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Fort Lauderdale StrikersFifty-four nations, six matchdays, one league phase compressed into two windows. These are the ten matches carrying the most weight — two of them already played, eight still ahead of you.
The fifth edition of the UEFA Nations League is two matchdays old, and it has already broken a record nobody was tracking. Greece, who had never beaten Germany in ten attempts, went to Augsburg on Sunday and won. Portugal, the holders, have six points from six without needing Cristiano Ronaldo to leave the bench. England, third at the World Cup in July, have none.
What makes this edition different is the shape of the calendar. Four matchdays are packed into thirteen days between 24 September and 6 October, then the league phase pauses for five weeks before Matchdays 5 and 6 land between 12 and 17 November. Rotation is unavoidable, momentum is fragile, and a slow start is far harder to repair than it is across a normal season. Two groups already have a team on maximum points, and neither of them is the side the form book picked.
Where League A stands
Only the top two in every League A group reach the quarter-finals in March 2027. The team that finishes fourth goes down to League B. Group A1 is a matchday behind the rest — Belgium vs France and Türkiye vs Italy are played on the evening of 28 September.
Group A1
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| France | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| Italy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| Türkiye | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
Group A2
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 6 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 |
| Germany | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 1 |
| Serbia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |
Group A3
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| Croatia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| Czechia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| England | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
Group A4
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 6 |
| Denmark | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Norway | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Wales | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −3 | 0 |
Standings after Matchday 2. The fourth-placed team in each League A group is relegated automatically; the top two go to the March quarter-finals.
The ten matches
Ordered by how much of the competition each one is likely to decide.
1. England vs Spain
The fixture of the opening window, and it produced the match of the edition so far. Lamine Yamal scored inside two minutes. England turned it around before the break — Anthony Gordon finishing a counter-attack, then Harry Kane heading in off Marc Cucurella. Kane missed a penalty early in the second half, and the momentum went with it. Substitute Álex Baena equalised, then set up Mikel Oyarzabal to win it sixteen minutes from time. Oyarzabal, of course, is the player who settled the EURO 2024 final against these same opponents.
It matters beyond the scoreline because Group A3 is the only group in League A containing two teams who have won this competition's major tournaments in the last two summers. Spain arrive as world champions; England finished third at that same World Cup. Both also have Croatia, who won in Prague on the same afternoon, and Czechia, who are nobody's idea of an easy fourth seed. England now travel to Czechia and then to Croatia inside five days, which means the group could be effectively decided before the November window even opens.
2. France vs Türkiye
Zinédine Zidane's first competitive match in charge of France was settled by the kind of goal France have been scoring for a decade: Michael Olise picked the pass, Kylian Mbappé did the rest, and the game was effectively over as a contest. The cost was Mbappé's fitness — he picked up an injury scoring it — and Türkiye finished with ten men after goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakir was sent off late.
Group A1 is the closest thing in League A to a group of four equals. France have won this competition, Belgium finished fourth in 2021, Italy finished third in both 2021 and 2023, and Türkiye reached the quarter-finals of EURO 2024. Somebody capable is going to finish fourth and be relegated. Türkiye's route back into it runs through a home double-header against France and Italy in the first week, and through this return fixture in France on 15 November, when Mbappé should be available and the group may already be decided.
3. Italy vs France
These two play each other twice in six weeks, which is unusual even by the standards of a competition designed to guarantee repeat fixtures. France host Italy on 2 October, and Italy host France on 12 November. In between, both have to get past Belgium and Türkiye home and away, and the group is tight enough that the two head-to-heads may simply be the tie-break.
Italy's start was the most damaging result of Matchday 1. They lost 2-0 at home to Belgium, conceding to Mika Godts in the first half and then to a fine solo effort from substitute Dodi Lukébakio. Gianluigi Donnarumma kept the score down with a double save. Italy have not been among the final four since 2023, when they finished third for the second time in three editions, and a second defeat at home to France on 12 November would leave them needing results from a final-night visit from Belgium. France's own question is whether they can convert possession into goals without Mbappé at full fitness.
4. Germany vs Netherlands
Jürgen Klopp's first match in charge of Germany ended with Cody Gakpo volleying in an equaliser in added time, and his second ended with a defeat at home to Greece. Germany therefore go into October with one point, while the Netherlands have four — a draw in Amsterdam and a 2-1 win in Belgrade, both goals from Mexx Meerdink, the second of them after coming on at the interval.
