2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A

The 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A was the top division of the 2023–24 edition of the UEFA Women's Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the women's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. League A culminated with the Nations League Finals in February 2024 to determine the champions of the competition, and which two teams (in addition to hosts France) would qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The results were also used to determine the leagues for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying competition.

2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
22 September – 5 December 2023
Nations League Finals:
21–28 February 2024
Teams16
Relegated Portugal
 Scotland
 Switzerland
 Wales
Tournament statistics
Matches played48
Goals scored142 (2.96 per match)
Attendance539,136 (11,232 per match)
Top scorer(s)Netherlands Lineth Beerensteyn (6 goals)

Format

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League A consisted of the 16 top-ranked UEFA members in the UEFA women's national team coefficient ranking, split into four groups of four. Each team played six matches within their group, using the home-and-away round-robin format with double matchdays in September, October, and November to December 2023.[1] The winners of each group advanced to the 2024 UEFA Women's Nations League Finals. The competition also acted as the first phase of the preliminary competition for UEFA Women's Euro 2025, which uses an identical league structure. The fourth-placed team from each group were relegated to League B, taking effect in UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying. In addition, the third-placed teams of League A advanced to the relegation play-offs against the runners-up of League B. The winners of the home-and-away ties entered League A for UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying, while the losers entered League B.[2]

The Nations League Finals took place in February 2024 and were played in a knockout format, consisting of single-leg semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and a final. An open draw determined the pairings and home teams for the semi-final matches and which semi-final would have its teams host the third-place play-off and final. The two best-ranked teams in the Nations League Finals (excluding France) qualified for the 2024 Olympic football tournament, while the winners of the final was crowned as the champions of the UEFA Women's Nations League.[2] England, Scotland, and Wales are not members of the IOC, thus are ineligible to participate in the Olympics, but the results of the England team, by agreement of the Home Nations and FIFA were taken to represent Great Britain's qualification bid for that tournament.[3] As England did not reach the Nations League Finals, Great Britain would not be represented at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Seeding

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Teams were allocated to League A according to their UEFA women's national team coefficient after the conclusion of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying group stage on 6 September 2022. Teams were split into four pots of four teams, ordered based on their UEFA national team coefficient.[4]

The draw for the league phase took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 2 May 2023, 13:00 CEST.[5] Each group contained one team from each pot. The draw started with Pot 1 and ended with Pot 4, with drawn teams assigned to the first available group in ascending order from A1 to A4. Due to winter venue restrictions, a group could contain a maximum of two of Sweden, Norway and Iceland.[6]

Pot 1
Team Coeff Rank
  England 46,178 1
  Germany 43,043 2
  France 42,584 3
  Sweden 40,823 4
Pot 2
Team Coeff Rank
  Spain 40,472 5
  Netherlands 39,910 6
  Norway 38,715 7
  Denmark 37,535 8
Pot 3
Team Coeff Rank
  Italy 36,455 9
  Belgium 34,794 10
  Austria 33,963 11
  Iceland 33,348 12
Pot 4
Team Coeff Rank
  Switzerland 33,101 13
  Wales 29,942 15
  Portugal 29,744 16
  Scotland 29,335 17

Groups

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Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation        
1   Netherlands 6 4 0 2 14 6 +8 12[a] Qualification for Nations League Finals 2–1 4–0 4–0
2   England 6 4 0 2 15 8 +7 12[a] 3–2 1–0 2–1
3   Belgium (O) 6 2 2 2 7 10 −3 8 Qualification for relegation play-offs 2–1 3–2 1–1
4   Scotland (R) 6 0 2 4 3 15 −12 2 Relegation to League B 0–1 0–6 1–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head results. Ranked on overall goal difference: Netherlands +8, England +7
Belgium  2–1  Netherlands
  • Detruyer   61'
  • Blom   90+3'
Report
Attendance: 3,694[7]
England  2–1  Scotland
Report

Netherlands  2–1  England
Report
Scotland  1–1  Belgium
Report
Attendance: 7,058[10]

England  1–0  Belgium
Report
Netherlands  4–0  Scotland
Report

Belgium  3–2  England
Report
Attendance: 7,235[13]
Scotland  0–1  Netherlands
Report

Belgium  1–1  Scotland
Report
Attendance: 4,730[15]
England  3–2  Netherlands
Report
Attendance: 71,632[16]

