The UEFA Nations League replaced the friendly calendar with competitive international football, splitting Europe's national teams into tiered leagues with promotion and relegation between them. League A gathers the continent's strongest sides, while the lower leagues give smaller nations meaningful matches against opponents of similar level. The competition runs across the international breaks in autumn and spring, building to knockout ties and a Finals week for the League A teams still standing. Portugal, France and Spain have all lifted the trophy since its introduction in 2018.
How to Predict UEFA Nations League Matches
The Nations League was created to fix a real problem: nobody wanted to watch friendlies. By tying every fixture to a league table with promotion and relegation, UEFA turned dead November dates into games teams genuinely try to win. It also feeds the European Championship and World Cup qualifying play-offs, so a strong group campaign can still matter months later. The tiered structure means a nation can climb from League D to League A over successive editions, and the League A knockout rounds have produced some of the better neutral watches on the international calendar.
All of CalledItMate's markets are open on enabled Nations League fixtures: correct score, goalscorer, next team to score, half result and highest scoring half. Because Nations League groups mix elite sides with rapidly improving smaller nations, scorelines swing more than people expect, which makes next team to score a useful market when a favourite is being held. Points land the instant the game confirms your call, not at full time.
When do Nations League games kick off?
Nations League fixtures land in the international windows, typically clustered across Thursday to Monday, with evening kick-offs of 17:00, 19:45 and 20:45 CET depending on the group and the broadcast slot. Lower-league matches often get earlier slots than the League A headliners. CalledItMate shows every fixture in your local time zone, and the match lobby opens 30 minutes before kick-off so you can lock in your picks early.
Does the Nations League actually count for anything?
Yes. League positions decide promotion and relegation between Leagues A, B, C and D, the top tier produces a knockout stage and a Finals with a trophy at the end, and results feed into the play-off routes for the Euros and the World Cup. That is why managers pick close to full-strength squads, which in turn makes team news worth reading before you predict a scoreline on CalledItMate.
