Arya News - How are England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland shaping up in their Women`s Nations League groups?
England began their Group A3 campaign with an underwhelming 1-1 draw in Portugal , but claimed an impressive 1-0 win at Wembley over reigning world champions Spain.
The Lionesses, who will attempt to defend their European title this summer, beat Belgium 5-0 at Bristol City"s Ashton Gate in April but then fell to a 3-2 defeat by the same side four days later.
After the shock retirement of goalkeeper Mary Earps just five weeks out from the tournament in Switzerland, Sarina Wiegman"s side roared to a 6-0 thumping of Portugal at Wembley.
That victory sets up a shootout with world champions Spain on Tuesday for a spot in the finals.
It"s all to play for in Group A4, with three of the four sides still holding out hope of making it to the finals.
Sweden and Denmark sit joint top on nine points, and will face one another on matchday six.
Italy, who are two points back in third place, will face already relegated Wales in the final group game.
Rhian Wilkinson"s side remain winless after five games, and were relegated to League B with a 1-0 defeat in Denmark on Friday night.
Next matches in Group A3 and A4
Group A3: 3 June - Spain v England, Portugal v Belgium.
Group A4: 3 June - Wales v Italy, Sweden v Denmark.
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In Group B1, Poland were promoted to League A with a 4-0 win over second placed Northern Ireland on Friday evening.
However Tanya Oxtoby"s Northern Ireland side could still claim a promotion play-off place if they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in their last group game on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the promotion race in Group B2 will go down to the final round of matches.
Emily Murphy"s 89th minute winner against Turkey on Friday completed a remarkable comeback to keep the Republic of Ireland within three points of group leaders Slovenia.
Carla Ward"s side welcome Slovenia to Cork on Tuesday night knowing that a win would guarantee promotion to League A. Anything less and they will go into a promotion play-off.
Next matches in Group B1 and B2
Group B1: 3 June - Bosnia-Herzegovina v Northern Ireland, Poland v Romania.
Group B2: 3 June -Republic of Ireland v Slovenia, Greece v Turkey.
[BBC]
How does the league work?
Teams were placed in each league based on their rankings at the end of the 2024 women"s European qualifying league stage.
The four League A group winners will meet in two-legged semi-finals. The winners go into the final to decide who takes the Nations League title, while the losers go into a third-place play-off. Both the final and the third-place tie will also be played over two legs.
The teams who finish fourth in each League A group will be relegated to League B, and the League B group winners will be promoted.
Each group winner of League C will be promoted to League B, with the teams finishing at the bottom of League B, as well as two of the lowest ranked third-placed teams, dropping to League C.
Spain won the inaugural Women"s Nations League title in 2024.
How can teams qualify for Women"s World Cup?
The group standings at the end of the Nations League determine which teams are placed in each league for the European qualifiers for the 2027 Women"s World Cup.
There will be another draw in November 2025 to decide the groups within the three leagues.
Teams who finish in the top two in each League A group stay in the top league for the World Cup qualifiers.
The top four teams in League B will be promoted.
Third-placed teams from League A will have to play the second-placed teams from League B to decide which four teams claim the final League A spots.
At the end of the World Cup qualifiers, the four League A winners will qualify directly for the Women"s World Cup. Other teams will be entered into the play-offs to claim the remaining spots.
When are the fixtures?
The Nations League group fixtures all take place before the 2025 Women"s Euros, which starts on 2 July.
League phases
Matchday six: 3 June
Finals
Semi-finals (two legs): 22-28 October
Final/third-place play-off (two legs): 26 November-2 December
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