Netherlands  4–0  Belgium
Report
Scotland  0–6  England
Report
Attendance: 15,320[18]
Referee: Alina Peşu (Romania)

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation        
1   France 6 5 1 0 9 1 +8 16 Qualification for Nations League Finals 3–0 0–0 2–0
2   Austria 6 3 1 2 7 8 −1 10 0–1 2–1 2–1
3   Norway (O) 6 1 2 3 9 8 +1 5 Qualification for relegation play-offs 1–2 1–1 4–0
4   Portugal (R) 6 1 0 5 5 13 −8 3 Relegation to League B 0–1 1–2 3–2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Norway  1–1  Austria
Report
France  2–0  Portugal
Report

Austria  0–1  France
Report
Portugal  3–2  Norway
Report

Austria  2–1  Portugal
Report
Norway  1–2  France
Report
Attendance: 9,062[24]

Portugal  1–2  Austria
Report
France  0–0  Norway
Report

Norway  4–0  Portugal
Report
Attendance: 2,383
France  3–0  Austria
Report
Attendance: 26,453
Referee: Ewa Augustyn (Poland)

Austria  2–1  Norway
Report
Attendance: 1,300
Portugal  0–1  France
Report

Group 3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation        
1   Germany 6 4 1 1 14 3 +11 13 Qualification for Nations League Finals 3–0 4–0 5–1
2   Denmark 6 4 0 2 10 6 +4 12 2–0 0–1 2–1
3   Iceland (O) 6 3 0 3 4 8 −4 9 Qualification for relegation play-offs 0–2 0–1 1–0
4   Wales (R) 6 0 1 5 4 15 −11 1 Relegation to League B 0–0 1–5 1–2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Denmark  2–0  Germany
Vangsgaard   23', 64' Report
Iceland  1–0  Wales
Report

Germany  4–0  Iceland
Report
Attendance: 14,998[29]
Referee: Alina Peşu (Romania)
Wales  1–5  Denmark
Report

Germany  5–1  Wales
Report
Iceland  0–1  Denmark
Report

Denmark  2–1  Wales
Report
Attendance: 2,227[34]
Iceland  0–2  Germany
Report

Wales  1–2  Iceland
Report
Germany  3–0  Denmark
Report

Denmark  0–1  Iceland
Report
Wales  0–0  Germany
Report

Group 4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation        
1   Spain 6 5 0 1 23 9 +14 15 Qualification for Nations League Finals 2–3 5–3 5–0
2   Italy 6 3 1 2 8 5 +3 10 0–1 0–1 3–0
3   Sweden (O) 6 2 1 3 8 10 −2 7 Qualification for relegation play-offs 2–3 1–1 1–0
4   Switzerland (R) 6 1 0 5 2 17 −15 3 Relegation to League B 1–7 0–1 1–0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Sweden  2–3  Spain
Report
Attendance: 16,114[40]
Switzerland  0–1  Italy
Report
Attendance: 6,452[41]

Italy  0–1  Sweden
Report
Spain  5–0  Switzerland
Report

Italy  0–1  Spain
Report
Attendance: 4,694[44]
Referee: Alina Peşu (Romania)
Sweden  1–0  Switzerland
Report
Attendance: 13,123[45]

Sweden  1–1  Italy
Report
Switzerland  1–7  Spain
Report
Attendance: 8,515[48]

Switzerland  1–0  Sweden
Report
Attendance: 3,938
Spain  2–3  Italy
Report
Attendance: 9,212

Italy  3–0  Switzerland
Report
Spain  5–3  Sweden
Report
Attendance: 15,896

Nations League Finals

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The draw for the Nations League Finals was held on 11 December 2023.[49] Spain hosted Netherlands and France hosted Germany in the semi-final matches, and the winner and loser of the Spain–Netherlands match hosted the final and third place play-off, respectively.

