The World Cup hasn’t even started yet and we’re already looking forward to what’s next. This new page is the League of Nations. The competition will resume from the start of the school year in September 2026 (the matches will take place from September 23 to November 16). For the Blues, these will even be the first matches with their brand new coach (Zinedine Zidane?) since Didier Deschamps will return the apron he has worn since 2012 at the end of the American World Cup.
UEFA is taking advantage of the organization of its 50th congress in Brussels to draw lots for this new edition. 3rd in 2025 in an event won in 2021, France was placed in pot 1 alongside the other members of the last Final Four, Germany, Portugal, outgoing winner, and Spain, the finalist. She will obviously have a lot to do because the density of the field proposed is enormous before obtaining one of the qualifying places.
The Blues again with Belgium and Italy
As a reminder, the first two in each League A group will qualify for the quarter-finals (March 25-30, 2027). The third will play a relegation play-off, while the fourth will go down to League B. In this 2nd division, the first reaches League A, the second plays a promotion play-off, the third a maintenance play-off, while the last is relegated. For League C, the first goes up to the division above, the second plays a play-off and the third maintains its position, while the fourth has an appointment with a relegation play-off, with the exception of the two worst teams, directly relegated.
The latter is of less interest to the French team, which knows its future opponents. Very good indeed since it is an almost exact copy of the last edition with the presence of Italy and Belgium. Instead of Israel this time, we will have to face Turkey, which has just moved up to League A. It is a lesser evil for the Tricolores, who avoid the big piece of hat 3, namely England. The Three Lions will play against Spain, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Finally, in group 2, Germany will face the Netherlands, Serbia and Greece, while in group 4, Portugal will challenge Denmark, Norway and Wales.
The full Nations League draw:
League A:
Group 1:
- France
- Italy
- Belgium
- Türkiye
Group 2:
- Germany
- The Netherlands
- Serbia
- Greece
Group 3:
- Spain
- Croatia
- England
- Czechia
Group 4:
- Portugal
- Denmark
- Norway
- Wales
League B:
Group 1:
- Scotland
- Swiss
- Slovenia
- North Macedonia
Group 2:
- Hungary
- Ukraine
- Georgia
- Northern Ireland
Group 3:
- Israel
- Austria
- Republic of Ireland
- Kosovo
Group 4:
- Poland
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Romania
- Suede
League C:
Group 1:
- Albania
- Finland
- Belarus
- San Marino
Group 2:
- Montenegro
- Armenia
- Cyprus
- Latvia or Gibraltar
Group 3:
- Kazakhstan
- Slovakia
- Faroe Islands
- Moldova
Group 4:
- Iceland
- Bulgaria
- Estonia
- Luxembourg or Malta
League D:
Group 1:
- Gibraltar or Latvia
- Malta or Luxembourg
- Andorra
Group 2:
- Azerbaijan
- Lithuania
- Liechtenstein
