2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League

The 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Women's Nations League, an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of UEFA.[1] The league phase of the competition was played between September and December 2023, with the finals tournament taking place in February 2024. The results also determined the leagues for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying competition, and which two teams (in addition to hosts France) qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
22 September – 5 December 2023
Nations League Finals and
promotion/relegation matches

23–28 February 2024
Teams51
Final positions
Champions Spain (1st title)
Runners-up France
Third place Germany
Fourth place Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches played150
Goals scored424 (2.83 per match)
Attendance693,603 (4,624 per match)
Top scorer(s)Israel Sharon Beck
(9 goals)
Women's European Qualifiers
2025
2025
Women's Nations League
2025
2025
All statistics correct as of 5 December 2023.

Format

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The competition began with the league stage, featuring the national teams split into three leagues (A, B, and C) based on their UEFA Women's national team coefficient.[2] Leagues A and B featured 16 teams in four groups of four teams, while League C consisted of the remaining competition entrants split into groups of three or four teams.

The teams in each group played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The four group winners of League A advanced to the Nations League Finals, which featured single-leg semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and final. An open draw determined the pairings and home teams for the semi-final matches, as well as which semi-final will 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 Summer Olympics.[3]

In addition, the competition featured promotion and relegation, taking effect in UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying (which uses an identical league structure). The group winners of Leagues B and C were automatically promoted, while the fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B, as well as the lowest-ranked third-placed team in League B, were automatically relegated. Promotion/relegation matches were also held on a home-and-away basis, taking place in parallel with the Nations League Finals, to determine which teams would be promoted, relegated or remain in their respective leagues. The third-placed teams of League A played the runners-up of League B, while the three best-ranked third-placed teams in League B played the three best-ranked League C runners-up.[4] The teams from the higher leagues were seeded, and played the second leg at home. In the two-legged ties, the team that scored more goals on aggregate was the winner. If the aggregate score was level, extra time was played (the away goals rule was not applied). If the score remained level after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner.[3]

Tiebreakers for group ranking

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If two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:[3]

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.[a] If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 apply;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  9. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
  10. Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  11. Position in the UEFA Women's national team coefficient ranking.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ When there are two or more teams tied in points, criteria 1 to 3 are applied. After these criteria are applied, they may define the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there is a three-way tie on points, the application of the first three criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure is resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that are still tied.

Criteria for league ranking

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Individual league rankings are established according to the following criteria:[3]

  1. Position in the group;
  2. Higher number of points;
  3. Superior goal difference;
  4. Higher number of goals scored;
  5. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
  6. Higher number of wins;
  7. Higher number of wins away from home;
  8. Lower disciplinary points total (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  9. Position in the UEFA Women's national team coefficient ranking.[2]

To rank teams in League C, which may be composed of different-sized groups, the results against the fourth-placed teams in these leagues are not taken into account to compare teams placed first, second, and third in their respective groups.[3]

The ranking of the top four teams in League A is determined by their finish in the Nations League Finals.[3]

Criteria for overall ranking

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The overall UEFA Nations League rankings are established as follows:[3]

  1. The 16 League A teams are ranked 1st to 16th according to their league rankings.
  2. The 16 League B teams are ranked 17th to 32nd according to their league rankings.
  3. The League C teams are ranked 33rd onwards according to their league rankings.

Schedule

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The competition was played from September 2023 to February 2024.[5] It began with the league phase and ended with the Nations League Finals and promotion/relegation matches played in parallel.[4] Below is the schedule of the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League.[6]

Stage Round Match dates
League phase Matchday 1 21–22 September 2023
Matchday 2 26 September 2023
Matchday 3 26–27 October 2023
Matchday 4 31 October 2023
Matchday 5 30 November – 1 December 2023
Matchday 6 5 December 2023
Finals Semi-finals 23 February 2024
Third-place play-off 28 February 2024
Final
Promotion/relegation matches First leg 23 February 2024
Second leg 27–28 February 2024

Seeding

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Teams league positions:
  League A
  League B
  League C
  Team banned from competition

All 55 UEFA national teams were able to submit an entry for the competition by 23 March 2023 at the latest,[7] which also acted as entry for UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying.[4] In total, 51 teams entered the competition. Russia were not permitted to enter the competition, as Russian teams were suspended indefinitely from UEFA and FIFA competitions since 28 February 2022 due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.[8]

In addition, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino did not submit an entry, which meant that they could not qualify for UEFA Women's Euro 2025.

