The UEFA Nations League returns this week, with 54 teams across Europe beginning the league phase of the 2026-27 competition. Four matchdays will be squeezed into the current three-week international period, the first of six on the road to the finals.
Portugal, the record two-time champions, open their title defence at home against newly promoted Wales. Cristiano Ronaldo, now 41, was included in new coach Jorge Jesus’s first 25-man squad and is expected to feature across the four fixtures. Portugal won the inaugural edition in 2019 on home soil in Porto, beating the Netherlands 1-0, and claimed the 2025 crown by beating Spain 5-3 on penalties after the final finished 2-2 in extra time in Munich.
Thursday’s other headline fixture is a meeting of two sides who fell short at the World Cup, as the Netherlands host Germany, with Xavi and Jurgen Klopp taking charge of their first games. Roberto Mancini returns to the Italy dugout on Friday as the Azzurri look to move past a second consecutive missed World Cup qualification, taking on Belgium. Northern Ireland face Georgia and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in Friday’s early kick-off.
On Saturday, England host world champions Spain in the tie of Matchday 1, a repeat of the Euro 2024 final. Thomas Tuchel has credit to win back with Three Lions fans after a semi-final exit to Argentina. Scotland visit Slovenia earlier in the day, with former Monaco boss Sebastien Pocognoli taking charge of his first match as Tartan Army manager.
Founded in 2018 to reduce the number of meaningless friendlies, the competition splits the 54 entrants into four leagues with promotion and relegation. The draw was made in Brussels, Belgium, in February. League A brings together France, Italy, Belgium and Turkiye; Germany, Netherlands, Serbia and Greece; Spain, Croatia, England and Czechia; and Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Wales.
League B groups are Scotland, Switzerland, Slovenia and North Macedonia; Hungary, Ukraine, Georgia and Northern Ireland; Israel, Austria, Republic of Ireland and Kosovo; and Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Sweden. League C: Albania, Finland, Belarus and San Marino; Montenegro, Armenia, Cyprus and Latvia; Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Faroe Islands and Moldova; Iceland, Bulgaria, Estonia and Luxembourg. League D: Gibraltar, Malta and Andorra; Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein.
Teams face every other side in their group twice, home and away. The top two from each League A group reach the quarter-finals in March 2027, with the finals to follow on June 9-13, 2027, contested by four teams. Group winners in Leagues B, C and D are promoted, while the bottom teams in Leagues A, B and C drop down. According to UEFA, the competition will be linked to qualification for UEFA EURO 2028 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Among the names on show are Spain’s Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Ferran Torres, England captain Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, Norway’s Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, and Croatia’s veteran Luka Modric. Sweden’s Victor Gyokeres, the top scorer in the 2024-25 Nations League, returns. Injuries have ruled out England’s Cole Palmer, Declan Rice and Marcus Rashford, while Pedro Porro has been left out of the Spain squad.
Ronaldo’s future is a running theme. In August he said the coming year would probably be the last of his playing career, having won major trophies at club level with Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Al-Nassr since making his senior debut for Sporting in 2002. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has yet to win a World Cup, with Portugal knocked out in the last 16 by eventual champions Spain.
Viewers in the competing nations will not have to look far for free coverage. England games are on ITV1 and ITVX, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fixtures go out on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, with Wales matches also on S4C. In Ireland, Republic of Ireland games are on RTE 2 and RTE Player, with selected other matches on Virgin Media Play. Free options include RaiPlay in Italy, RTVE Play in Spain, NOS in the Netherlands, DasErste, RTL+ and ZDF in Germany, and TF1 and L’Equipe TV in France.
In the United States, the Nations League is shown across FOX Sports, Fubo and ViX, with FS1, FS2 and Fox Soccer Plus carrying games. DAZN holds the rights in Canada, while beIN Sports broadcasts in Australia and New Zealand.
