UEFA Nations League finals: all you need to know
Monday 30 November 2020
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Who is involved? How does it work? When and where is the tournament?
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What is it?
The final phase of the second edition of UEFA's newest national-team competition, scheduled for October 2021, involving the four group winners of the top-ranked League A. Portugal clinched the first title on home turf in 2019.
Who is involved?
Belgium
France
Italy
Spain
When are the finals?
An open draw (with no seedings) will be held on Thursday 3 December to determine the semi-final pairings. Times and venues are to be confirmed.
6 October: Semi-final 1
7 October: Semi-final 2
10 October: Match for third place
10 October: Final
Where are the finals?
Three associations with teams in Group A1 declared an interest in hosting the tournament: Italy, Netherlands and Poland. In principle, the winner of this group (Italy) will be appointed as finals hosts.
The formal appointment of the host will be confirmed at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 3 December, followed by the draw of the semi-final and final pairings.
What is the finals format?
- The semi-final winners advance to the final; defeated teams contest the match for third place.
- For the semi-finals and final, if scores are level at the end of normal time then there is extra time. If the scores are still level after the additional 30 minutes, it goes to a penalty shoot-out.
- For the match for third place there is no extra time. If the scores are level after the end of normal time, it goes to a penalty shoot-out.
What does the winner get?
First and foremost this fetching 71cm-tall sterling silver trophy.
Is this linked to 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying?
In order to free up space in October 2021, the four UEFA Nations League finalists will be drawn into a five-team group for qualifying (rather than a six-team group).
2022 World Cup qualifying