The draw for the league phase took place on 2 May 2023, 13:00 CEST, at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.[7][9] Teams were split into leagues based on their UEFA Women's national team coefficient ranking.[2] Teams were divided into four pots of four in Leagues A and B, and three pots of five and one pot of 4 in League C.[10] For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan (due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict), as well as Belarus and Ukraine (due to the Belarusian involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine), could not be drawn in the same group. Due to winter venue restrictions, a group could contain a maximum of two of Sweden, Norway, and Iceland in League A, and two of Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Latvia, and Lithuania in League C. Due to excessive travel restrictions, only one of Andorra, the Faroe Islands, and Malta could be drawn with Kazakhstan.[10]

League A
Pot Team Coeff Rank
1   England 46,178 1
  Germany 43,043 2
  France 42,584 3
  Sweden 40,823 4
2   Spain 40,472 5
  Netherlands 39,910 6
  Norway 38,715 7
  Denmark 37,535 8
3   Italy 36,455 9
  Belgium 34,794 10
  Austria 33,963 11
  Iceland 33,348 12
4   Switzerland 33,101 13
  Wales 29,942 15
  Portugal 29,744 16
  Scotland 29,335 17
League B
Pot Team Coeff Rank
1   Republic of Ireland 28,877 18
  Poland 28,458 19
  Czech Republic 27,508 20
  Finland 26,757 21
2   Serbia 26,517 22
  Slovenia 26,445 23
  Northern Ireland 25,711 24
  Romania 24,877 25
3   Ukraine 24,359 26
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 23,091 27
  Slovakia 19,213 28
  Hungary 18,552 29
4   Greece 17,556 30
  Croatia 17,523 31
  Belarus 16,890 32
  Albania 16,826 33
League C
Pot Team Coeff Rank
1   Malta 16,021 34
  Israel 15,543 35
  Azerbaijan 14,876 36
  Turkey 14,865 37
  North Macedonia 14,483 38
2   Kosovo 14,226 39
  Montenegro 12,668 40
  Luxembourg 12,051 41
  Estonia 9,750 42
  Moldova 9,654 43
3   Lithuania 9,649 44
  Kazakhstan 8,662 45
  Latvia 8,543 46
  Bulgaria 8,200 47
  Cyprus 8,032 48
4   Faroe Islands 7,020 49
  Georgia 6,977 50
  Armenia 6,500 51
  Andorra 1,958 52
Did not enter
Team Coeff Rank
  Gibraltar 0
  Liechtenstein 0
  San Marino 0
Banned from entering the competition
Team Coeff Rank
  Russia 32,203 14

League A

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Group A1

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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
(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

Group A2

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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
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Group A3

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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
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Group A4

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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
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Nations League Finals

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The pairings and home teams were determined via an open draw on 11 December 2023.[6]

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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Final

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Spain  2–0  France
Report
Attendance: 32,657

