| Fase finale della UEFA Nations League 2021(in Italian) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Italy |
| Dates | 6–10 October |
| Teams | 4 |
| Venue | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  France (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Spain |
| Third place |  Italy |
| Fourth place |  Belgium |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 4 |
| Goals scored | 14 (3.5 per match) |
| Attendance | 94,168 (23,542 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Karim BenzemaKylian MbappéFerran Torres (2 goals each) |
| Best player | Sergio Busquets |
←2019 2023 → | |
The2021 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the2020–21 edition of theUEFA Nations League, the second season of the internationalfootball competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations ofUEFA. The tournament was held in Italy from 6 to 10 October 2021,[1] and was contested by the four group winners ofNations League A. The tournament consisted of two semi-finals, a third place play-off and final to determine the champions of the UEFA Nations League. While originally scheduled for 2 to 6 June 2021, the tournament was pushed back due to the postponement ofUEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021.
Portugal were the defending champions, having won the inaugural2019 finals. However, they failed to qualify for the 2021 finals after finishing second in their group behindFrance.[2]
France won thefinal 2–1 againstSpain for their first UEFA Nations League title.
The Nations League Finals took place in October 2021 and were contested by the four group winners ofLeague A. The four teams were each drawn into a five-team group (rather than a six-team group) for the2022 FIFA World Cup qualification group stage, thereby leaving the October 2021 window available for the Nations League Finals.[3]
The Nations League Finals were played in single-leg knockout matches, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off and a final. The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw.[4] All matches in the tournament utilised thegoal-line technology andvideo assistant referee (VAR) systems.
In the Nations League Finals, if the scores were level at the end of normal time:[5]
On 31 March 2021, the UEFA Executive Committee approved the use of a maximum of five substitutions in matches at the Nations League Finals (with a sixth allowed in extra time).[7] However, each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity allowed in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.[8] The use of five substitutes had been permitted byIFAB during theCOVID-19 pandemic due to the resulting fixture congestion, which created a greater burden on players.[9]
The four group winners ofLeague A qualified for the Nations League Finals.[10]
| Group | Winners | Date of qualification | Previous UNL Finals appearances | Previous best UNL Ranking | UNL Rankings November 2020 | FIFA Rankings September 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Italy(host) | 18 November 2020 | 0 (debut) | 8 (2018–19) | 3 | 5 |
| A2 | Belgium | 18 November 2020 | 0 (debut) | 5 (2018–19) | 2 | 1 |
| A3 | France | 14 November 2020 | 0 (debut) | 6 (2018–19) | 1 | 4 |
| A4 | Spain | 17 November 2020 | 0 (debut) | 7 (2018–19) | 4 | 8 |
The Nations League Finals, originally scheduled for 2–6 June 2021, were moved to 6–10 October 2021 following the rescheduling ofUEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[11][3] The tournament took place over five days, with the semi-finals on 6 and 7 October (the first of which featured the host team), and the third place play-off and final three days after the second semi-final on 10 October 2021.[1]
Italy was confirmed as the host country by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2020.[12][13] Only League A teams could bid for the Nations League Finals, and only one of the four participants is selected as hosts. The Nations League Finals were held in two stadiums, each with a seating capacity of at least 30,000. Ideally, the stadiums would be located in the same host city or up to approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) apart.
On 24 September 2020, UEFA announced thatItaly, theNetherlands, andPoland had declared interest in hosting the tournament, all three of which are members ofGroup A1.[1]Italy were confirmed as winners of Group A1 over theNetherlands andPoland on 18 November 2020, thereby confirming hosting rights, which were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2020, the same day as the Nations League Finals draw.[4][14] If the fourth member of the group,Bosnia and Herzegovina, had qualified for the Nations League Finals, the UEFA Executive Committee would have decided the venues.[15]
Bidding venues
Italy[15]
Netherlands[16]
Poland[17]In their bid dossier, theItalian Football Federation proposed theSan Siro inMilan andJuventus Stadium inTurin as the venues.[15][18]
| Milan | Turin | |
|---|---|---|
| San Siro | Juventus Stadium | |
| Capacity:75,923 | Capacity:41,507 | |
 |  |
The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw on 3 December 2020, 17:30CET, at the UEFA headquarters inNyon, Switzerland.[19][20][21][22] The first two teams drawn were allocated to match pairing A, while the remaining two teams drawn were allocated to match pairing B.[23] For scheduling purposes, the host team was allocated to the first semi-final as the administrative home team. The administrative home team for both the third place play-off and final were predetermined as the teams which advanced from semi-final 1.[5]
Each national team had to submit a squad of 23 players, three of whom had to be goalkeepers, at least ten days before the opening match of the tournament. If a player became injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he was replaced by another player.[5]
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 6 October –Milan | ||||||
| Italy | 1 | |||||
| 10 October –Milan | ||||||
| Spain | 2 | |||||
| Spain | 1 | |||||
| 7 October –Turin | ||||||
| France | 2 | |||||
| Belgium | 2 | |||||
| France | 3 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 10 October –Turin | ||||||
| Italy | 2 | |||||
| Belgium | 1 | |||||
All times are local,CEST (UTC+2).
| Italy | 1–2 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
         Italy[25] |      Spain[25] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[25] |
     Belgium[28] |     France[28] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[28] |
| Italy | 2–1 | Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Italy[31] |      Belgium[31] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[31] |
 Spain[34] | France[34] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[36] |
There were 14 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 3.5 goals per match.
2 goals
1 goal
2 assists
1 assist
Source: UEFA
Player of the Tournament
TheHisense Player of the Finals award was given toSergio Busquets, who was chosen by UEFA's technical observers.[37]
Top Scorer
The "Alipay Top Scorer Trophy", given to the top scorer in the Nations League Finals,[38] was awarded toKylian Mbappé, who finished with two goals and two assists in the Nations League Finals.[39] The ranking was determined using the following criteria: 1) goals in Nations League Finals, 2) assists in Nations League Finals, 3) fewest minutes played in Nations League Finals, 4) goals in league phase.[40]
| Rank | Player | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Kylian Mbappé | 2 | 2 | 180 |
 | Karim Benzema | 2 | 0 | 179 |
 | Ferran Torres | 2 | 0 | 133 |
Goal of the Tournament
TheGazprom Goal of the Tournament was decided by online voting. A total four goals were in the shortlist, chosen by UEFA's technical observers:Karim Benzema (against Spain),Ferran Torres (second goal against Italy),Théo Hernandez (against Belgium) andRomelu Lukaku (against France). Benzema won the award for his goal in the final.[41][42]
| Rank | Goalscorer | Opponent | Score | Result | Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karim Benzema | Spain | 1–1 | 2–1 | Final |
| Romelu Lukaku | France | 2–0 | 2–3 | Semi-finals |
| Ferran Torres | Italy | 2–0 | 2–1 | Semi-finals |
| 4 | Théo Hernandez | Belgium | 3–2 | 3–2 | Semi-finals |
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for receiving a red card, which could be extended for serious offences. Yellow card suspensions did not apply in the Nations League Finals.[5]
The following suspensions were served during the tournament:[43]
| Player | Offence(s) | Suspension(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Leonardo Bonucci |   insemi-finals vsSpain (6 October 2021) | Third place play-off vsBelgium (10 October 2021) |
