Promotions achieved and promise shown – How the Nations League panned out

The Nations League group stage saw plenty of highs as well as a few lows along the way.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look back at how the campaigns panned out for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Interim boss Carsley gets job done

Following the departure of Gareth Southgate after Euro 2024, under-21s coach Lee Carsley was handed a six-game brief to get England back into the top tier of the Nations League.
Despite the fall-out from a shocking 2-1 defeat by Greece at Wembley last month, it was overall a positive campaign, with mission accomplished on the back of an impressive 3-0 win in Athens followed by the 5-0 thrashing of the Republic of Ireland.
Carsley was not bothered if his bold team selections upset people – and he took plenty of flack after the lacklustre loss to Greece – but it ultimately paid off.
England finished top of Group B2, scoring 16 goals in six games, to secure promotion – and leave in-coming boss Thomas Tuchel clear to focus on his own objective of qualifying for and then winning the 2026 World Cup.

Dream start for Bellamy

Wales also enjoyed a successful Nations League campaign, finishing top of Group B4 and with it securing direct promotion.
New boss Craig Bellamy has enjoyed the best start by a Wales manager after his side came from behind to beat Iceland 4-1 in Cardiff on Wednesday night and extend their unbeaten run to six games.
A 3-1 defeat for Turkey in Montenegro saw Wales jump to the top of the group and land a spot in League A.
The impressive campaign will also boost World Cup qualification hopes, with the Dragons effectively guaranteed a play-off place should they not automatically make sure of a spot in the 2026 tournament.

Youngsters deliver for O’Neill

Michael O’Neill’s faith in the next generation paid off handsomely as Northern Ireland finished top of Group C3 to be promoted to the second tier, with just one loss – away to Bulgaria in September.
That result, though, was soon a distant memory as Northern Ireland ran out 5-0 winners back at Windsor Park last month, with former Everton youngster Isaac Price scoring a hat-trick.
In the final group game away to Luxembourg, Northern Ireland set a new post-war record by fielding a starting XI with an average age of 22.2.
The exciting, attacking play of O’Neill’s fresh side have certainly renewed hopes heading into the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Scotland mount impressive turnaround

After a disappointing Euro 2024, the spotlight was firmly on Scotland boss Steve Clarke as his side took on Portugal, Croatia and Poland in Group A1.
A 3-2 defeat at home to Poland after a stoppage-time penalty was far from an ideal start. It was followed by a 2-1 loss in Portugal after a late winner from Cristiano Ronaldo before Scotland were then beaten in Croatia to sit rock bottom.
However, after battling to a goalless draw against Portugal at Hampden Park last month, Clarke’s men slowly turned the corner.
John McGinn’s late goal secured a 1-0 win over Croatia and Andy Robertson’s header deep in stoppage time snatched a 2-1 victory over Poland in Warsaw.
All that left Scotland in third place, so avoiding automatic relegation, and they will now face a play-off to stay in the top tier against one of the League B runners-up in March.

Republic look to regroup

A challenging year for Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side came to a chastening end with a 5-0 rout at Wembley, where they finished with 10 men following the dismissal of Liam Scales shortly after half-time.
Hallgrimsson laid into his players, labelling the loss “embarrassing” and even suggesting some of them “gave up” after Scales’ red card, with England scoring three goals in the space of five minutes early in the second half.
With four defeats from six games, the Republic finished third in the group and will need to regroup for the promotion/relegation play-offs.