The UEFA Nations League group stages are finally over and the countries that qualified for the finals, those relegated from League A, and those that gained promotion to the apex league have been decided.
All the teams involved in League A had the opportunity to fight for their spots except Switzerland and Ukraine which last group stage match had to be canceled due to the invasion of coronavirus in the camp of Ukraine.
Countries that qualified for UEFA Nations League finals
Four countries from the four groups in the UEFA Nations League A have qualified for the finals of the competition. The countries that qualified are Italy, Belgium, France, and Spain.
Italy qualified as group 1 leaders after recording 3 wins and 3 draws in 6 games. They ended the campaign with 12 points. Belgium won Group 2 after recording 5 wins and a loss in 6 games. They finished the campaign with 15 points.
While France finished as group 3 leaders after recording 5 wins and a draw in 6 games. They ended the campaign unbeaten with 16 points. And Spain won group 4 after winning three matches, drawing two and losing one. They ended the campaign with 11 points.
UEFA Nations League: Countries that were relegated from League A
Bosnia-Herzegovina finished bottom of group 1 with 2 draws and 4 losses. They only managed to gather 2 points in 6 games. Iceland finished bottom of group 2 after suffering 6 defeats in 6 games. While in group 3, Sweden took the fall after a win and five defeats.
Meanwhile, UEFA has decided that Switzerland should be relegated from group 4 even though the Swiss team could not play their last match against Ukraine due to coronavirus infection Ukrainian players suffered. Before the last game, Ukraine occupied the 3rd spot with 6 points while Switzerland occupied the last spot with 3 points.
Countries that gained promotion to League A
Austria gained promotion to league A after finishing top of group 1 in league B. They recorded 4 wins, one draw and one defeat which earned them 13 points. For group 2, the Czech Republic made it to league A after recording 4 wins and 2 defeats to garner 12 points.
For group 3, Hungary made it out of the group with 3 wins, two draws, and a defeat which gave them 11 points. While Wales conquered group 4 convincingly with 5 wins and a draw. They ended the campaign unbeaten with 16 points.
Nations League finals: Schedule, format, and possible host
The UEFA Nations League finals will take place from October 6 to October 10, 2021. It is expected to be held in Italy, all things being equal.
It will be a four-country tournament that involves Italy, France, Belgium, and Spain. The mini-tournament will start from the semi-finals stage. The winners of the stage will qualify for the finals while the losers will be involved in a play-off to determine the third-placed team in the competition.
There is room for extra-time and penalty shootouts if the need arises in the final of the competition. On the other hand, if the teams that qualify for the playoffs fail to win the match in regular time, the game will go straight to shootouts.
October 6: Semi-final 1
October 7: Semi-final 2
October 10: Third-placed play-off
October 10: Final
