The innovation of next year’s Nations League
The innovation of next year’s Nations League
Our Men’s National Team may not have finished its 2025 competitive obligations in the best possible way, but by general consensus, the overall outcome for the year that is ending is positive.
In the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches, we saw a team improved in almost every game, with the right mentality and an attacking orientation — a team that fought for the result until the end and revived hope among Cypriot fans that it can achieve something good.
The friendly against Estonia was a negative exception that does not overturn the overall picture of our team in recent months.
The National Team paid on Tuesday night for its unjustified drop in performance during the final 20 minutes, resulting in a 2–1 lead turning into a 2–4 loss within ten minutes. There may be mitigating factors for the defeat, but there are no excuses — something coach Apostolos Mantzios emphasized to his players in the locker room.
Now, the coach and his staff, having the experience of the ten matches our team played in 2025, are beginning to plan for next year.
2026 Competitive Schedule
The year 2026 includes four friendly matches and six official matches in the UEFA Nations League 2026–2027.
The Nations League draw will take place on February 12. Cyprus competes in League C along with fifteen other countries and will be drawn into one of the four groups in the league, alongside three other teams.
The teams finishing first in their group will be promoted to League B, while they will also compete in play-off matches for qualification to EURO 2028.
Details regarding the seeding pots for each league will be announced by UEFA in the coming days.
The innovation in next year's Nations League is the scheduling of four consecutive matches from September 24 to October 6.
Matchdays 5 and 6 of the group stage will take place from November 12 to 17, 2026.
Essentially, the group phase will now be completed in two international windows, instead of three as it was until now.
In addition to the official matches, our National Team will also play four friendlies.
Two will take place from March 23 to 31, and the other two from June 1 to 9, 2026.
