2021 Uefa Nations League Finals

The tournament was held in Italy from 6 to 10 October 2021, 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 champions of the UEFA Nations League.

2021 UEFA Nations League Finals

Fase finale della UEFA Nations League 2021 (in Italian)
Tournament details
Host country	Italy
Dates	6–10 October
Teams	4
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	France (1st title)
Runners-up	Spain
Third place	Italy
Fourth place	Belgium
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	14 (3.5 per match)
Attendance	94,168 (23,542 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Karim Benzema Kylian Mbappé Ferran Torres (2 goals each)
Best player(s)	Sergio Busquets
← 2019 2023 →

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.

France won the final 2–1 against Spain for their first UEFA Nations League title.

The Nations League Finals took place in October 2021 and were 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 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification group stage, thereby leaving the October 2021 window available for the Nations League Finals.

The Nations League Finals were played in single-leg knockout matches, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off and a final. The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw. All matches in the tournament utilised the goal-line technology and video assistant referee (VAR) systems.

In the Nations League Finals, if the scores were level at the end of normal time:

• In the semi-finals and final, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If the score was still level after extra time, the winner would be determined by a penalty shoot-out.
• In the third place play-off, extra time would not be played, and the winner would be determined by a penalty shoot-out (this was a change from the 2019 finals, which utilized extra time in the third place play-off).

On 31 March 2021, the UEFA Executive Committee approved the use of a maximum of five substitutions in matches at the Nations League Finals (with a sixth allowed in extra time). However, each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity allowed in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time. The use of five substitutes had been permitted by IFAB during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the resulting fixture congestion, which created a greater burden on players.

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

Group	Winners	Date of qualification	Previous finals appearances	Previous best UNL Ranking	UNL Rankings November 2020	FIFA Rankings September 2021
A1	Italy (host)	18 November 2020	0 (debut)	8 (2018–19)	3	5
A2	Belgium	18 November 2020	0 (debut)	5 (2018–19)	2	1
A3	France	14 November 2020	0 (debut)	6 (2018–19)	1	4
A4	Spain	17 November 2020	0 (debut)	7 (2018–19)	4	8

The Nations League Finals, originally scheduled for 2–6 June 2021, were moved to 6–10 October 2021 following the rescheduling of UEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament took place over five days, with the semi-finals on 6 and 7 October (the first of which featured the host team), and the third place play-off and final three days after the second semi-final on 10 October 2021.

Italy was confirmed as the host country by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2020. Only League A teams could bid for the Nations League Finals, and only one of the four participants is selected as hosts. The Nations League Finals were held in two stadiums, each with a seating capacity of at least 30,000. Ideally, the stadiums would be located in the same host city or up to approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) apart.

On 24 September 2020, UEFA announced that Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland had declared interest in hosting the tournament, all three of which are members of Group A1. Italy were confirmed as winners of Group A1 over the Netherlands and Poland on 18 November 2020, thereby confirming hosting rights, which were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2020, the same day as the Nations League Finals draw. If the fourth member of the group, Bosnia and Herzegovina, had qualified for the Nations League Finals, the UEFA Executive Committee would have decided the venues.

Bidding venues

•   Italy
  • San Siro, Milan
  • Juventus Stadium, Turin
•   Netherlands
  • Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam
  • De Kuip, Rotterdam
•   Poland
  • Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw
  • Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw (potential second venue)
  • Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (potential second venue)
  • Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana, Kraków (potential second venue)

In their bid dossier, the Italian Football Federation proposed the San Siro in Milan and Juventus Stadium in Turin as the venues.

Milan   Turin	Milan	Turin
	San Siro	Juventus Stadium
	Capacity: 75,923	Capacity: 41,507

The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw on 3 December 2020, 17:30 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The first two teams drawn were allocated to match pairing A, while the remaining two teams drawn were allocated to match pairing B. For scheduling purposes, the host team was allocated to the first semi-final as the administrative home team. The administrative home team for both the third place play-off and final were predetermined as the teams which advanced from semi-final 1.

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.

	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

All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).

Italy vs Spain

6 October 2021 (2021-10-06)

20:45

Italy	1–2	Spain
Pellegrini   83'	Report	F. Torres   17', 45+2'

San Siro, Milan

Attendance: 33,524

Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)

Italy

Spain

GK 21 Gianluigi Donnarumma RB 2 Giovanni Di Lorenzo CB 19 Leonardo Bonucci (c)   30'   42' CB 23 Alessandro Bastoni LB 13 Emerson Palmieri CM 18 Nicolò Barella   72' CM 8 Jorginho   64' CM 6 Marco Verratti   58' RF 14 Federico Chiesa CF 20 Federico Bernardeschi   46' LF 10 Lorenzo Insigne   58' Substitutions: DF 3 Giorgio Chiellini   46' FW 17 Moise Kean   58' MF 5 Manuel Locatelli   82'   58' MF 7 Lorenzo Pellegrini   64' DF 4 Davide Calabria   72' Manager: Roberto Mancini

GK 23 Unai Simón RB 2 César Azpilicueta   45' CB 19 Aymeric Laporte CB 3 Pau Torres LB 17 Marcos Alonso CM 8 Koke   75' CM 5 Sergio Busquets (c) CM 9 Gavi   84' RF 22 Pablo Sarabia   65'   75' CF 11 Ferran Torres   49' LF 21 Mikel Oyarzabal   89' Substitutions: FW 7 Yeremy Pino   71'   49' MF 20 Mikel Merino   75' MF 6 Bryan Gil   75' MF 10 Sergi Roberto   84' Manager: Luis Enrique

Belgium vs France

7 October 2021 (2021-10-07)

20:45

Belgium	2–3	France
Carrasco   37' Lukaku   40'	Report	Benzema   62' Mbappé   69' (pen.) T. Hernandez   90'

Juventus Stadium, Turin

Attendance: 12,409

Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

Belgium

France

GK 1 Thibaut Courtois CB 2 Toby Alderweireld CB 3 Jason Denayer CB 5 Jan Vertonghen   67' RM 21 Timothy Castagne   90+2' CM 6 Axel Witsel CM 8 Youri Tielemans   70' LM 11 Yannick Carrasco RF 7 Kevin De Bruyne CF 9 Romelu Lukaku LF 10 Eden Hazard (c)   74' Substitutions: MF 17 Hans Vanaken   70' FW 20 Leandro Trossard   74' FW 23 Michy Batshuayi   90+2' Manager:   Roberto Martínez

GK 1 Hugo Lloris (c) CB 5 Jules Koundé CB 4 Raphaël Varane CB 21 Lucas Hernandez RM 2 Benjamin Pavard   90+2' CM 6 Paul Pogba CM 14 Adrien Rabiot   75' LM 22 Théo Hernandez AM 7 Antoine Griezmann CF 19 Karim Benzema   90+7' CF 10 Kylian Mbappé Substitutions: MF 8 Aurélien Tchouaméni   75' DF 12 Léo Dubois   90+2' MF 17 Jordan Veretout   90+7' Manager: Didier Deschamps

Goalscorers

There were 14 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 3.5 goals per match.

2 goals

1 goal

Awards

Player of the Tournament

The Hisense Player of the Finals award was given to Sergio Busquets, who was chosen by UEFA's technical observers.

•   Sergio Busquets

Top Scorer

The "Alipay Top Scorer Trophy", given to the top scorer in the Nations League Finals, was awarded to Kylian Mbappé, who finished with two goals and two assists in the Nations League Finals. 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.

Top scorer rankings

Rank	Player	Goals	Assists	Minutes
	Kylian Mbappé	2	2	180
	Karim Benzema	2	0	179
	Ferran Torres	2	0	133

Goal of the Tournament

The Gazprom Goal of the Tournament was decided by online voting. A total four goals were in the shortlist, chosen by UEFA's technical observers: Karim Benzema (against Spain), Ferran Torres (second goal against Italy), Théo Hernandez (against Belgium) and Romelu Lukaku (against France). Benzema won the award for his goal in the final.

Rank	Goalscorer	Opponent	Score	Result	Round
	Karim Benzema	Spain	1–1	2–1	Final
	Romelu Lukaku	France	2–0	2–3	Semi-finals
	Ferran Torres	Italy	2–0	2–1	Semi-finals
4	Théo Hernandez	Belgium	3–2	3–2	Semi-finals

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for receiving a red card, which could be extended for serious offences. Yellow card suspensions did not apply in the Nations League Finals.

The following suspensions were served during the tournament:

Player	Offence(s)	Suspension(s)
Leonardo Bonucci	in semi-finals vs Spain (6 October 2021)	Third place play-off vs Belgium (10 October 2021)