before seeing off the Republic of Ireland 5-0.
Scotland face Greece in play-offs as Nations League draw confirmed
Nations League quarter-final draw
12:10 , Karl MatchettQuarter-final 1: The Netherlands v Spain
Quarter-final 2: Croatia v France
Quarter-final 3: Denmark v Portugal
Quarter-final 4: Italy v Germany
Semi-final 1: Winner of QF4 v Winner of QF3
Semi-final 2: Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF2
Quarter-final first leg: March 20
Quarter-final second leg: March 23
Semi-finals: June 4-5
Third-place playoff: June 8
Final: June 8
Nations League draw - live
11:43 , Karl MatchettThat’s it for today and for the Nations League - thanks for joining us and be sure to join us on The Independent across the weekend for our live coverage on all domestic matches!
Nations League draw - live
11:40 , Karl MatchettThere we go then, Ireland and Scotland know what they need to do to stay in their respective Leagues next time - Bulgaria and Greece their opponents, respectively.
As for the finals, we could get a Germany v Spain final - the one every assumed would be the Euros final after the group stage, remember - while all three previous winners of the Nations League are still in the running to make it a record second triumph: Portugal, France and reigning champions Spain.
Nations League draw - live
11:36 , Karl MatchettThankfully they’re not going to draw out semi-final balls to confirm that one will play the other in the final itself.
Italy/Germany/Portugal/Denmark will be the home team in the final, if you really want to know.
And that is all, with Uefa giving a quick rundown of the dates again - see earlier posts - and finally we conclude the Nations League draw and the international week as a whole.
Nations League draw - live
11:35 , Karl MatchettOne draw remaining - to find out who the semi-finalists will be, depending on who wins those quarters of course. They’ll draw out match numbers of the quarters to determine it.
QF4 (Ita/Ger) v QF3 (Den/Por)
QF1 (Ned/Esp) v QF2 (Cro/Fra)
Nations League draw - live
11:32 , Karl MatchettAs mentioned before, it’s runners-up out first, then the winners they’ll face.
Netherlands v Spain
Croatia v France
Denmark v Portugal
Italy v Germany
Nations League draw - live
11:27 , Karl MatchettThere you go, Scotland will face two legs against Greece to remain in League A. As a reminder, the Greeks did beat England at Wembley not long ago - they finished behind Lee Carsley’s side on head to head in the end, but above Ireland and Finland.
And with that we move from the playoffs to the finals - the quarter-final draw coming up, then the fixture path for the semis.
Nations League draw - live
11:25 , Karl MatchettA/B playoffs:
Turkiye v Hungary
Ukraine v Belgium
Austria v Serbia
Greece v Scotland
Nations League draw - live
11:21 , Karl MatchettLike a John McGinn rocket, we’re speeding straight towards the A/B playoffs. Same format, so the B promotion contenders drawn out first, then the A survivalists.
Nations League draw - live
11:19 , Karl MatchettHere we go then, with the B teams who will all be drawn second so they are at home in the second leg, and firstly the C teams.
Kosovo v Iceland
Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland
Armenia v Georgia
Slovakia v Slovenia
Nations League draw - live
11:14 , Karl MatchettQuick as that we’re done and dusted with those at the bottom rung of Uefa’s ladder. Wasn’t that quick really, was it?
Anyway we’re on to the B/C playoffs which includes Republic of Ireland.
A Caoimhin Kelleher-inspired win ensured they’d finish third, but they were heavily beaten by England last time after a red card out so still improvements to come.
Nations League draw - live
11:12 , Karl MatchettPlayoffs first and it’s C/D groups up - these won’t be played until 2026, if at all, remember.
Gibraltar v Latvia
Malta v Luxembourg
Nations League draw - live
11:07 , Karl MatchettA startlingly bold call from Johan picks out Euro 2024 winners Spain as ones to watch, with Lamine Yamal in particular a player he enjoys.
Roberto Martinez, Didier Deschamps, Ronald Koeman and more look on in rapt wonder.
Here comes the video explanation of everything we’ve just told you below, so the draw itself should be along shortly.
Nations League draw - live
11:05 , Karl MatchettWe’re welcoming on stage special guest Johan Djourou, apparently, to do the draw. The Swiss defender formerly played for Arsenal of course, as well as Birmingham, Hamburg and plenty of others.
He “really love[s] the format because it gives all the teams the chance to compete”.
Nations League draw - live
11:03 , Karl MatchettOK we’re underway, of sorts. Giorgio Marchetti, the man who loves a draw perhaps more than anybody else on planet Earth, is on the stage. For the uninitiated, he’s the deputy general secretary of Uefa.