League B

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Group B1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation        
1   Republic of Ireland (P) 6 6 0 0 20 2 +18 18 Promotion to League A 1–0 3–0 5–1
2   Hungary 6 2 2 2 11 9 +2 8 Qualification for promotion play-offs 0–4 3–2 6–0
3   Northern Ireland (O) 6 2 1 3 9 13 −4 7 Qualification for relegation play-offs 1–6 1–1 1–0
4   Albania (R) 6 0 1 5 2 18 −16 1 Relegation to League C 0–1 1–1 0–4
Source: UEFA
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Group B2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation        
1   Finland (P) 6 5 1 0 18 2 +16 16 Promotion to League A 3–0 4–0 6–0
2   Croatia 6 3 0 3 5 10 −5 9 Qualification for promotion play-offs 0–2 2–0 2–1
3   Slovakia (O) 6 2 2 2 7 8 −1 8 Qualification for relegation play-offs 2–2 4–0 1–0
4   Romania (R) 6 0 1 5 1 11 −10 1 Relegation to League C 0–1 0–1 0–0
Source: UEFA
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Group B3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation        
1   Poland (P) 6 5 1 0 11 4 +7 16 Promotion to League A 2–1 2–1 2–0
2   Serbia 6 3 1 2 10 5 +5 10 Qualification for promotion play-offs 1–1 0–1 4–0
3   Ukraine (O) 6 2 0 4 5 7 −2 6 Qualification for relegation play-offs 0–1 1–2 1–0
4   Greece (R) 6 1 0 5 3 13 −10 3 Relegation to League C 1–3 0–2 2–1
Source: UEFA
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Group B4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation        
1   Czech Republic (P) 6 4 1 1 11 4 +7 13 Promotion to League A 2–2 4–0 2–1
2   Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 3 2 1 8 6 +2 11 Qualification for promotion play-offs 1–0 1–1 1–0
3   Slovenia (R) 6 1 3 2 4 9 −5 6 Relegation to League C 0–2 2–1 0–0
4   Belarus (R) 6 0 2 4 3 7 −4 2 0–1 1–2 1–1
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Ranking of third-placed teams

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Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 B2   Slovakia 6 2 2 2 7 8 −1 8 Qualification for relegation play-offs
2 B1   Northern Ireland 6 2 1 3 9 13 −4 7
3 B3   Ukraine 6 2 0 4 5 7 −2 6
4 B4   Slovenia 6 1 3 2 4 9 −5 6 Relegation to League C
Source: UEFA


League C

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Group C1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification        
1   Malta (P) 6 5 1 0 13 1 +12 16 Promotion to League B 2–1 5–0 2–0
2   Latvia 6 3 1 2 17 6 +11 10 Qualification for promotion play-offs 0–1 4–0 5–0
3   Andorra 6 1 1 4 2 17 −15 4 0–3 0–4 0–0
4   Moldova 6 0 3 3 4 12 −8 3 0–0 3–3 1–2
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted


Group C2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification        
1   Turkey (P) 6 6 0 0 16 0 +16 18 Promotion to League B 2–0 1–0 2–0
2   Lithuania 6 1 2 3 4 9 −5 5[a] 0–4 0–2 0–0
3   Luxembourg 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 5[a] 0–4 1–1 1–1
4   Georgia 6 1 2 3 5 11 −6 5[a] 0–3 0–3 4–2
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Ranked on head-to-head goal difference: Lithuania +1, Luxembourg 0, Georgia −1


Group C3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification        
1   Azerbaijan (P) 6 5 1 0 9 2 +7 16 Promotion to League B 3–0 1–1 1–0
2   Montenegro 6 4 0 2 14 4 +10 12 Qualification for promotion play-offs 0–1 2–0 9–0
3   Cyprus 6 2 1 3 3 6 −3 7 0–1 0–2 1–0
4   Faroe Islands 6 0 0 6 1 15 −14 0 1–2 0–1 0–1
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted


Group C4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification        
1   Israel (P) 6 5 1 0 21 2 +19 16 Promotion to League B 4–1 0–0 6–1
2   Estonia 6 3 1 2 11 11 0 10 0–5 0–0 5–1
3   Kazakhstan 6 2 2 2 6 5 +1 8 0–2 0–1 4–1
4   Armenia 6 0 0 6 5 25 −20 0 0–4 1–4 1–2
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted


