2022-2023 UEFA Nations League draw: date, time, flow, teams, pots and groups

With the turn of the calendar year, UEFA is preparing to launch the third edition of the League of Nations competition.

European football governing body is hoping this draw runs more smoothly than the Champions League draw earlier this week, which had to be redone due to a number of procedural errors. .

World champion France will look to defend the Nations League title they won against Spain in October, while usual giants like Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, l ‘Germany and England should all be on the hunt. Portugal defeated the Netherlands for the inaugural Nations League championship in 2019.

MORE: Which teams have qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

Other countries, including at the lower levels of the League of Nations, will fight for promotion and to avoid relegation. Playoff places in other major competitions should also be on the line. It remains to be seen which places for the Euro 2024 qualifiers will be awarded to the best performing nations in the Nations League. The Czech Republic and Austria have advanced to the FIFA World Cup qualifiers by winning their respective groups in the 2020-21 Nations League.

How to watch the UEFA Nations League draw

• Dated: Thursday December 16
• Time: 12 p.m. ET
• Diffusion: UEFA.com

The draw for the 2022-2023 UEFA Nations League will take place from UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, and the event can be streamed on UEFA.com.

The draw will divide a total of 55 European nations into 14 groups divided into four distinct divisions, or “leagues”.

How the UEFA Nations League draw works

The UEFA Nations League is divided into four leagues labeled A, B, C and D, with “A” featuring the best teams in Europe and “D” featuring smaller countries. The 55 nations are grouped together according to their performance in the last edition of the League of Nations, taking into account promotion and relegation between each of the four levels.

For Leagues A, B and C, the teams are divided into four pots of four teams each according to the performance ranking, and they will be divided into groups like in the World Cup or other top continental competitions.

MORE: How Europe’s World Cup Qualifiers Work

For League D, the draw is similar, but since there are only seven participating countries, they are drawn into a group consisting of four nations and a group of three.

The relegation qualifiers of Kazakhstan against Moldova and Cyprus against Estonia in the previous edition of the League of Nations have not yet taken place and are scheduled for March 2022. The winner of each will participate in League C and the loser will move to League D for 2022-23.

Nations League A draw pots

Nations League B draw pots

Nations League C draw pots

Note: The winners of the relegation qualifiers of Kazakhstan against Moldova and Cyprus against Estonia in March 2022 will be included in League C.

Nations League D draw pots

Note: The losers of the relegation qualifiers of Kazakhstan against Moldova and Cyprus against Estonia in March 2022 will be included in League D.

When is the UEFA Nations League played?

The Nations League was originally built to replace international friendlies with meaningful competition, and as such, it is contested during international breaks over a period of two calendar years and scheduled around other more critical tournaments like the ‘Euro or qualification for the World Cup.

The first day of the 2022-23 Nations League group stage will take place in June 2022. The group stage will end in September 2022, the semi-finals and final of the tournament will be played in June 2023, and the playoffs League C relegation matches will be played in March 2024.

• Group Days 1 & 2: June 2-8, 2022 (all leagues, AD)
• Groups Days 3 & 4: June 8-14, 2022 (all leagues, AD)
• Groups Days 5 & 6: September 22-27, 2022 (all leagues, AD)
• Nations League semi-finals: June 14-15, 2023 (League A group winners only)
• Nations League Final & 3rd place: June 18, 2023 (League A group winners only)
• Relegation playoffs: March 21-23 and 24-26, 2024 (League C last-place teams only)

Once the groups are formed, the teams face each other twice as a group, once at home and once away.

Nations League Championship: This is decided between the four group winners of Ligue A via a knockout which will crown the champion 2022-2023. The four nations play a knockout semi-final in June 2023 followed by a final (for the winners of the semi-finals) or a third-place match (for the losers of the semi-finals) a few days later. .

Promotion and relegation: Group winners from Leagues B, C and D are automatically promoted to leagues above them. They replace teams relegated to a lower level.

Nations which finish at the bottom of their groups in Leagues A and B are relegated to the lower level. The four last-place teams in League C are involved in a relegation qualifier that only sends two of the teams to League D. The last teams in League D obviously remain in this level for the next edition.

2022-23 UEFA Nations League groups draw

The results of the draw for each group will be completed in the tables below:

Nations League A draw (Groups 1-4)

Nations League B draw (Groups 1-4)

Nations League C draw (Groups 1-4)

Nations League D draw (Groups 1-2)