UEFA launch new Women's Nations League with Euros and World Cup play-offs

Scotland will compete in a new Women’s Nations League next year after UEFA announced a new tournament with links to the European Championships.

The governing body has created the competition along the same lines as the men’s Nations League, where national teams play in small groups against opponents of a similar level.

Countries will be divided into three leagues based on their ranking, with promotion and relegation between the leagues. Each league will contain groups of three or four teams who will play each other home and away.

UEFA say the competition will also link into major finals, with the first Nations League adding “exciting European Qualifiers play-off matches at the end”. Scotland’s men’s teams ended their long exile from major finals by qualifying for Euro 2020 through a similar system.

“I said this summer that we would continue to invest in women’s football, and we are,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said.

“Off the back of a historic UEFA Women’s EURO, it is now time to further develop women’s national team football. We have built an open, competitive, and continuous system in which every match will matter, a true reflection of the European sports model.

“I am convinced that this format will help all European national associations and keep the dream of qualifying for a major international tournament alive.”

Matches will begin in autumn 2023, with the group stage to be completed before Euro 2025 qualifying starts in early 2024.