Group C5

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification      
1   Kosovo (P) 4 3 1 0 10 2 +8 10 Promotion to League B 5–1 3–1
2   Bulgaria 4 1 2 1 4 7 −3 5 Qualification for promotion play-offs 0–0 2–2
3   North Macedonia 4 0 1 3 3 8 −5 1 0–2 0–1
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted


Ranking of second-placed teams

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Due to differing group sizes in League C, results against fourth-placed teams were disregarded when ranking second-placed teams.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 C1   Latvia 4 2 0 2 9 3 +6 6 Qualification for promotion play-offs
2 C3   Montenegro 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 6
3 C5   Bulgaria 4 1 2 1 4 7 −3 5
4 C4   Estonia 4 1 1 2 2 9 −7 4
5 C2   Lithuania 4 0 1 3 1 9 −8 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers - not considering results against teams ranked fourth in each group


Promotion/relegation matches

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The pairings for the promotion/relegation matches were determined using a draw on 11 December 2023.[6]

League A vs League B

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Serbia   2–3   Iceland 1–1 1–2
Hungary   2–10   Belgium 1–5 1–5
Bosnia and Herzegovina   0–10   Sweden 0–5 0–5
Croatia   0–8   Norway 0–3 0–5

League B vs League C

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Latvia   0–9   Slovakia 0–3 0–6
Montenegro   1–3   Northern Ireland 0–2 1–1
Bulgaria   0–7   Ukraine 0–4 0–3

Overall ranking

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The results of each team's league rankings were used to calculate the overall ranking of the competition, using the ranking criteria,[3] and were used for seeding in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying draw.

League A League B League C[a]

Rnk Team Pld Pts
1   Spain 6 15
2   France 6 16
3   Germany 6 13
4   Netherlands 6 12
5   England 6 12
6   Denmark 6 12
7   Italy 6 10
8   Austria 6 10
9   Iceland 6 9
10   Belgium 6 8
11   Sweden 6 7
12   Norway 6 5
13   Portugal 6 3
14   Switzerland 6 3
15   Scotland 6 2
16   Wales 6 1
Source: UEFA

Rnk Team Pld Pts
17   Republic of Ireland 6 18
18   Finland 6 16
19   Poland 6 16
20   Czech Republic 6 13
21   Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 11
22   Serbia 6 10
23   Croatia 6 9
24   Hungary 6 8
25   Slovakia 6 8
26   Northern Ireland 6 7
27   Ukraine 6 6
28   Slovenia 6 6
29   Greece 6 3
30   Belarus 6 2
31   Romania 6 1
32   Albania 6 1
Source: UEFA

Rnk Team Pld Pts
33   Turkey 4 12
34   Malta 4 12
35   Israel 4 10
36   Kosovo 4 10
37   Azerbaijan 4 10
38   Latvia 4 6
39   Montenegro 4 6
40   Bulgaria 4 5
41   Estonia 4 4
42   Lithuania 4 1
43   Luxembourg 4 4
44   Kazakhstan 4 2
45   North Macedonia 4 1
46   Cyprus 4 1
47   Andorra 4 0
48   Georgia 6 5
49   Moldova 6 3
50   Faroe Islands 6 0
51   Armenia 6 0
Source: UEFA
  1. ^ Due to unequal group sizes, matches against fourth-placed teams were not considered when ranking teams finishing first, second, or third.

References

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  1. ^ "New women's national team competition system". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Women's National Teams Coefficients Overview: Matches considered up to 06/09/2022" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "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.
  4. ^ a b c "How will the new UEFA women's national team competition system work?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  5. ^ "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: How it works". UEFA. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "2023 European football calendar: Match and draw dates for all UEFA competitions". UEFA. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ^ a b "UEFA European Women's Championship 2023–25, including UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers – competition regulations, entry form and league stage draw for the UEFA Nations League phase". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 07/2023. Union of European Football Associations. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  8. ^ "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  9. ^ "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: League Phase Draw". UEFA. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  10. ^ a b "2023/24 UEFA Women's Nations League: League stage draw on Tuesday". UEFA. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
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