“Spain’s Roadmap to the Women’s Nations League Final Four & Olympic Qualification”

Spain has already defined its roadmap for the first edition of the women’s Nations League. After the draw this Tuesday in Nyon, Jorge Vilda’s team has known who will be their rivals in the group stage. For this first battle to access the final four and be able to fight for the title, the Red avoided the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark, who were in their hype. And, in addition, they fell into the group of the lowest-ranked team in the seeding pot: Sweden. Thus, dodged ‘coconuts’ like England, current Eurocup champion, Germany and France.

The draw had a great Spanish representation in the extraction of the balls. Vero Boquete, an active legend of Spanish women’s football, was the innocent hand along with Nadine Kessler, the head of this category at UEFA. Both were in charge of defining the different groups in the three Leagues.

The Spanish National Team is fifth in the UEFA ranking (seventh in the FIFA ranking) and, therefore, is part of League A with the 16 best national teams in Europe. From them will come the four teams that play that final phase for the first title of the Women’s Nations League. This trophy could be the first internationally for Spain, which will also be able to get a title this summer at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (from July 20 to August 20).

This is how the groups of League A have remained

Group A1: England, the Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland.

Group A2: France, Norway, Austria and Portugal.

Group A3: Germany, Denmark, Iceland and Wales.

Group A4: Sweden, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.

A European title and a ticket to the Olympic Games

In September, Spain and the rest of the 51 participating teams in this women’s Nations League will kick off for this new competition that will be played until February. It will be just after finding out who is the champion of the World Cup in international women’s football that will hardly have a rest and that will experience a great change at the end of this 2023.

All this with the aim of defining the path in qualifying for the 2025 Euro Cup in Switzerland, which will start in the spring of 2024, and the participants in the Olympic Games. This same system will be used in the preview of the next World Cup in four years.

In order to be in this final four, Spain must be the champion of its group. If he succeeds, he will join the other first three of the rest of the groups in League A. For his part, there will also be an Olympic ticket at stakewhich can be achieved if it is one of the two finalists.

There will be three places at stake for the Olympic Games in France in 2024. One of them will be for the host, France, and another two for the two finalists of the Nations League. If France reaches the final of this tournament, its place will go to the third classified.

The Euro 2025 Qualifier in Switzerland

It must be remembered that all group stage matches are played according to a league system. Thus, each team plays one match at home and one away against each of the other rivals. And if Spain is not first? It depends on his position to know if he remains in League A or descends.

If he finishes in the top two positions he will continue in League A for the Euro 2025 Qualifiers in Switzerland. In the case of finishing third, they would face one of the second four in League B in a two-legged tie. Whoever wins stays in League A and plays in the European Qualifier, with the team that loses falling to the second League. And, if it is fourth, it descends to League B.

Women’s Nations League Calendar

League Phase:

Matchdays 1–2: September 20–26, 2023

Matchdays 3–4: October 25–31, 2023

Matchdays 5–6: November 29 – December 5, 2023

Final phase:

Between February 21 and 28, 2024

Promotion/relegation matches:

Between February 21 and 28, 2024

Mayca Jiménez is a writer specializing in women’s soccer. Passionate about football, she grew up on the benches of the teams that her father coached. And, in journalism, she managed to combine her two

great hobbies: telling stories and being close to the ball. She left her beloved Andalusia at the age of 18 to graduate in Journalism from the Carlos III University of Madrid and worked for almost 7 years at Diario AS, where she led the women’s soccer section. In 2022 she published her book entitled ‘I also want to play football’ with the aim of adding a grain of sand in the visibility of references in women’s football. In addition, she is a commentator for the F League and the Women’s Champions League on DAZN and has covered major events on site, such as the only two Women’s Champions League finals with Spanish representation in Budapest and Gothenburg. She also has a World Cup behind her, after having been one of the special envoys of Relay to Qatar.


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