2020–21 UEFA Nations League A

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A is the top division of the 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.[1] League A will culminate with the Nations League Finals in an international window to be confirmed to determine the champions of the competition.

2020–21 UEFA Nations League A
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
3 September – 18 November 2020
Nations League Finals:
September or October 2021
Teams16

Format

Following a format change from the first season, League A was expanded from 12 to 16 teams.[2] The league consists of the top ranked UEFA members from 1–16 in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League overall ranking, split into four groups of four. Each team will play six matches within their group, using the home-and-away round-robin format on double matchdays in September, October and November 2020.[3] The winners of each group will advance to the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals, and the fourth-placed team of each group will be relegated to the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B.[4]

The Nations League Finals will be played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings will be determined by means of an open draw. The host country will be 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 will be moved to September or October 2021 following the rescheduling of UEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6]

The four group winners will be drawn into groups of five teams for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (in order to accommodate for the Nations League Finals).

Teams

Team changes

The following are the team changes of League A from the 2018–19 season:

Incoming
Promoted from
Nations League B

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:

Outgoing
Initially relegated to
Nations League B

Seeding

In the 2020–21 access list, UEFA ranked teams based on the 2018–19 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.[7][8] The seeding pots for the league phase were confirmed 4 December 2019,[9] and were based on the access list ranking.[4][10]

Pot 1
Team Rank
 Portugal (title holders) 1
 Netherlands 2
 England 3
  Switzerland 4
Pot 2
Team Rank
 Belgium 5
 France 6
 Spain 7
 Italy 8
Pot 3
Team Rank
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 9
 Ukraine 10
 Denmark 11
 Sweden 12
Pot 4
Team Rank
 Croatia 13
 Poland 14
 Germany 15
 Iceland 16

The draw for the league phase took place at the Beurs van Berlage Conference Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 3 March 2020, 18:00 CET.[11][12][13][14] Each group contains one team from each pot.

Groups

The original fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 3 March 2020 following the draw.[15] On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee adjusted the league phase schedule for October and November 2020 to allow for the completion of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs.[16][17] Following the change, a revised schedule for the October and November 2020 fixtures was released by UEFA on 26 June 2020.[18][19]

Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1  Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to Nations League Finals — 7 Sep 15 Nov 4 Sep
2  Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct — 4 Sep 15 Nov
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Oct 18 Nov — 7 Sep
4  Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B 18 Nov 11 Oct 14 Oct —
First match(es) will be played on 4 September 2020. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Italy v Bosnia and Herzegovina
Report
Netherlands v Poland
Report
Bosnia and Herzegovina v Poland
Report
Netherlands v Italy
Report
Bosnia and Herzegovina v Netherlands
Report
Poland v Italy
Report
Italy v Netherlands
Report
Poland v Bosnia and Herzegovina
Report
Netherlands v Bosnia and Herzegovina
Report
Italy v Poland
Report
Bosnia and Herzegovina v Italy
Report
Poland v Netherlands
Report

Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1  England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to Nations League Finals — 11 Oct 14 Oct 18 Nov
2  Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Nov — 18 Nov 8 Sep
3  Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Sep 5 Sep — 15 Nov
4  Iceland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B 5 Sep 14 Oct 11 Oct —
First match(es) will be played on 5 September 2020. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Iceland v England
Report
Denmark v Belgium
Report
Belgium v Iceland
Report
Denmark v England
Report
England v Belgium
Report
Iceland v Denmark
Report
England v Denmark
Report
Iceland v Belgium
Report
Belgium v England
Report
Denmark v Iceland
Report
Belgium v Denmark
Report
England v Iceland
Report

Group 3
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1  Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to Nations League Finals — 14 Nov 14 Oct 5 Sep
2  France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Oct — 17 Nov 8 Sep
3  Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Sep 5 Sep — 14 Nov
4  Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B 17 Nov 14 Oct 11 Oct —
First match(es) will be played on 5 September 2020. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Portugal v Croatia
Report
Sweden v France
Report
France v Croatia
Report
Sweden v Portugal
Report
Croatia v Sweden
Report
France v Portugal
Report
Croatia v France
Report
Portugal v Sweden
Report
Portugal v France
Report
Sweden v Croatia
Report
Croatia v Portugal
Report
France v Sweden
Report

