2018–19 Uefa Nations League

The league phase of the competition was played between September and November 2018, with the finals tournament for the group winners from League A taking place in Portugal in June 2019. Team performances in the league phase were used to seed teams for the qualifying group stage of UEFA Euro 2020, and awarded berths in the play-offs, which decided four of the twenty-four final tournament slots.

2018–19 UEFA Nations League

Tournament details
Dates	League phase: 6 September – 20 November 2018 Nations League Finals: 5–9 June 2019
Teams	55
Final positions
Champions	Portugal (1st title)
Runners-up	Netherlands
Third place	England
Fourth place	Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Matches played	142
Goals scored	342 (2.41 per match)
Attendance	2,467,041 (17,374 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Aleksandar Mitrović (6 goals)
2020–21 →

The format and schedule of the UEFA Nations League was formally approved by the UEFA Executive Committee on 4 December 2014. According to the approved format, the 55 UEFA national teams were divided into four divisions (called "leagues"): 12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D. For the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, teams were divided according to their UEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (play-off results were not included), with the highest-ranked teams playing in League A, etc.

Each league was divided into four groups of three or four teams, so each team played four or six matches within their group (using the home-and-away round-robin format), on double matchdays in September, October and November 2018.

In the top division, League A, teams competed to become the UEFA Nations League champions. The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals in June 2019, which was played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and 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. Host country Portugal was selected among the four qualified teams on 3 December 2018 by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.

Teams also competed for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league. In each league, the four group winners (except League A) were promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group (except League D) were initially to be relegated; the exception was in League C, where due to different-sized groups, the three fourth-placed teams and the lowest-ranking third-placed team were initially to be relegated. However, due to a revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated, and some second-placed and third-placed teams were also promoted.

Tiebreakers for group ranking

If two or more teams in the same group were equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:

1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
5. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 applied;
6. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
9. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
10. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
11. Disciplinary points in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
12. Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system.

To determine the worst third-placed team in League C, the results against the teams in fourth place were discarded. The following criteria were applied:

1. Higher number of points;
2. Superior goal difference;
3. Higher number of goals scored;
4. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
5. Higher number of wins;
6. Higher number of wins away from home;
7. Disciplinary points in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
8. Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system.

Criteria for league ranking

Individual league rankings were established according to the following criteria:

1. Position in the group;
2. Higher number of points;
3. Superior goal difference;
4. Higher number of goals scored;
5. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
6. Higher number of wins;
7. Higher number of wins away from home;
8. Disciplinary points in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
9. Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system.

In order to rank teams in leagues composed of different-sized groups, the following procedure is applied:

1. The results against fourth-placed teams were not taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed first, second, and third in their respective groups.
2. All results were taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed fourth in their respective groups.

The ranking of the top four teams in League A was determined by their finish in the Nations League Finals (first to fourth).

Criteria for overall ranking

For the purposes of the European Championship qualifying group stage draw and the European qualifying play-offs, overall UEFA Nations League rankings were established as follows:

1. The 12 League A teams were ranked 1st to 12th according to their league rankings.
2. The 12 League B teams were ranked 13th to 24th according to their league rankings.
3. The 15 League C teams were ranked 25th to 39th according to their league rankings.
4. The 16 League D teams were ranked 40th to 55th according to their league rankings.

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying

The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was linked with UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020.

The main qualifying process began in March 2019 instead of immediately in September 2018 following the 2018 FIFA World Cup and ended in November 2019. The format remained largely the same, although only 20 of the 24 spots for the finals tournament were decided from the main qualifying process, leaving four spots still to be decided. The 55 teams were drawn into 10 groups after the completion of the UEFA Nations League (five groups of five teams and five groups of six teams, with the four UEFA Nations League Finals participants guaranteed to be drawn into groups of five teams), with the top two teams in each group qualifying. The draw seeding was based on the overall rankings of the Nations League. The qualifiers were played on double matchdays in March, June, September, October, and November 2019.

Following the qualifying group stage, the qualifying play-offs took place in October and November 2020. Unlike previous editions, the participants of the play-offs were not decided based on results from the qualifying group stage. Instead, 16 teams were selected based on their performance in the Nations League. These teams were divided into four paths, each containing four teams, with one team from each path qualifying for the final tournament. Each league had its own play-off path if at least four teams were available. The Nations League group winners automatically qualified for the play-off path of their league. If a group winner had already qualified through the conventional qualifying group stage, they were replaced by the next best-ranked team in the same league. However, if there were not enough teams in the same league, then the spot would go to the next-best team in the overall ranking. However, group winners could not face teams from a higher league.

Each play-off path featured two single-leg semi-finals and one single-leg final. The best-ranked team hosted the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team hosted the third-ranked team. The host of the final was decided by a draw, with semi-final winner 1 or 2 hosting the final. The four play-off path winners joined the 20 teams which had already qualified for UEFA Euro 2020.

Below was the schedule of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 24 January 2018 following the draw.

 

All 55 UEFA national teams were eligible to compete in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. The 55 members at the time were divided into the four "Leagues" (12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D) according to their UEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (not including the play-offs), with the highest-ranked teams playing in League A, etc. The seeding pots for the draw were announced on 7 December 2017.

League A Pot Team Coeff Rank 1   Germany 40,747 1   Portugal 38,655 2   Belgium 38,123 3   Spain 37,311 4 2   France 36,617 5   England 36,231 6    Switzerland 34,986 7   Italy 34,426 8 3   Poland 32,982 9   Iceland 31,155 10   Croatia 31,139 11   Netherlands 29,866 12	League B Pot Team Coeff Rank 1   Austria 29,418 13   Wales 29,269 14   Russia 29,258 15   Slovakia 28,555 16 2   Sweden 28,487 17   Ukraine 28,286 18   Republic of Ireland 28,249 19   Bosnia and Herzegovina 28,200 20 3   Northern Ireland 27,127 21   Denmark 27,052 22   Czech Republic 27,028 23   Turkey 26,538 24
League C Pot Team Coeff Rank 1   Hungary 26,486 25   Romania 26,057 26   Scotland 25,662 27   Slovenia 25,148 28 2   Greece 24,931 29   Serbia 24,847 30   Albania 24,430 31   Norway 24,208 32 3   Montenegro 23,912 33   Israel 22,792 34   Bulgaria 22,091 35   Finland 20,501 36 4   Cyprus 19,491 37   Estonia 19,441 38   Lithuania 18,101 39	League D Pot Team Coeff Rank 1   Azerbaijan 17,761 40   Macedonia 17,071 41   Belarus 16,868 42   Georgia 16,523 43 2   Armenia 15,846 44   Latvia 15,821 45   Faroe Islands 15,490 46   Luxembourg 14,231 47 3   Kazakhstan 13,431 48   Moldova 13,130 49   Liechtenstein 10,950 50   Malta 10,870 51 4   Andorra 10,240 52   Kosovo 9,950 53   San Marino 8,190 54   Gibraltar 7,550 55

The draw for the league phase took place at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 January 2018, 12:00 CET.

For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan (due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict), as well as Russia and Ukraine (due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine), could not be drawn in the same group. Due to winter venue restrictions, a group could contain a maximum of two of the following teams: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania. Due to excessive travel restrictions, only one of Andorra, Faroe Islands, or Gibraltar could be drawn with Kazakhstan, while Gibraltar could not be with Azerbaijan if they had Kazakhstan.

Group A1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	4	2	1	1	8	4	+4	7	Qualification for Nations League Finals		—	2–0	3–0
2	France	4	2	1	1	4	4	0	7			2–1	—	2–1
3	Germany	4	0	2	2	3	7	−4	2			2–2	0–0	—