2024/25 UEFA Nations League finals: All you need to know
Saturday, June 7, 2025
Article summary
Who played who, when were the games and how did it work – all you need to know about the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League finals.
Article top media content
Article body
The fourth edition of the UEFA Nations League finals concluded with the final and third-place play-off on Sunday 8 June.
What were the Nations League finals results?
Final (8 June)
Portugal 2-2 Spain (aet, 5-3 pens)
Third-place play-off (8 June)
Germany 0-2 France
Semi-finals
4 June: Germany 1-2 Portugal
5 June: Spain 5-4 France
Where were the Nations League finals?
The UEFA Executive Committee chose the winners of the quarter-final between Italy and Germany as the provisional hosts for the four-team final tournament. Germany's quarter-final triumph meant that the two designated stadiums in Munich and Stuttgart staged the finals games.
Who qualified for the Nations League finals?
France, Germany, Portugal and Spain qualified after winning their two-legged quarter-final ties, concluding on Sunday 23 March, meaning all three previous winners of the competition – Portugal (2019), France (2021) and Spain (2023) – lined up alongside first-time finalists and hosts Germany.
How did the Nations League finals work?
Portugal defeated hosts Germany in the first semi-final on Wednesday 4 June 2025 before Spain beat France in a nine-goal thriller on Thursday. Portugal and Spain therefore advanced to the final on Sunday 8 June, which Portugal won 5-3 on penalties after the sides finished level 2-2 after extra time. France beat Germany 2-0 in the third-place play-off earlier in the same day to claim the bronze medal.
Who refereed the Nations League final?
Switzerland's Sandro Schärer, 36, refereed the 2025 UEFA Nations League final.
What changes were made for the 2024/25 Nations League?
The UEFA Nations League was expanded to include a new knockout round taking place in March 2025, thereby creating continuity between the group phase ending in November and the finals played in June.
The League A group winners and runners-up participated in home-and-away quarter-finals, with the winners of these ties qualifying for the finals.
The fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B were automatically relegated to League B and C respectively. The two lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams in League C, meanwhile, were relegated to League D.
The four group winners in Leagues B and C, as well as the two group winners in League D, were automatically promoted to Leagues A, B and C respectively.
The third-ranked teams of League A and the runners-up of League B, as well as the third-ranked teams of League B and the runners-up of League C, played home-and-away promotion/relegation play-offs.
There will also be play-offs between the two best-ranked fourth-placed teams from League C and the two runners-up from League D.
The expansion of the UEFA Nations League into the International Match Calendar window of March concerned only a select number of teams with the remaining teams starting the European Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Nations League finals
2019: Portugal 1-0 Netherlands (Porto)
2021: France 2-1 Spain (Milan)
2023: Croatia 0-0 Spain (aet, Spain win 5-4 on pens, Rotterdam)
2025: Portugal 2-2 Spain (aet, Portugal win 5-3 on pens, Munich)
How does the 2024/25 Nations League affect qualifying for the World Cup?
The 12 group runners-up from the European Qualifiers will participate in the play-offs for the World Cup finals along with the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that did not finish their European Qualifiers group stage in first or second place.
The 16 teams who enter the play-offs will be drawn into four play-off paths, with four teams in each. Play-off matches will be played in single-leg semi-finals followed by single-leg finals within the same international window in March 2026.
What is the Nations League?
The UEFA Nations League was devised to minimise meaningless friendlies and give nations competitive encounters with equally ranked teams.
Teams from all the European associations compete in a league structure featuring promotion and relegation. In the first edition of the tournament, they were divided into 12 teams in League A, 12 in League B, 14 in League C and 16 in League D.
The 2024/25 edition began with 16 teams in Leagues A, B and C, and six in League D.