Group 4
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1   Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to Nations League Finals — 14 Nov 17 Nov 6 Sep
2  Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Oct — 6 Sep 17 Nov
3  Ukraine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Sep 13 Oct — 10 Oct
4  Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Relegation to League B 13 Oct 3 Sep 14 Nov —
First match(es) will be played on 3 September 2020. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Germany v Spain
Report
Ukraine v  Switzerland
Report
Spain v Ukraine
Report
Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano, Madrid
Switzerland  v Germany
Report
Spain v  Switzerland
Report
Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano, Madrid
Ukraine v Germany
Report
Germany v  Switzerland
Report
Ukraine v Spain
Report
Germany v Ukraine
Report
Switzerland  v Spain
Report
Spain v Germany
Report
Switzerland  v Ukraine
Report

Nations League Finals

The host of the Nations League Finals will be selected from the four qualified teams. The semi-finals pairings will be determined by means of an open draw. For scheduling purposes, the host team is allocated to semi-final 1 as the administrative home team.

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
TBD
 
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4 (host)
 
TBD
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4
 
Winners Match 1
 
TBD
 
Winners Match 2
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4
 
 
Winners Group 1/2/3/4
 
Third place play-off
 
 
TBD
 
 
Losers Match 1
 
 
Losers Match 2

Semi-finals
Winners Group 1/2/3/4 (host)Match 1Winners Group 1/2/3/4
Winners Group 1/2/3/4Match 2Winners Group 1/2/3/4

Third place play-off
Losers Match 1Match 3Losers Match 2

Final
Winners Match 1Match 4Winners Match 2

Overall ranking

The 16 League A teams will be ranked 1st to 16th overall in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League according to the following rules:[4]

  • The teams finishing first in the groups will be ranked 1st to 4th according to the results of the Nations League Finals.
  • The teams finishing second in the groups will be ranked 5th to 8th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing third in the groups will be ranked 9th to 12th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing fourth in the groups will be ranked 13th to 16th according to the results of the league phase.
Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Nations League Finals 1st place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 Nations League Finals 2nd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Nations League Finals 3rd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Nations League Finals 4th place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 1st best group 2nd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 2nd best group 2nd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 3rd best group 2nd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 4th best group 2nd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 1st best group 3rd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 2nd best group 3rd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 3rd best group 3rd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 4th best group 3rd place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 1st best group 4th place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 2nd best group 4th place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 3rd best group 4th place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 4th best group 4th place 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 3 September 2020. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria

Notes
  1. CEST (UTC+2) for matchdays 1–4 (September and October 2020), CET (UTC+1) for matchdays 5–6 (November 2020).
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References
  1. "UEFA Nations League receives associations' green light". UEFA. 27 March 2014.
  2. "Format change for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  3. "UEFA Nations League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  4. "Regulations of the UEFA Nations League, 2020/21" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  5. "Resolution of the European football family on a coordinated response to the impact of the COVID-19 on competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. "European Qualifiers: FIFA World Cup – Qualifying draw procedure" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  7. "How the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League will line up". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  8. "UEFA Nations League 2021/21 overall ranking" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  9. "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for Nyon meeting". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  10. "2020/21 UEFA Nations League – league phase draw procedure" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  11. "League Phase Draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  12. "Game changer: group stage for UEFA Women's Champions League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  13. "2020/21 UEFA Nations League: League Phase draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  14. "44th Ordinary UEFA Congress in Amsterdam". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  15. "2020–21 UEFA Nations League fixture list" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  16. "Nations League group stage in September, October and November". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  17. "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  18. "Nations League group stage in September, October and November". UEFA.com. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  19. "2020/21 Nations League: All the confirmed fixtures". UEFA.com. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
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