European champions England will face former holders Netherlands, Scotland and Belgium in an exciting draw for the inaugural Women’s Nations League for the 2023-24 season. The draw was made at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland at Tuesday lunchtime.
The Lionesses will take on the nation who were crowned as the European champions in 2017, then managed by current England boss Sarina Wiegman. Like UEFA did with the men’s international calendar, introducing a Nation’s League to the women’s game is set to improve the competitiveness of the international breaks in between major tournaments.
The first two matchdays of the inaugural Nations League will take place between 20-26 September, matchdays three and four will be staged between 25-31 October and the final two matchdays will be held between 29 November to 5 December.
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The Nations League finals will then take place 21-28 February which will determine the champions as well as the promotions and relegations from the various leagues. The league stage will determine which four teams progress to the finals (which will also act as Europe's 2024 Olympic qualifiers) and also promotion and relegation between the leagues ahead of the European Qualifiers phase for UEFA Women's EURO 2025 which will be of high priority for the Lionesses.
If France are among the finalists, the third-placed team fills the remaining slot in the Olympic Games. If an association that has not been confirmed by FIFA as eligible to participate in the Women's Olympic Football Tournament qualifies, the next best-placed team that has not qualified takes their place.
This new format will certainly give fans something to look forward to after the FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer.
The draw in full:
League A
A1
England
Netherlands
Belgium
Scotland
A2
France
Norway
Austria
Portugal
A3
Germany
Denmark
Iceland
Wales
A4
Sweden
Spain
Italy
Switzerland
League B
B1
Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland
Hungary
Albania
B2
Finland
Romania
Slovakia
Croatia
B3
Poland
Serbia
Ukraine
Greece
B4
Czech Republic
Slovenia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Belarus
League C
C1
Malta
Moldova
Latvia
Andorra
C2
Turkey
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Georgia
C3
Azerbaijan
Montenegro
Cyprus
Faroe Islands
C4
Israel
Estonia
Kazakshstan
Armenia
C5
North Macedonia
Kosovo
Bulgaria