He assures us we’re close to starting the draw, but starts with the usual compliments, explanations and general speaking.
A “special recognition” for San Marino, who sealed a first-ever Uefa competition win and promotion from League D.
Nations League draw - live
10:57 , Karl MatchettOne of the keen onlookers to the draw will of course be Steve Clarke - his Scotland side secured third place with a fantastic late winner by Andy Robertson against Poland this week. If they come through the playoffs victorious too, it means League A next time around will contain each of the Scots, England and Wales - the latter two topping their respective League B groups this time to go straight up.
Republic of Ireland’s wins over Finland mean they are hoping to stay in League B by way of the playoffs too, while Northern Ireland won C3 to earn promotion to that tier too. Positives all around, or potential ones.
Nations League draw - live
10:50 , Karl MatchettTop scorers from the Nations League this time:
- Gyokeres (Sweden) 9
- Haaland (Norway) 7
- Marin (Romania) 6
- Ronaldo (Portugal) 5
- Sesko (Slovenia) 5
A couple there still involved in the games to come, though Sweden - who were in League C this time around - earned comfortable promotion. Gyokeres helping himself to a bagful against Slovakia, Estonia and Azerbaijan.
Nations League draw - live
10:45 , Karl MatchettSo here are all the teams involved in the upcoming playoff draw, with naturally a third place playing a runner-up in each case.
A/B: Scotland, Belgium, Hungary, Serbia; Ukraine, Greece, Austria, Turkey
B/C: Georgia, Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland; Slovakia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Armenia
C/D: Luxembourg, Latvia; Gibraltar, Malta
Nations League draw - live
10:38 , Karl MatchettThe finals are just one half of today’s festivities, though. We now - in addition to direct promotion and relegation for the top and bottom team of groups - have a playoff for a second potential spot each way.
Very simply, teams finishing third in Leagues A, B and C will face those finishing second from B, C or D and the winner stays or goes up accordingly.
A/B and B/C playoffs are on 20 and 23 March, C/D playoffs will be for a fairly obscure World Cup qualification reason held a year later, 26 and 31 March 2026. And might not be held at all, but we’ll worry about that at the time.
Nations League draw - live
10:30 , Karl MatchettThe finals previously were just semis and final; as mentioned, this year has expanded. So:
Quarter-finals are played over two legs, 20 March and 23 March 2025.
Then it’s onto the semis, a one-off game on 4 or 5 June, with the final - and a third-place playoff for extra irrelevance - taking place on 8 June 2025.
Impressive mileage from a competition few people seem to be all that bothered about, you might say. Still, it’s probably better than friendlies.
Nations League draw - live
10:23 , Karl MatchettLet’s break this down then: playoffs to come, but first the ‘finals’ to sort out.
We have eight quarter-finalists, which are four seeded - the winners from League A groups - and four unseeded nations - the runners-up, naturally.
Each runner-up will be drawn against a winner, but not the one from the Nations League group they already played in. So, Portugal topped A1 ahead of Croatia, for example, so they won’t face each other again now.
Pot 1 (winners): Portugal, France, Germany, Spain
Pot 2 (r/ups): Croatia, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark
Nations League draw: Date, time and how to follow
10:16 , Karl MatchettThe Uefa Nations League has undergone changes this season, with the addition of quarter-finals to the knockout stage as well as promotion/relegation play-offs at the conclusion of the first phase.
England have already secured automatic promotion back to League A, through winning Group B2, but there is still plenty to play for elsewhere, with further matches to be played across March and June.
That, incredibly, includes Scotland , who rescued themselves from automatic relegation with back-to-back wins over Croatia and Poland to end the campaign in third place of Group A1. Andy Robertson’s dramatic winner in Warsaw means Steve Clarke’s side will play one of the runners-up from League B over a two-legged play-off in March, in a bid to preserve their top-tier status.
Meanwhile, Spain are the defending Nations League champions and will be out to retain their crown against the likes of France, Portugal, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in the Nations League finals.
The draw takes place today and here’s everything you need to know.
Nations League draw: Date, time and how play-offs work as Scotland learn fate
Nations League draw - live
08:21 , Karl MatchettMorning all - if you thought the international break was done, you’ve jumped the gun. We’ve one more notable activity to take care of first before the domestic game returns to our screens and scenes: the Nations League draw.
That’s coming up at 11am GMT, with plenty of build-up and explanation beforehand as well as the draw itself.
