2019 UEFA Nations League Finals

The 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.[2] The tournament was held in Portugal from 5 to 9 June 2019,[3] and was contested by the four group winners of Nations League A. The tournament consisted of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and final to determine the inaugural champions of the UEFA Nations League.

Not to be confused with 2019 UEFA Nations League Final, the final match of the Nations League.

2019 UEFA Nations League Finals
Fase Final da Liga das Nações da UEFA de 2019 (in Portuguese)
Tournament details
Host countryPortugal
Dates5–9 June
Teams4
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Portugal (1st title)
Runners-up Netherlands
Third place England
Fourth place  Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored9 (2.25 per match)
Attendance127,067 (31,767 per match)
Top scorer(s) Cristiano Ronaldo (3 goals)
Best player(s) Bernardo Silva[1]
Best young player Frenkie de Jong[1]

Portugal won the final 1–0 against the Netherlands to become the first champions of the UEFA Nations League.

Format

The Nations League Finals took place in June 2019 and was contested by the four group winners of League A. The four teams were each drawn into a five-team group (rather than a six-team group) for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group stage, thereby leaving the June 2019 window available for the Nations League Finals.[4]

The competition was played in a knockout format, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and a final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, were determined by means of an open draw on 3 December 2018.[5]

The tournament took place over five days, with the first semi-final (which features the host team) on 5 June, the second semi-final on 6 June, and the third place play-off and final on 9 June.[6] The winners of the final was crowned as the inaugural champions of the UEFA Nations League.[7]

The Nations League Finals were played in single-leg knockout matches. If the scores were level at the end of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time are played, where each team is allowed to make a fourth substitution.[8] If the score is still level, the winner is determined by a penalty shoot-out. All matches in the tournament will utilise the goal-line technology system.[9] On 3 December, UEFA confirmed that the video assistant referee (VAR) system will be used for the Nations League Finals.[10]

Qualified teams

The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals.[11]

Group Winners Date of
qualification		 UNL Rankings
November 2018		 FIFA Rankings
April 2019
A1  Netherlands 19 November 2018 3 16
A2   Switzerland 18 November 2018 1 8
A3  Portugal (hosts) 17 November 2018 2 7
A4  England 18 November 2018 4 4

Host selection

Portugal was confirmed as the host country by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2018 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.[12][13] Only League A teams could bid for the Nations League Finals, and only one of the four participants could be selected as hosts. The Nations League Finals was held in two stadiums, each with a seating capacity of at least 30,000. Ideally, the stadiums would have been located in the same host city or up to approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) apart.[14][15]

On 9 March 2018, UEFA announced that Italy, Poland and Portugal expressed interest in bidding prior to the deadline. The deadline to submit their dossiers was 31 August 2018. As all three associations formed Group A3, the group winner was in line to be appointed as the host, provided that the associations submit bids which meet UEFA's requirements.[16] Poland were relegated from Group A3 on 14 October 2018, leaving Italy and Portugal as potential hosts.[17] On 17 November 2018, Portugal won Group A3 and advanced to the Finals,[18] thereby automatically winning hosting rights, which were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2018, the same day as the Nations League Finals draw.[3]

Venues

In their bid dossier, the Portuguese Football Federation proposed Estádio do Dragão in Porto and Estádio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimarães as the venues.[3]

 Porto Guimarães
Estádio do Dragão Estádio D. Afonso Henriques
Capacity: 50,033 Capacity: 30,000

Draw

The draw took place on 3 December 2018, 14:30 CET (13:30 local time) at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.[19][20][21] No seeding was applied in the draw. The first two balls drawn were allocated as the administrative home teams for each semi-final pairing, with the next two balls drawn allocated as their opponents. For scheduling purposes, the semi-final pairing involving the host team was considered to be semi-final 1. The administrative home team for both the third place play-off and final were then drawn between semi-final 1 and 2.[5]

Squads
Main article: 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals squads

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.[9]

Bracket
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
5 June – Porto
 
 
 Portugal3
 
9 June – Porto
 
  Switzerland1
 
 Portugal1
 
6 June – Guimarães
 
 Netherlands0
 
 Netherlands (a.e.t.)3
 
 
 England1
 
Third place play-off
 
 
9 June – Guimarães
 
 
  Switzerland0 (5)
 
 
 England (p)0 (6)

All times are local, WEST (UTC+1).

