UEFA Nations League 2026/27 Table: Standings, Results and Talking Points After Matchday 1

The fifth edition of the UEFA Nations League is up and running, and Matchday 1 has already thrown up statement wins, new-manager storylines and one dramatic stoppage-time winner. Portugal, the defending champions, opened their title defence with a narrow win; France handed Zinédine Zidane victory in his first game in charge; and Belgium made a serious early statement by beating Italy in Rome. By Saturday evening, the picture across all four divisions, League A, B, C and D, will be a lot clearer, with a string of heavyweight fixtures, including England against Spain at Wembley, still to be decided.

Here is a full round-up of where things stand, group by group, after the opening set of fixtures.

How Matchday 1 Got Going

The competition kicked off on Thursday, 24 September, with eight matches spread across League A, B and D, before Friday added another eight, and Saturday closing out the round with the remaining ties in League B, C and A.

Thursday’s headline act belonged to Norway, who edged out Denmark 3-2 in a match that swung back and forth before Erling Haaland’s brace settled it in Oslo’s favour. In the same group, Portugal, chasing back-to-back Nations League crowns under new coach Jorge Jesus, made the ideal start with a 1-0 win over Wales.

Elsewhere on the opening night, Germany’s new manager, Jürgen Klopp, watched his side battle to a 1-1 draw away to the Netherlands, a result that leaves both sides needing to find more cutting edge in Group A2. Serbia lost 2-1 at home to Greece in the same section. Down in League B, Austria thrashed Israel 3-1, and Kosovo continued their impressive recent form with a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland. League D also got underway, with Malta coming from behind to beat Andorra 1-2 courtesy of a late Teddy Teuma winner, after Guillaume Lopez had put the hosts ahead with the tournament’s first goal. In the other League D fixture involving a team in action, Lithuania cruised past Liechtenstein 2-0.

Friday’s Big Statements: Zidane, Van Bommel and a Night to Forget for Italy

Friday was when the tournament’s marquee names took centre stage, and it produced two of the biggest early talking points of the season.

In Rome, new Belgium coach Mark van Bommel could not have asked for a better start, as his side beat Italy 2-0 to hand the hosts an uncomfortable opening night in Group A1. A few hundred kilometres away in Türkiye, Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal of the game to give Zinédine Zidane a winning start as France head coach, a result that also doubles as an early psychological blow in a section that already looks like one of the tightest in League A.

Sweden edged past Romania 2-1, Ukraine won 1-0 away at Hungary, and Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina played out a goalless draw in Group B4. In League C, Armenia beat Latvia 2-0, and Montenegro saw off Cyprus 2-1. Northern Ireland also picked up an away win, beating Georgia 1-0 in Group B2, a result that will please a squad looking to push for promotion out of League B this time around.

Saturday: England vs Spain Headlines a Bumper Closing Day

Matchday 1 wraps up on Saturday, 26 September, with ten fixtures across League A, B and C, and the standout tie of the entire round is saved for last. England host reigning world champions Spain at Wembley Stadium in a rematch of the EURO 2024 final, with kick-off at 20:45 CET (18:45 GMT). Thomas Tuchel’s side, fresh off a third-place finish at the 2026 World Cup, will be looking to atone for that Berlin heartbreak against a Spain team that arrived in London unbeaten in 38 straight matches. In the same group, Czechia host Croatia in Prague, with both sides eyeing an early foothold in Group A3.

Saturday’s card also includes Slovenia against Scotland and North Macedonia against Switzerland in League B’s Group B1, along with four League C fixtures: San Marino versus Finland, the Faroe Islands versus Kazakhstan, Bulgaria versus Luxembourg and Iceland versus Estonia, plus Albania against Belarus and Slovakia against Moldova. Results from these matches will complete the opening round and settle the early standings in every remaining group.

League A Standings After Matchday 1

Group Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts A1 Belgium 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3 A1 France 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3 A1 Türkiye 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0 A1 Italy 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0 A2 Greece 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3 A2 Netherlands 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 A2 Germany 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 A2 Serbia 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 A3 Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A3 England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A3 Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A3 Czechia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A4 Portugal 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3 A4 Norway 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 3 A4 Denmark 1 0 0 1 2 3 -1 0 A4 Wales 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0

Group A3’s fixtures kick off on Saturday evening and will be reflected once full-time results are in.

League B Standings After Matchday 1

Group Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts B1 Scotland, Switzerland, Slovenia, North Macedonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 B2 Ukraine 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3 B2 Northern Ireland 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3 B2 Georgia 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0 B2 Hungary 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0 B3 Austria 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 3 B3 Kosovo 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3 B3 Israel 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0 B3 Republic of Ireland 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0 B4 Sweden 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3 B4 Poland 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 B4 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 B4 Romania 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0

Group B1’s two fixtures are among Saturday’s late kick-offs and are still to be played.

League C Standings After Matchday 1

Group Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts C1 Albania, Belarus, San Marino, Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C2 Armenia 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3 C2 Montenegro 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3 C2 Cyprus 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 C2 Latvia 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0 C3 Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Faroe Islands, Moldova 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C4 Iceland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Groups C1, C3 and C4 all play their opening fixtures on Saturday.

League D Standings After Matchday 1

Group Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts D1 Malta 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3 D1 Andorra 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 D1 Gibraltar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 D2 Lithuania 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3 D2 Liechtenstein 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0 D2 Azerbaijan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

League D groups only have three teams apiece, so one nation sits out each round; Gibraltar and Azerbaijan both had a bye on Matchday 1 and begin their campaigns on Matchday 2.

What Matchday 1 Has Told Us So Far

A few early patterns are worth flagging. Belgium and France have both used new-manager bounces to open with maximum points against sides many expected to compete at the top of Group A1. Portugal and Norway have shown that title defences and Haaland-inspired attacks tend to travel well in September, even against stubborn opposition. And in League B and C, several of the sides that arrived with promotion ambitions, Ukraine, Northern Ireland, Austria and Armenia among them, have made the fast starts they needed.

The bigger picture, though, only comes into full focus once Saturday’s fixtures are done and dusted. A shift in Group A3 alone, depending on how England, Spain, Croatia and Czechia get on, could reshape the entire promotion and relegation conversation in League A before October’s fixtures even arrive.

Matchday 2 follows almost immediately, running from 27 to 29 September, before Matchdays 3 and 4 close out the September/October window in early October. The competition then pauses until November, when Matchdays 5 and 6 will decide who tops each group, who reaches the League A quarter-finals in March 2027, and who faces the drop into the division below. The Nations League Finals, which will crown the fifth champions of the competition, are scheduled for June 2027.

For now, all eyes are on Wembley, Prague and the rest of Saturday’s card to see how the opening round of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League finally settles.

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