2020–21 UEFA Nations League

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2020–21 UEFA Nations League

Tournament details
Dates	League phase: 3 September – 17 November 2020 Nations League Finals: 6-10 October 2021 Relegation play-outs: 24–29 March 2022
Teams	55
Final positions
Champions	France
Runner-up	Spain
Third place	Italy
Fourth place	Belgium
Tournament statistics
Matches played	160
Goals scored	362 (2.26 per match)
Attendance	102,538 (641 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Erling Haaland (6 goals)
← 2018–19 2022–23 →

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition is being held from September to November 2020 (league phase), October 2021 (Nations League Finals) and March 2022 (relegation play-outs).

Portugal were the defending champions, having won the inaugural 2019 finals. However, they failed to qualify for the 2021 finals after finishing second in their group behind France. None of the teams that had qualified for the previous UEFA Nations League Finals qualified for the 2021 event.

Format

On 24 September 2019, UEFA announced that a revised format would be used for the 2020–21 edition, the second season of the competition. The 55 UEFA national teams were divided into four leagues, with Leagues A, B and C featuring 16 teams each, divided into four groups of four teams. League D featured 7 teams divided into two groups, with one containing four teams and the other containing three. The teams were allocated to leagues based on the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League overall ranking. Each team now played six matches within their group, except for one group in League D which played four, using the home-and-away round-robin format on double matchdays in September, October and November 2020. This format ensured that for almost all groups, teams in the same group played their last matches at the same time. It also increased the number of total league phase matches from 138 to 162, and minimised the number of friendly matches.

In the top division, League A, teams competed to become the UEFA Nations League champions. The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals in June 2021, which is played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, are determined by means of a draw. Host country Italy was selected among the four qualified teams by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions. The video assistant referee (VAR) system will be used in the Nations League Finals.

Teams also compete for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league. In Leagues B, C and D, the group winners were promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group in Leagues A and B were relegated. As League C had four groups while League D had only two, the two League C teams that are to be relegated will be determined by play-outs in March 2022. Based on the Nations League overall ranking of the fourth-placed teams, the first-ranked team will face the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team will face the third-ranked team. Two ties will be played over two legs, with the higher-ranked team will host the second leg. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs will remain in League C, while the loser will be relegated to League D. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, with extra time played if away goals are also equal. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, with a penalty shoot-out used to decide the winner if no goals are scored during extra time.

Tiebreakers for group ranking

If two or more teams in the same group were equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:

1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
5. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
6. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
9. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
10. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
11. Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
12. Position in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League access list.

Criteria for league ranking

Individual league rankings were established according to the following criteria:

1. Position in the group;
2. Higher number of points;
3. Superior goal difference;
4. Higher number of goals scored;
5. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
6. Higher number of wins;
7. Higher number of wins away from home;
8. Lower disciplinary points total (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
9. Position in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League access list.

In order to rank teams in League D, which is composed of different sized groups, the results against the fourth-placed team in Group D1 are not taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed first, second and third in their respective groups.

The ranking of the top 4 teams in League A are determined by their finish in the Nations League Finals:

1. The winner is ranked 1st;
2. The runner-up is ranked 2nd;
3. The third-placed team is ranked 3rd;
4. The fourth-placed team is ranked 4th.

Criteria for overall ranking

The overall UEFA Nations League rankings were established as follows:

1. The 16 League A teams are ranked 1st to 16th according to their league rankings.
2. The 16 League B teams are ranked 17th to 32nd according to their league rankings.
3. The 16 League C teams are ranked 33rd to 48th according to their league rankings.
4. The 7 League D teams are ranked 49th to 55th according to their league rankings.

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The Nations League will be partially linked with European qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, with the format confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland on 4 December 2019. The qualifying structure will depend on results from the Nations League, although to a lesser degree than the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs. The ten group winners after the first round (group stage) will qualify directly for the World Cup. Then, the ten group runners-up, along with best two Nations League group winners based on the Nations League overall ranking which have not yet directly qualified or reached the play-offs, will advance to a 12-team second round (play-offs) to be conducted in two single-match knockout rounds, from which an additional three teams will also qualify.

Schedule

Below is the schedule of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League.

Stage	Round	Dates
League phase	Matchday 1	3–5 September 2020
	Matchday 2	6–8 September 2020
	Matchday 3	8–10 October 2020
	Matchday 4	11–13 October 2020
	Matchday 5	12–14 November 2020
	Matchday 6	15–17 November 2020
Finals	Semi-finals	2–3 June 2021
	Third place play-off	6 June 2021
	Final
Relegation play-outs	First leg	24–25 March 2022
	Second leg	28–29 March 2022

The relegation play-outs of League C are scheduled on the same dates as the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying play-offs. If one or more of the teams due to participate in the relegation play-outs also qualifies for the World Cup qualifying play-offs, the relegation play-outs will be cancelled and the teams in League C ranked 47th and 48th in the Nations League overall ranking will be automatically relegated.

Seeding

All 55 UEFA national teams entered the competition. Due to the format change of the competition, no teams were actually relegated from the 2018–19 season. In addition to the group winners, the second-placed teams in Leagues C and D, along with the best-ranked third-placed team of League D, were also promoted.

In the 2020–21 access list, UEFA ranked teams based on the 2018–19 Nations League overall ranking, with a slight modification: teams which were originally relegated in the previous season were ranked immediately below teams promoted prior to the format change. The seeding pots for the league phase will be based on the access list ranking.The seeding pots, draw procedure and fixture list procedures were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland on 4 December 2019.

Key

	Originally promoted in previous season (prior to format change)
	Originally relegated in previous season (spared after format change)
*	Promoted after format change

League A Pot Team Prv Rank 1 Portugal (title holders) 1 Netherlands 2 England 3 Switzerland 4 2 Belgium 5 France 6 Spain 7 Italy 8 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina 9 Ukraine 10 Denmark 11 Sweden 12 4 Croatia 13 Poland 14 Germany 15 Iceland 16	League B Pot Team Prv Rank 1 Russia 17 Austria 18 Wales 19 Czech Republic 20 2 Scotland 21 Norway 22 Serbia 23 Finland 24 3 Slovakia 25 Turkey 26 Republic of Ireland 27 Northern Ireland 28 4 Bulgaria * 29 Israel * 30 Hungary * 31 Romania * 32
League C Pot Team Prv Rank 1 Greece 33 Albania 34 Montenegro 35 Georgia 36 2 North Macedonia 37 Kosovo 38 Belarus 39 Cyprus 40 3 Estonia 41 Slovenia 42 Lithuania 43 Luxembourg * 44 4 Armenia * 45 Azerbaijan * 46 Kazakhstan * 47 Moldova * 48	League D Pot Team Rank 1 Gibraltar 49 Faroe Islands 50 Latvia 51 Liechtenstein 52 2 Andorra 53 Malta 54 San Marino 55

The draw for the league phase took place on 3 March 2020, 18:00 CET, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. While the draw typically has restrictions for prohibited clashes, winter venues and excessive travel, no conditions applied to the draw given the allocation of the teams to both leagues and pots.

League A

Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A

Group A1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Italy	6	3	3	0	7	2	+5	12	Qualification to Nations League Finals
Netherlands	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11
Poland	6	2	1	3	6	6	0	7
Bosnia and Herzegovina (R)	6	0	2	4	3	11	−8	2	Relegation to League B

Group A2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Belgium	6	5	0	1	16	6	+10	15	Qualification to Nations League Finals
Denmark	6	3	1	2	8	7	+1	10
England	6	3	1	2	7	4	+3	10
Iceland (R)	6	0	0	6	3	17	−14	0	Relegation to League B

Group A3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
France	6	5	1	0	12	5	+7	16	Qualification to Nations League Finals
Portugal	6	4	1	1	12	4	+8	13
Croatia	6	1	0	5	9	16	−7	3
Sweden (R)	6	1	0	5	5	13	−8	3	Relegation to League B

Group A4

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Spain (A)	6	3	2	1	13	3	+10	11	Qualification to Nations League Finals
Germany	6	2	3	1	10	13	−3	9
Ukraine	5	2	0	3	5	10	−5	6
Switzerland	5	0	3	2	6	8	−2	3	Relegation to League B

Nations League Finals

Main article: 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals

The host of the Nations League Finals, Italy, was selected from the four qualified teams. The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw on 3 December 2020, 17:30 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Qualified teams

• Belgium
• France
• Italy (host)
• Spain

Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA.