That sets up the return on the final night of the league phase as a potential elimination match rather than a showpiece. Greece's six points mean both of these nations are chasing a side that has taken maximum points from two games, and Germany in particular cannot afford to arrive at Matchday 6 needing to win. Xavi Hernández also has a squad problem to manage: Gakpo went off after seventeen minutes in Belgrade with an ankle injury, and the Dutch forward line is thinner without him.
5. Portugal vs Norway
Portugal are the only side in League A with a perfect record, and they did it in Oslo without Cristiano Ronaldo, who spent the entire match on the bench. João Félix finished a slick move for the opener inside twenty minutes; Erling Haaland equalised soon after the restart, punishing a parried free-kick; and three minutes later Gonçalo Ramos intercepted Ørjan Nyland's pass and lobbed him from outside the area. Rafael Leão then hit the crossbar.
Seven days later the same two teams meet again in Lisbon, and by then the group should be close to resolved. Portugal have six points, Denmark and Norway three each, Wales none. Haaland has three goals in two matches and is the obvious route back into the tie. Watch the goalkeeping as much as the finishing: Nyland's error cost Norway a point in Oslo, and Ronaldo's role for Portugal is now a genuine rotation decision rather than a formality.
6. Netherlands vs Greece
Greece are the story of the league phase. They won 2-1 in Serbia, Christos Tzolis and then Tasos Douvikas in stoppage time, and then went to Augsburg and beat Germany 1-0 — the first Greek victory over Germany in eleven attempts, sealed by a Dimitris Kourbelis strike that deflected in off Joshua Kimmich. Germany had seventy-six per cent of the ball and fourteen shots; Greece had one on target and took all three points. They are the only team in League A other than Portugal on six points.
Both remaining fixtures against the Netherlands therefore decide the group. Greece host the Dutch on 1 October, then travel to the Netherlands on 13 November. The Netherlands have taken four points from two games without playing especially well, and the return leg in November is the one that will matter most: by then the group winner will probably need to win it, and the loser will be fighting to stay in the top two. Greece have never reached the Nations League finals, and this is already their best start to a competitive campaign in years.
7. Croatia vs England
England have lost one match under Thomas Tuchel in this competition and it has already put them under pressure. They were beaten 3-2 at Wembley by Spain and now face the group's two away trips in the space of five days, starting in Prague on 29 September and ending here on 3 October, in a fixture the schedulers have given an 18:00 kick-off. Three points from the pair is the minimum requirement if England are to stay in the top-two race.
Croatia won in Czechia on Matchday 1 with a performance built around their oldest player. Luka Modrić, who turned 41 this month, powered in the opener within seconds of the second-half restart; Adam Karabec equalised almost immediately; and Marco Pašalić headed the winner from Ivan Perišić's cross. Croatia reached the final of this competition in 2023 and this is the group's other obvious contender. England's own record against them is a familiar talking point in both countries, and 3 October is the first time it has been tested away from home in this campaign.
8. Spain vs England
This is the return leg of the match that opened the competition for both sides, and it lands on the final night of the league phase. Spain won 3-2 at Wembley in their first competitive outing since lifting the World Cup in July, and they have now beaten England in each of their last two competitive meetings, having also won the EURO 2024 final in Berlin. Doing it again, at home, with a group place on the line, is a different proposition.
By 15 November the group may already be settled — or it may be the match that decides which of these two goes into the March quarter-finals as a seeded team, and which arrives in November's other fixture needing help. Spain's advantage is depth: they can rest players in October and still expect to beat Czechia and Croatia. England's is that the fixture list has handed them their hardest away days early. If England take four points from Prague and Croatia, this is the game the whole campaign has been building towards.
9. France vs Belgium
These two meet twice in eight days, and between them those fixtures will probably decide which of them wins Group A1. Belgium opened with a 2-0 win in Rome under Mark van Bommel — the first time they have beaten Italy in this competition — built on Mika Godts driving past Donnarumma from a Kevin De Bruyne pass, and finished by Dodi Lukébakio from twenty metres. It was an energetic, front-foot performance from a squad in transition.
France won in Türkiye, so both arrive at the double-header unbeaten. The return in France on 5 October is the more significant of the two: by then Italy and Türkiye will have played each other, and the group table will show whether this is a fight for first place or a fight to avoid fourth. For Belgium, the pairing is also a measure of Van Bommel's rebuild — two matches against the 2021 Nations League champions and 2018 world champions inside a week, with the March quarter-finals as the prize.
