UEFA Nations League draw 2022-2023: Date, time, stream, teams, pots & groups

With the turn of the calendar year, UEFA is gearing up to launch the third edition of the Nations League competition.

The European soccer governing body will hope that this draw goes more smoothly than the Champions League draw earlier this week, which required a re-do thanks to a number of mistakes in the proceedings.

World Cup champion France will be looking to defend the Nations League title it won over Spain in October, while the usual giants including Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Germany and England are all expected to be in the hunt. Portugal beat the Netherlands for the inaugural Nations League championship in 2019.

MORE: Which teams have qualified to the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

Other countries, including in the lower tiers of the Nations League, will be battling for promotion and to avoid relegation. Playoff spots in other major competitions are also expected to be on the line. It is still to be determined what Euro 2024 playoff berths will be granted to top-performing countries from the Nations League. The Czech Republic and Austria made it into the FIFA World Cup playoffs by virtue of winning their respective groups in the 2020-21 Nations League.

How to watch the UEFA Nations League Draw

• Date: Thursday, Dec. 16
• Time: 12 p.m. ET
• Streaming: UEFA.com

The draw for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League will take place from UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland and the event can be streamed on UEFA.com.

The draw will split a total of 55 European nations across 14 groups in four separate divisions, or “Leagues”.

How the UEFA Nations League draw works

The UEFA Nations League is separated into four Leagues labeled A, B, C, and D, with “A” featuring the best teams in Europe and “D” featuring the smaller countries. The 55 nations are grouped based on their performance in the last edition of the Nations League, taking into account promotion and relegation between each of the four tiers.

For Leagues A, B, and C, the teams are broken out into four pots of four teams each based on the performance ranking, and they will be drawn into groups just like at the World Cup or other top continental competitions.

MORE: How World Cup qualifying playoffs work in Europe

For League D, the draw is similar, but since there are only seven participating countries, they are drawn into one group made up of four nations and one group of three.

The Kazakhstan vs. Moldova and Cyprus vs. Estonia relegation playoffs from the previous edition of the Nations League have yet to be played and are scheduled for March 2022. The winner of each will participate in League C and the loser will drop into League D for 2022-23.

Nations League A Draw Pots

Nations League B Draw Pots

Nations League C Draw Pots

Note: The winners of the Kazakhstan vs. Moldova and Cyprus vs. Estonia relegation playoffs in March 2022 will be included in League C.

Nations League D Draw Pots

Note: The losers of the Kazakhstan vs. Moldova and Cyprus vs. Estonia relegation playoffs in March 2022 will be included in League D.

When is UEFA Nations League played?

The Nations League was initially constructed to replace international friendlies with meaningful competition, and as such, it is contested during international breaks over the span of two calendar years and scheduled around other, more critical tournaments like Euros or World Cup qualification.

The first matchday of 2022-23 Nations League group stage play will take place in June 2022. Group stage play will conclude in September 2022, the tournament semis and final will be played in June 2023, and the League C relegation playoff will be played in March 2024.

• Group Matchdays 1 & 2: June 2-8, 2022 (all Leagues, A-D)
• Group Matchdays 3 & 4: June 8-14, 2022 (all Leagues, A-D)
• Group Matchdays 5 & 6: September 22-27, 2022 (all Leagues, A-D)
• Nations League Semis: June 14-15, 2023 (League A group winners only)
• Nations League Final & 3rd-place: June 18, 2023 (League A group winners only)
• Relegation Playoffs: March 21–23 & 24–26, 2024 (League C last-place teams only)

Once the groups are built, the teams face each other twice in group play, once at home and once away.

Nations League championship: This is decided among the four group winners in League A via a knockout bracket which will crown the 2022-2023 champion. The four nations play a single-elimination semifinal in June 2023 followed by a final (for the semifinal winners) or a third-place match (for the semifinal losers) a few days later.

Promotion & Relegation: The group winners from Leagues B, C and D are automatically promoted to the leagues above them. They take the place of the teams that are relegated down to a lower tier.

Nations that finish bottom of their groups in Leagues A and B are relegated to the tier below. The four last-place teams in League C are involved in a relegation playoff which sends only two of the teams to League D. The last-place teams in League D obviously remain in that tier for the following edition. 

UEFA Nations League 2022-23 Group Draw

The results of the draw for each group will be populated in the tables below:

Nations League A Draw (Groups 1-4)

Nations League B Draw (Groups 1-4)

Nations League C Draw (Groups 1-4)

Nations League D Draw (Groups 1-2)