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	6 October – Milan
	Italy	1
	Spain	2
					10 October – Milan
					Spain
					France
					Third place
	7 October – Turin			10 October – Turin
	Belgium	2		Italy	2
	France	3			Belgium	1

Italy vs Spain

6 October 2021 (2021-10-06) 20:45	Italy	1-2	Spain	San Siro, Milan Attendance: 33,524 Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)
	Pellegrini  83'	Report	F. Torres  17', 45+2'

7 October 2021 (2021-10-07) 20:45	Belgium	2–3	France	Juventus Stadium, Turin Attendance: 12,409 Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
	Carrasco  37' Lukaku  40'	Report	Benzema  62' Mbappé  69' (pen.) T. Hernandez  90'

Third place play-off

10 October 2021 (2021-10-10) 15:00	Italy	2-1	Belgium	Juventus Stadium, Turin
		Report

Final

Main article: 2021 UEFA Nations League Final

10 October 2021 (2021-10-10) 20:45	Spain	1-2	France	San Siro, Milan
		Report

League B

Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B

Group B1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Austria	4	3	0	1	6	4	+2	9	Promotion to League A
Norway	4	3	0	1	11	3	+8	9
Romania	4	1	1	2	4	8	−4	4
Northern Ireland	4	0	1	3	2	8	−6	1	Relegation to League C

Group B2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Scotland	4	3	1	0	5	2	+3	10	Promotion to League A
Czech Republic	4	2	0	2	6	5	+1	6
Israel	4	1	2	1	6	6	0	5
Slovakia	4	0	1	3	4	8	−4	1	Relegation to League C

Group B3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Russia	4	2	2	0	7	4	+3	8	Promotion to League A
Hungary	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1	7
Turkey	4	0	3	1	3	4	−1	3
Serbia	4	0	2	2	3	6	−3	2	Relegation to League C

Group B4

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Wales	4	3	1	0	3	0	+3	10	Promotion to League A
Finland	4	3	0	1	4	1	+3	9
Republic Ireland	4	0	2	2	1	3	−2	2
Bulgaria	4	0	1	3	1	5	−4	1	Relegation to League C

League C

Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Nations League C

Group C1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Luxembourg	4	3	0	1	6	3	+3	9	Promotion to League B
Montenegro	4	3	0	1	6	2	+4	9
Azerbaijan	4	1	1	2	2	4	−2	4
Cyprus	4	0	1	3	0	5	−5	1	Advance to relegation play-outs

Group C2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
North Macedonia	4	1	3	0	7	6	+1	6	Promotion to League B
Georgia	4	1	3	0	5	4	+1	6
Armenia	4	1	2	1	6	5	+1	5
Estonia	4	0	2	2	4	7	−3	2	Advance to relegation play-outs

Group C3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Slovenia	4	3	1	0	6	0	+6	10	Promotion to League B
Greece	4	2	2	0	4	1	+3	8
Kosovo	4	0	2	2	2	4	−2	2
Moldova	4	0	1	3	1	8	−7	1	Advance to relegation play-outs

Group C4

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Belarus	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1	7	Promotion to League B
Lithuania	4	1	2	1	3	4	−1	5
Albania	4	1	2	1	2	1	+1	5
Kazakhstan	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	4	Advance to relegation play-outs

Relegation play-outs

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Moldova		Kazakhstan	24–25 Mar '22	28–29 Mar '22
Estonia		Cyprus	24–25 Mar '22	28–29 Mar '22

League D

Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D

Group D1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Faroe Islands	4	3	1	0	7	3	+4	10	Promotion to League C
Malta	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5
Latvia	4	0	3	1	2	3	−1	3
Andorra	4	0	2	2	0	3	−3	2

Group D2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	6	Promotion to League C
Liechtenstein	3	1	1	1	2	1	+1	4
San Marino	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

Overall ranking

The results of each team will be used to calculate the overall ranking of the competition.

League A
Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 A2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 2 A3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 3 A1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 4 A4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 5 A2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 6 A1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 7 A4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 8 A3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 9 A4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 10 A3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 11 A1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 12 A2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
League B
Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 B2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 2 B3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 3 B1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 4 B4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 5 B2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 6 B1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 7 B4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 8 B3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 9 B4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 10 B3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 11 B1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 12 B2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
League C
Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 C2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 2 C3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 3 C1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 4 C4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 5 C2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 6 C1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 7 C4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 8 C3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 9 C4 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 10 C3 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 11 C1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 12 C2 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
League D
Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 49 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 50 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 51 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 52 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 53 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 54 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]] 55 D1 [[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]

Goalscorers

There have been 362 goals scored in 160 matches, for an average of 2.26 goals per match (as of 18 November 2020).

6 goals

• Erling Haaland

5 goals

• Romelu Lukaku
• Eran Zahavi

4 goals

• Sokol Cikalleshi
• Christian Eriksen
• Rauno Sappinen
• Klæmint Olsen
• Timo Werner
• Stevan Jovetić
• Haris Vučkić
• Ferran Torres

3 goals

• Dries Mertens
• Fredrik Jensen
• Olivier Giroud
• Jānis Ikaunieks
• Danel Sinani
• Georginio Wijnaldum
• Alexander Sørloth
• Diogo Jota

External links

• Official website