10. Germany vs Greece
The result of the edition so far. Germany had never lost to Greece in ten previous meetings and spent seventy-six per cent of this one in possession, but twenty minutes of sustained Greek pressure after the break produced the only goal: Christos Tzolis broke down the right, cut it back, and Dimitris Kourbelis' shot went in off Kimmich. Kostas Tzolakis, who had already turned away a curling Karim Adeyemi effort and a Kimmich free-kick, held everything else. Klopp has now taken one point from his first two matches in charge, and his team have scored once.
The return comes quickly. Greece host Germany on 4 October, four days after hosting the Netherlands, which gives them a home double-header against the group's two strongest squads with top spot on the line. Germany then have to go to Serbia and host the Netherlands in November. On current form that is not a comfortable sequence for a nation that expects to be at the finals, and it is the reason this is the tenth match on the list rather than the first — a fixture that looked like a formality four days ago is now the one German supporters will be watching most closely.
Also worth your time
The fixtures that decide the places below the headline ties.
- Czechia vs England — Tue 29 Sep, Prague. England's first match after the Wembley defeat, and the first of two away trips in five days.
- Spain vs Croatia — Tue 29 Sep. The two teams who won on Matchday 1 in Group A3 meet immediately afterwards, with Spain at home.
- Denmark vs Portugal and Wales vs Norway — Thu 1 Oct. Group A4 plays both its games on the same night; Wales, on nought points from two, are already in relegation trouble.
- Croatia vs Spain — Tue 6 Oct. The last League A fixture of the October window, and the one that decides who leaves Group A3 in front.
- Serbia vs Germany — Fri 13 Nov. Germany's trip to Belgrade opens the November window for Group A2.
- Belgium vs Italy — Sun 15 Nov. On the final night, in Belgium, with a quarter-final place potentially on the line.
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Key dates
| Stage | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Matchdays 1–2 | 24–29 Sep 2026 | Two rounds across six days |
| Matchdays 3–4 | 1–6 Oct 2026 | Portugal vs Norway; Croatia vs England |
| Matchdays 5–6 | 12–17 Nov 2026 | Spain vs England; Germany vs Netherlands |
| Quarter-finals | 25–30 Mar 2027 | League A top two, home and away |
| Finals | 9–13 Jun 2027 | Four teams, host to be confirmed |
Kick-off times are as listed by UEFA. Most League A fixtures start at 20:45, with occasional early kick-offs such as Croatia vs England at 18:00 on 3 October.
FAQ
- When was the 2026/27 Nations League drawn and when does it finish?
- The league phase began on 24 September 2026 and runs to 17 November 2026, across four matchdays in the autumn window and two in November. The quarter-finals are in March 2027 and the finals in June 2027.
- Who is in League A?
- Four groups of four. Group A1: France, Italy, Belgium, Türkiye. Group A2: Netherlands, Germany, Serbia, Greece. Group A3: Spain, England, Croatia, Czechia. Group A4: Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Wales.
- How do teams qualify for the Nations League finals?
- The top two teams in each League A group go through to the quarter-finals in March 2027, played home and away. The four winners reach the finals in June 2027.
- What happens to the bottom team in each League A group?
- They are relegated to League B for the next edition. There is no relegation play-off for fourth place in League A.
- Who are the reigning Nations League champions?
- Portugal, who beat Spain on penalties in Munich in June 2025 after a 2-2 draw. It was Portugal's second title, following their win in 2019.
- Have England ever beaten Spain in this competition?
- No. Spain won 3-2 at Wembley on 26 September 2026 and also won the EURO 2024 final between the two nations 2-1 in Berlin. The return fixture is in Spain on 15 November 2026.
- Who is leading the scoring charts?
- Erling Haaland has three goals in two matches for Norway, including a brace against Denmark. Joel Pohjanpalo scored the first hat-trick of the edition in Finland's 7-0 win in San Marino.
- Do Nations League results affect EURO 2028 qualification?
- Yes. The 2026/27 edition is expected to feed the play-off route for UEFA EURO 2028 in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, giving teams a second chance to reach the finals based on their performance here.
- Where can I buy the 2026/27 national team shirts?
- Every nation in this article is in the store's international range. Use the buttons above to go straight to a nation, or to the men's, women's and youth collections.
The 2026/27 national team shirts shown in this article are available in men's, women's and youth fits, with or without a printed name and number. Standings, results and kick-off times were correct at the time of publication on 28 September 2026. Prices shown were correct at the time of publication.