What’s next for the UEFA Nations League and what does it mean for EURO 2020?

The group phase of the inaugural UEFA Nations League has now concluded, with all the promotion, relegation and play-off issues resolved.

It’s fair to say that the new competition has proved pretty exciting, with small group formats in the elite League A going right down to the wire.

England, for example, went from facing relegation to a place in the Nations League finals thanks to two goals in seven minutes against Croatia on Sunday.

And Holland came back from two down with just five minutes remaining to draw against Germany and book their finals spot at the expense of France.

So what happens now? And what will the next Nations League in 2020 look like? Sportsmail explains all.

The UEFA Nations League has proved a success with an exciting and entertaining group stage

We now know the four teams who will compete for the UEFA Nations League trophy next summer as well as who has been promoted and who is relegated

LEAGUE A

How did it unfold? Naturally, the top League attracted most of the attention with 12 of Europe’s top-ranked nations battling it out to reach the final four or avoid relegation.

With just three in each group, there was no margin for error and that made for plenty of twists and turns as the competition unfolded.

England finished top of a fiendishly tricky group featuring Spain and World Cup finalists Croatia, beating both in their final two matches.

At Wembley last Sunday, Gareth Southgate’s team went from staring relegation in the face to finals qualification in the space of seven giddy minutes late on.

Harry Kane’s late winner guided England to the UEFA Nations League finals against Croatia

The surprise package were Holland, revitalised under new coach Ronald Koeman. They beat Germany 3-0 and France 2-0 at home, before a last-gasp smash and grab earned a decisive draw away to Germany on Monday night.

That put them through to next summer’s finals on head-to-head record at the expense of France, with Germany experiencing a humbling relegation into League B.

Another incredible fightback saw Switzerland come back from two goals down to beat Belgium 5-2 and top their group, again by virtue of a superior head-to-head record.

And Portugal, who will host next June’s finals, topped their group ahead of Italy.

Virgil van Dijk celebrates the goal that took Holland through to next summer’s finals

What happens next? England, Holland, Switzerland and Portugal will contest the Nations League finals in June next year.

There will be two semi-finals, a final and a third place play-off, all to be staged in the Portuguese cities of Porto and Guimaraes between June 5 and June 9 next year.

The draw for the semi-finals will be made in Dublin on December 3 and the team that wins the final will become the first Nations League champions.

In addition, the four group winners are assured of a play-off place for Euro 2020 should they not make it through the normal qualifying. More on that below. 

Teams relegated: Germany, Iceland, Poland and…