Times are CET (UTC+1), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
23 February 2024 – Seville
 
 
  Spain3
 
28 February 2024 – Seville
 
  Netherlands0
 
  Spain2
 
23 February 2024 – Décines-Charpieu
 
  France0
 
  France2
 
 
  Germany1
 
Third place play-off
 
 
28 February 2024 – Heerenveen
 
 
  Netherlands0
 
 
  Germany2

Semi-finals

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Spain  3–0  Netherlands
Report
Attendance: 21,856

France  2–1  Germany
Report

Third-place play-off

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Netherlands  0–2  Germany
Report

Final

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Spain  2–0  France
Report
Attendance: 32,657

Qualified teams for 2024 Summer Olympics

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The following three teams from UEFA qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic women's football tournament, including France, who qualified as the hosts.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in Summer Olympics[a]
  France Host 13 September 2017 2 (2012, 2016)
  Spain Nations League finalist 23 February 2024 0 (Debut)
  Germany Nations League third place match winner[b] 28 February 2024 5 (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2016)
  1. ^ Italics indicates host for that year, Bold indicates champions
  2. ^ The two Nations League finalists would qualify for the Olympics. As France was one of the finalists, the other spot was awarded to the winner of the third place play-off.[2]

League ranking

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The 16 League A teams were ranked 1st to 16th overall in the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League according to the following rules:[2]

  • The teams finishing first in their groups were ranked 1st to 4th according to their finish in the Nations League Finals.
  • The teams finishing second in their groups were ranked 5th to 8th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing third in their groups were ranked 9th to 12th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing fourth in their groups were ranked 13th to 16th according to the results of the league phase.

Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 A4   Spain 6 5 0 1 23 9 +14 15
2 A2   France 6 5 1 0 9 1 +8 16
3 A3   Germany 6 4 1 1 14 3 +11 13
4 A1   Netherlands 6 4 0 2 14 6 +8 12
5 A1   England 6 4 0 2 15 8 +7 12
6 A3   Denmark 6 4 0 2 10 6 +4 12
7 A4   Italy 6 3 1 2 8 5 +3 10
8 A2   Austria 6 3 1 2 7 8 −1 10
9 A3   Iceland 6 3 0 3 4 8 −4 9
10 A1   Belgium 6 2 2 2 7 10 −3 8
11 A4   Sweden 6 2 1 3 8 10 −2 7
12 A2   Norway 6 1 2 3 9 8 +1 5
13 A2   Portugal 6 1 0 5 5 13 −8 3
14 A4   Switzerland 6 1 0 5 2 17 −15 3
15 A1   Scotland 6 0 2 4 3 15 −12 2
16 A3   Wales 6 0 1 5 4 15 −11 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria


Goalscorers

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There were 142 goals scored in 48 matches, for an average of 2.96 goals per match.

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Notes

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  1. ^ CEST (UTC+2) for times up to 28 October 2023, CET (UTC+1) for times from 29 October 2023.

References

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  1. ^ "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: How it works". UEFA. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Regulations of the UEFA European Women's Championship including UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers". UEFA. 7 February 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  3. ^ "How do you qualify for women's football in the Olympics?". Team GB. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Women's National Teams Coefficients Overview: Matches considered up to 06/09/2022" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: League Phase Draw". UEFA. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  6. ^ "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: League stage draw on Tuesday". UEFA. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Belgium v Netherlands" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  8. ^ "England v Scotland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Netherlands v England" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Scotland v Belgium" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  11. ^ "England v Belgium" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Netherlands v Scotland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Belgium v England" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Scotland v Netherlands" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Belgium v Scotland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  16. ^ "England v Netherlands" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Netherlands v Belgium" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Scotlands v England" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Norway v Austria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  20. ^ "France v Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  21. ^ "Austria v France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Portugal v Norway" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  23. ^ "Austria v Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  24. ^ "Norway v France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  25. ^ "Portugal v Austria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  26. ^ "France v Norway" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  27. ^ "Denmark v Germany" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Iceland v Wales" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  29. ^ "Germany v Iceland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Wales v Denmark" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  31. ^ "Women's Nations League: Wales 1-5 Denmark". BBC Sport Wales. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  32. ^ "Germany v Wales" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  33. ^ "Iceland v Denmark" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  34. ^ "Denmark v Wales" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  35. ^ "Iceland v Germany" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  36. ^ "Wales v Iceland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  37. ^ "Germany v Denmark" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  38. ^ "Denmark v Iceland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  39. ^ "Wales v Germany" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  40. ^ "Sweden v Spain" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  41. ^ "Switzerland v Italy" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  42. ^ "Italy v Sweden" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  43. ^ "Spain v Switzerland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  44. ^ "Italy v Spain" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  45. ^ "Sweden v Switzerland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  46. ^ "Sweden v Italy" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  47. ^ "Sverige - Italien - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". Swedish Football Association (SvFF). 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  48. ^ "Switzerland v Spain" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  49. ^ "2023 European football calendar: Match and draw dates for all UEFA competitions". UEFA. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
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