Semi-finals

Portugal vs Switzerland
Portugal 3–1  Switzerland
 Report
Attendance: 42,415[22]
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Portugal[23]
Switzerland[23]
GK1Rui Patrício
RB20Nélson Semedo
CB3Pepe 63'
CB4Rúben Dias
LB5Raphaël Guerreiro
RM16Bruno Fernandes 90+1'
CM14William Carvalho
CM18Rúben Neves
LM10Bernardo Silva
CF23João Félix 70'
CF7Cristiano Ronaldo (c)
Substitutions:
DF6José Fonte 63'
MF17Gonçalo Guedes 70'
MF8João Moutinho 90+1'
Manager:
Fernando Santos
GK1Yann Sommer
RB2Kevin Mbabu
CB22Fabian Schär 68'
CB5Manuel Akanji
LB13Ricardo Rodríguez
RM17Denis Zakaria 71'
CM10Granit Xhaka (c) 66'
CM8Remo Freuler 89'
LM14Steven Zuber 83'
AM23Xherdan Shaqiri 85'
CF9Haris Seferović
Substitutions:
MF20Edimilson Fernandes 71'
MF11Renato Steffen 83'
FW19Josip Drmić 89'
Manager:
Vladimir Petković

Man of the Match:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)[24]

Assistant referees:[23]
Mark Borsch (Germany)
Stefan Lupp (Germany)
Fourth official:
Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Video assistant referee:
Christian Dingert (Germany)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Tobias Stieler (Germany)

Netherlands vs England
Netherlands 3–1 (a.e.t.) England
 Report
Attendance: 25,711[25]
Netherlands[26]
England[26]
GK1Jasper Cillessen
RB22Denzel Dumfries 45'
CB3Matthijs de Ligt 30'
CB4Virgil van Dijk (c)
LB17Daley Blind
CM15Marten de Roon 68'
CM21Frenkie de Jong 114'
CM8Georginio Wijnaldum
RW7Steven Bergwijn 91'
CF10Memphis Depay
LW9Ryan Babel 68'
Substitutions:
FW11Quincy Promes 68'
MF20Donny van de Beek 106' 68'
MF6Davy Pröpper 91'
MF16Kevin Strootman 114'
Manager:
Ronald Koeman
GK1Jordan Pickford
RB2Kyle Walker
CB5John Stones
CB6Harry Maguire
LB14Ben Chilwell
CM16Declan Rice 106'
CM17Fabian Delph 77'
CM18Ross Barkley
RW11Jadon Sancho 61'
LW10Raheem Sterling (c)
CF19Marcus Rashford 46'
Substitutions:
FW9Harry Kane 70' 46'
MF7Jesse Lingard 61'
MF8Jordan Henderson 77'
MF20Dele Alli 106'
Manager:
Gareth Southgate

Man of the Match:
Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands)[27]

Assistant referees:[26]
Nicolas Danos (France)
Cyril Gringore (France)
Fourth official:
Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece)
Video assistant referee:
François Letexier (France)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Nicolas Rainville (France)

Third place play-off
Switzerland  0–0 (a.e.t.) England
Report
Penalties
 5–6
Attendance: 15,742[28]
Switzerland[29]
England[29]
GK1Yann Sommer
CB22Fabian Schär
CB5Manuel Akanji
CB4Nico Elvedi
RM2Kevin Mbabu
CM10Granit Xhaka (c) 116'
CM8Remo Freuler
LM13Ricardo Rodríguez 87'
RW23Xherdan Shaqiri 65'
LW20Edimilson Fernandes 61'
CF9Haris Seferović 113'
Substitutions:
MF17Denis Zakaria 61'
MF14Steven Zuber 65'
FW19Josip Drmić 87'
MF7Noah Okafor 113'
Manager:
Vladimir Petković
GK1Jordan Pickford
RB22Trent Alexander-Arnold
CB12Joe Gomez
CB6Harry Maguire
LB3Danny Rose 23' 70'
CM4Eric Dier
CM17Fabian Delph 106'
RW7Jesse Lingard 27' 106'
AM20Dele Alli
LW10Raheem Sterling
CF9Harry Kane (c) 75'
Substitutions:
DF2Kyle Walker 70'
FW21Callum Wilson 75'
FW11Jadon Sancho 106'
MF18Ross Barkley 106'
Manager:
Gareth Southgate

Man of the Match:
Jordan Pickford (England)[30]

Assistant referees:[29]
Octavian Șovre (Romania)
Sebastian Gheorghe (Romania)
Fourth official:
Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece)
Video assistant referee:
Michael Fabbri (Italy)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Marco Di Bello (Italy)

