2020–21 UEFA Nations League

2020–21 UEFA Nations League

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League is the second season of the international association football competition. The competition is being held from September to November 2020, October 2021 and March 2022. Portugal were the defending champions, having won the inaugural 2019 finals. However, they failed to qualify for the 2021 finals after finishing second in their group behind France.

About 2020–21 UEFA Nations League in brief

Summary 2020–21 UEFA Nations LeagueThe 2020–21 UEFA Nations League is the second season of the international association football competition. The competition is being held from September to November 2020, October 2021 and March 2022. Portugal were the defending champions, having won the inaugural 2019 finals. However, they failed to qualify for the 2021 finals after finishing second in their group behind France. None of the teams that had qualified for the previous UEFA Nations. League Finals qualified for 2021 event. The video assistant referee system will be used in the Nations League Finals. Teams also compete for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league. The Nations League will be partially linked with European qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, with the format confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland on 4 December 2019. The ten group winners after the first round will qualify directly for the World Cup. Then, the second round will be contested by the top two qualifying group winners, along with the best two Nations League group winners. The top two teams from each group will be given three international matches during the October and November 2020 team windows.

The teams were allocated to leagues based on the 2018–19 UEFA. Nations League overall ranking. In order to rank teams in League D, which was composed of different sized groups, the results against the fourth-placed team in Group D1 were not taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed first, second and third in their respective groups. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs will remain in League C, while the loser will be relegated to League D. As League C had four groups while League D had only two, the two League C teams that are to be relegated will be determined by play-outs in March 2020. The four group winners of League A will be selected among the four qualified teams. The winners of the final will be crowned as the Nationsleague champions. The semi-finals, third place play-off, and final are played in a knockout format. Two ties will be played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, with extra time played if away goals are also equal. If two or more teams in the same group were equal on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied: