| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | League phase: 3 September – 18 November 2020 Nations League Finals: 6–10 October 2021 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  France (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Spain |
| Third place |  Italy |
| Fourth place |  Belgium |
| Relegated |  Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland Sweden Ukraine |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 51 |
| Goals scored | 143 (2.8 per match) |
| Attendance | 156,538 (3,069 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Romelu LukakuFerran Torres (6 goals each) |
2022–23 → | |
The2020–21 UEFA Nations League A was the top division 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.[1] League A culminated with theNations League Finals in October 2021 to determine the champions of the competition.
Portugal were the defending champions, having won the inaugural2019 finals. However, they failed to qualify for the2021 finals after finishing second in their group behindFrance.[2] None of the teams that had qualified for the previous UEFA Nations League Finals qualified for the 2021 edition.
France won thefinal 2–1 againstSpain for their first UEFA Nations League title.
Following a format change from the first season, League A was expanded from 12 to 16 teams.[3] The league consisted of the top ranked UEFA members from 1–16 in the2018–19 UEFA Nations League overall ranking, split into four groups of four. Each team played six matches within their group, using the home-and-awayround-robin format on double matchdays in September, October and November 2020.[4] The winners of each group advanced to the2021 UEFA Nations League Finals, and the fourth-placed team of each group was relegated to the2022–23 UEFA Nations League B.[5]
The Nations League Finals was played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open 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 champions of the UEFA Nations League. Though originally planned for 2–6 June 2021, the Nations League Finals were moved to October 2021 following the rescheduling ofUEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[6][7][8]
The four group winners were drawn into groups of five teams for2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (in order to accommodate for the Nations League Finals).
The following were the team changes of League A from the 2018–19 season:
| Promoted from Nations League B |
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The following team changes were initially set to occur in League A, but did not after no teams were relegated due to the format change by UEFA:
| Initially relegated to Nations League B |
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In the 2020–21 access list, UEFA ranked teams based on the2018–19 Nations League overall ranking, with a slight modification: teams that were originally relegated in the previous season were ranked immediately below teams promoted prior to the format change.[9][10] The seeding pots for the league phase were confirmed 4 December 2019,[11] and were based on the access list ranking.[5][12]
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The draw for the league phase took place at theBeurs van Berlage Conference Centre inAmsterdam, Netherlands on 3 March 2020, 18:00CET.[13][14][15][16] Each group contained one team from each pot.
The original fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 3 March 2020 following the draw.[17] On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee adjusted the league phase schedule for October and November 2020 to allow for the completion of theUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs.[18][19] Following the change, a revised schedule for the October and November 2020 fixtures was released by UEFA on 26 June 2020.[20][21]
Times areCET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 12 | Qualification forNations League Finals | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |
| 2 | Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 3 | Poland | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 3–0 | ||
| 4 | Bosnia and Herzegovina(R) | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 2 | Relegation toLeague B | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — |
| Italy | 1–1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| Netherlands | 1–0 | Poland |
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| Netherlands | 0–1 | Italy |
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| Italy | 1–1 | Netherlands |
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| Poland | 3–0 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| Report |
| Poland | 1–2 | Netherlands |
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| Report |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 15 | Qualification forNations League Finals | — | 4–2 | 2–0 | 5–1 | |
| 2 | Denmark | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 10[a] | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | England | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 10[a] | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 4–0 | ||
| 4 | Iceland(R) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 17 | −14 | 0 | Relegation toLeague B | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | — |
| Belgium | 5–1 | Iceland |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Denmark | 2–1 | Iceland |
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| Report |
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 16 | Qualification forNations League Finals | — | 0–0 | 4–2 | 4–2 | |
| 2 | Portugal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 13 | 0–1 | — | 4–1 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 | Croatia | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 3[a] | 1–2 | 2–3 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | Sweden(R) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3[a] | Relegation toLeague B | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | — |
| Sweden | 2–1 | Croatia |
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| Report |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 11 | Qualification forNations League Finals | — | 6–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Germany | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 9 | 1–1 | — | 3–3 | 3–1 | ||
| 3 | Switzerland | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 6[a] | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–0[b] | ||
| 4 | Ukraine(R) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 6[a] | Relegation toLeague B | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — |
| Ukraine | 2–1 | Switzerland |
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| Switzerland | 1–1 | Germany |
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| Spain | 1–0 | Switzerland |
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| Ukraine | 1–2 | Germany |
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| Germany | 3–3 | Switzerland |
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| Switzerland | 1–1 | Spain |
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| Report |
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| Switzerland | 3–0 Awarded[note 4] | Ukraine |
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| Report |
The host of the Nations League Finals, Italy, was selected from the four qualified teams.[74] The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw on 3 December 2020, 17:30CET, at the UEFA headquarters inNyon, Switzerland. For scheduling purposes, the host team was allocated to semi-final 1 as the administrative home team.[75]
Times areCEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA.
| 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 | |||||
There were 143 goals scored in 51 matches, for an average of 2.8 goals per match.
6 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Yannick CarrascoKevin De BruyneCharles De KetelaereJason DenayerJérémy DokuAxel WitselEdin DžekoHaris HajradinovićSmail PrevljakJosip BrekaloAndrej KramarićDejan LovrenBruno PetkovićRobert SkovJonas WindMarcus RashfordDeclan RiceRaheem SterlingKingsley ComanTheo HernandezN'Golo KantéBenjamin PavardDayot UpamecanoMatthias GinterSerge GnabryLeon Goretzkaİlkay GündoğanKai HavertzLeroy SanéHólmbert FriðjónssonViðar Örn KjartanssonBirkir Már SævarssonAndrea BelottiJorginhoStefano SensiDonny van de BeekSteven BergwijnKamil GlikKamil GrosickiKamil JóźwiakKarol LinettyJoão CanceloAndré SilvaBernardo SilvaAnsu FatiJosé GayàGerardÁlvaro MorataRodriMarcus BergViktor ClaessonMarcus DanielsonDejan KulusevskiRobin QuaisonHaris SeferovićSilvan WidmerRuslan MalinovskyiViktor TsyhankovRoman YaremchukAndriy YarmolenkoOleksandr Zinchenko1 own goal
Nacer Chadli (against Denmark)Dominik Livaković (against France)Rúnar Már Sigurjónsson (against Denmark)Marcus Danielson (against Croatia)The 16 League A teams were ranked 1st to 16th overall in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League according to the following rules:[5][80]
| Rnk | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A3 | France | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 16 |
| 2 | A4 | Spain | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 11 |
| 3 | A1 | Italy | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 12 |
| 4 | A2 | Belgium | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 15 |
| 5 | A3 | Portugal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 13 |
| 6 | A1 | Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 |
| 7 | A2 | Denmark | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 10 |
| 8 | A4 | Germany | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 9 |
| 9 | A2 | England | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 10 |
| 10 | A1 | Poland | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 11 | A4 | Switzerland | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 6 |
| 12 | A3 | Croatia | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 3 |
| 13 | A4 | Ukraine | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 6 |
| 14 | A3 | Sweden | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 |
| 15 | A1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 2 |
| 16 | A2 | Iceland | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 17 | −14 | 0 |