Final
Main article: 2019 UEFA Nations League Final
Portugal 1–0 Netherlands
 Report
Attendance: 43,199[31]
Portugal[32]
Netherlands[32]
GK1Rui Patrício
RB20Nélson Semedo
CB4Rúben Dias
CB6José Fonte
LB5Raphaël Guerreiro
CM13Danilo Pereira
CM14William Carvalho 90+3'
CM16Bruno Fernandes 81'
RF7Cristiano Ronaldo (c)
CF17Gonçalo Guedes 75'
LF10Bernardo Silva
Substitutions:
MF15Rafa Silva 75'
MF8João Moutinho 81'
MF18Rúben Neves 90+3'
Manager:
Fernando Santos
GK1Jasper Cillessen
RB22Denzel Dumfries 88'
CB3Matthijs de Ligt
CB4Virgil van Dijk (c) 90+1'
LB17Daley Blind
CM15Marten de Roon 81'
CM21Frenkie de Jong
CM8Georginio Wijnaldum
RW7Steven Bergwijn 60'
CF10Memphis Depay
LW9Ryan Babel 46'
Substitutions:
FW11Quincy Promes 46'
MF20Donny van de Beek 60'
FW19Luuk de Jong 81'
Manager:
Ronald Koeman

Man of the Match:
Rúben Dias (Portugal)[33]

Assistant referees:[34]
Roberto Alonso Fernández (Spain)
Juan Yuste Jiménez (Spain)
Fourth official:
Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Reserve assistant referee:
Raúl Cabañero Martínez (Spain)
Video assistant referee:
Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain)
Assistant video assistant referee:
Juan Martínez Munuera (Spain)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 9 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 2.25 goals per match.

3 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Source: UEFA

Assists

2 assists

1 assist

Source: UEFA

Awards
Team of the Tournament

The Team of the Tournament was selected by UEFA's technical observers, and includes at least one player from each of the four participants.[35]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Jordan Pickford Daley Blind
Virgil van Dijk
Rúben Dias
Nélson Semedo		 Frenkie de Jong
Georginio Wijnaldum
Bruno Fernandes		 Cristiano Ronaldo
Bernardo Silva
Xherdan Shaqiri

UEFA also announced a team of the tournament based on the FedEx Performance Zone player rankings.[36]

FedEx Performance Zone Team of the Tournament
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Jordan Pickford Matthijs de Ligt
Rúben Dias
Raphaël Guerreiro
Manuel Akanji
Kevin Mbabu		 Frenkie de Jong
Marten de Roon
Bernardo Silva		 Memphis Depay
Cristiano Ronaldo
Player of the Tournament

The Player of the Tournament award was given to Bernardo Silva, who was chosen by UEFA's technical observers.

Young Player of the Tournament

The SOCAR Young Player of the Tournament award was open to players born on or after 1 January 1996. The award was given to Frenkie de Jong, as chosen by UEFA's technical observers.

Top Scorer

The "Alipay Top Scorer Trophy", given to the top scorer in the Nations League Finals,[37] was awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick in the semi-final against Switzerland.[38] 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 5) fewest yellow and red cards in Nations League Finals, 6) fewest yellow and red cards in league phase.[39]

Top scorer rankings
Rank Player Goals Assists Minutes
Cristiano Ronaldo 3 0 191
Gonçalo Guedes 1 1 101
Marcus Rashford 1 0 49
Goal of the Tournament

The SOCAR Goal of the Tournament was decided by online voting. A total four goals were in the shortlist, chosen by UEFA's technical observers, from two players: Cristiano Ronaldo (all three goals against Switzerland) and Matthijs de Ligt (against England).[40][41] Ronaldo won the award for his second goal against Switzerland.[42]

Rank Goalscorer Opponent Score Result Round
Cristiano Ronaldo   Switzerland 2–1 3–1 Semi-finals
3–1
1–0
4 Matthijs de Ligt  England 1–1 3–1 (a.e.t.) Semi-finals

Discipline

A player is automatically suspended for the next match for receiving a red card, which may be extended for serious offences. Yellow card suspensions do not apply in the Nations League Finals.[9]

The following suspensions were served during the tournament:[43]

Player Offence(s) Suspension(s)
Danilo Pereira in league phase vs Poland (20 November 2018) Semi-finals vs Switzerland (5 June 2019)

Prize money

The prize money to be distributed was announced in October 2018.[44] In addition to the €2.25 million solidarity fee for participating in the Nations League, the four participants will receive an additional €2.25 million for winning their groups and qualifying for the Nations League Finals.

In addition, the participants will receive payment based on performance:

  • Winners: €6 million
  • Runners-up: €4.5 million
  • Third place: €3.5 million
  • Fourth place: €2.5 million

This means that the maximum amount of solidarity and bonus fees for the UEFA Nations League winners is €10.5 million.

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References
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  2. "UEFA Nations League receives associations' green light". UEFA.com. 27 March 2014.
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  44. "Increased UEFA Nations League solidarity and bonus fees". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
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