The 2018-19 inaugural edition of the Nations League proved to be more of a success than most people imagined. It met its primary goal of making international football more exciting by replacing meaningless friendlies with more competitive games. The league and group structures also mean teams play other countries of a similar level, meaning more competitive football across the whole competition.
Expectations were, therefore, higher for the second tournament in 2020-21 and again it did not fail to live up to expectation. The addition of qualification places for the Euros for lower leagues added significant incentive for teams to want to win. In fact, Scotland ended up in at Euro 2020 by this route, along with Hungary, Slovakia and North Macedonia. The promise of the a rare international trophy for the finalists from League A also resulted in some seriously competitive football.
France, Italy, Spain and Belgium all won their respective League A groups in 2020 and as a consequence gained a place in the finals in October 2021 (delayed from June due to rescheduling needed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and need to move Euro 2020 to 2021). Italy were selected as hosts but lost to Spain in the semi-finals, the European Champions first international loss in 37 games. France overcame Belgium in a 3-2 thriller despite Belgium leading 2-0 at half-time. The final was played at the San Siro in Milan and it was France that came out as champions with a 2-1 victory in 90 minutes against Spain. Italy finished third by beating Belgium 2-1 in the third place play-off.
League A
Country | Final Rank | Group | Group Position | W-D-L | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
France | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5-1-0 | 16 |
Spain | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3-2-1 | 11 |
Italy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3-3-0 | 12 |
Belgium | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5-0-1 | 15 |
Portugal | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4-1-1 | 13 |
Netherlands | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3-2-1 | 11 |
Denmark | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3-1-2 | 10 |
Germany | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2-3-1 | 9 |
England | 9 | 2 | 3 | 3-1-2 | 10 |
Poland | 10 | 1 | 3 | 2-1-3 | 7 |
Switzerland | 11 | 4 | 3 | 1-3-2 | 6 |
Croatia | 12 | 3 | 3 | 1-0-5 | 3 |
Ukraine | 13 | 4 | 4 | 2-0-4 | 6 |
Sweden | 14 | 3 | 4 | 1-0-5 | 3 |
Bos & Herz | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0-2-4 | 2 |
Iceland | 16 | 2 | 4 | 0-0-6 | 0 |
League B
Country | Final Rank | Group | Group Position | W-D-L | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wales | 17 | 4 | 1 | 5-1-0 | 16 |
Austria | 18 | 1 | 1 | 4-1-1 | 13 |
Czech Rep | 19 | 2 | 1 | 4-0-2 | 12 |
Hungary | 20 | 3 | 1 | 3-2-1 | 11 |
Finland | 21 | 4 | 2 | 4-0-2 | 12 |
Norway | 22 | 1 | 2 | 3-1-2 | 10 |
Scotland | 23 | 2 | 2 | 3-1-2 | 10 |
Russia | 24 | 3 | 2 | 2-2-2 | 8 |
Romania | 25 | 1 | 3 | 2-2-2 | 8 |
Israel | 26 | 2 | 3 | 2-2-2 | 8 |
Serbia | 27 | 3 | 3 | 1-3-2 | 6 |
Ireland | 28 | 4 | 3 | 0-3-3 | 3 |
Turkey | 29 | 3 | 4 | 1-3-2 | 6 |
Slovakia | 30 | 2 | 4 | 1-1-4 | 4 |
Bulgaria | 31 | 4 | 4 | 0-2-4 | 2 |
N. Ireland | 32 | 1 | 4 | 0-2-4 | 2 |
League C
Country | Final Rank | Group | Group Position | W-D-L | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Slovenia | 33 | 3 | 1 | 4-2-0 | 14 |
Montenegro | 34 | 1 | 1 | 4-1-1 | 13 |
Albania | 35 | 4 | 1 | 3-2-1 | 11 |
Armenia | 36 | 2 | 1 | 3-2-1 | 11 |
Greece | 37 | 3 | 2 | 3-3-0 | 12 |
Belarus | 38 | 4 | 2 | 3-1-2 | 10 |
Luxembourg | 39 | 1 | 2 | 3-1-2 | 10 |
Macedonia | 40 | 2 | 2 | 2-3-1 | 9 |
Lithuania | 41 | 4 | 3 | 2-2-2 | 8 |
Georgia | 42 | 2 | 3 | 1-4-1 | 7 |
Azerbaijan | 43 | 1 | 3 | 1-3-2 | 6 |
Kosovo | 44 | 3 | 3 | 1-2-3 | 5 |
Khazakhstan | 45 | 4 | 4 | 1-1-4 | 4 |
Cyprus | 46 | 1 | 4 | 1-1-4 | 4 |
Estonia | 47 | 2 | 4 | 0-3-3 | 3 |
Moldova | 48 | 3 | 4 | 0-1-5 | 1 |
League D
Country | Final Rank | Group | Group Position | W-D-L | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gibraltar | 49 | 2 | 1 | 2-2-0 | 8 |
Faroe Is | 50 | 1 | 1 | 3-3-0 | 12 |
Liech’stein | 51 | 2 | 2 | 1-2-1 | 5 |
Malta | 52 | 1 | 2 | 2-3-1 | 9 |
Latvia | 53 | 1 | 3 | 1-4-1 | 7 |
San Marino | 54 | 2 | 3 | 0-2-2 | 2 |
Andorra | 55 | 1 | 4 | 0-2-4 | 2 |
Semi-Finals
Fixture | UK KO Time | Stadium | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Italy | v | Spain | 6th October | San Siro |
Belgium | v | France | 7th October | Juventus Stadium |
Third Place Play-Off
Fixture | UK KO Time | Stadium | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Italy | v | Belgium | 10th October | Juventus Stadium |
2021 Nations League Final
Fixture | UK KO Time | Stadium | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Spain | v | France | 10th October | San Siro |