2019 UEFA Nations League Finals

The 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.[2] The tournament was held in Portugal from 5 to 9 June 2019,[3] 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 inaugural champions of the UEFA Nations League.

2019 UEFA Nations League Finals

Fase Final da Liga das Nações da UEFA de 2019 (in Portuguese)
Tournament details
Host country	Portugal
Dates	5–9 June
Teams	4
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Portugal (1st title)
Runners-up	Netherlands
Third place	England
Fourth place	Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	9 (2.25 per match)
Attendance	127,067 (31,767 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Cristiano Ronaldo (3 goals)
Best player(s)	Bernardo Silva[1]
Best young player	Frenkie de Jong[1]

Portugal won the final 1–0 against the Netherlands to become the first champions of the UEFA Nations League.

Format

The Nations League Finals took place in June 2019 and was 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 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group stage, thereby leaving the June 2019 window available for the Nations League Finals.[4]

The competition was played in a knockout format, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and a 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.[5]

The tournament took place over five days, with the first semi-final (which features the host team) on 5 June, the second semi-final on 6 June, and the third place play-off and final on 9 June.[6] The winners of the final was crowned as the inaugural champions of the UEFA Nations League.[7]

The Nations League Finals were played in single-leg knockout matches. If the scores were level at the end of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time were played, where each team was allowed to make a fourth substitution.[8] If the score was still level, the winner was determined by a penalty shoot-out. All matches in the tournament utilised the goal-line technology system.[9] On 3 December, UEFA confirmed that the video assistant referee (VAR) system would be used for the Nations League Finals.[10]

Qualified teams

The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals.[11]

Group	Winners	Date of qualification	UNL Rankings November 2018	FIFA Rankings April 2019
A1	Netherlands	19 November 2018	3	16
A2	Switzerland	18 November 2018	1	8
A3	Portugal (host)	17 November 2018	2	7
A4	England	18 November 2018	4	4

Host selection

Portugal was confirmed as the host country by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2018 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.[12][13] Only League A teams could bid for the Nations League Finals, and only one of the four participants was selected as hosts. The Nations League Finals was held in two stadiums, each with a seating capacity of at least 30,000. Ideally, the stadiums would have been located in the same host city or up to approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) apart.[14][15]

On 9 March 2018, UEFA announced that Italy, Poland, and Portugal expressed interest in bidding prior to the deadline. The deadline to submit their dossiers was 31 August 2018. As all three associations formed Group A3, the group winner was in line to be appointed as the host, provided that the associations submitted bids which met UEFA's requirements.[16] Poland were relegated from Group A3 on 14 October 2018, leaving Italy and Portugal as potential hosts.[17] On 17 November 2018, Portugal won Group A3 and advanced to the Finals,[18] thereby automatically winning hosting rights, which were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2018, the same day as the Nations League Finals draw.[3]

Venues

In their bid dossier, the Portuguese Football Federation proposed Estádio do Dragão in Porto and Estádio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimarães as the venues.[3]

Porto Guimarães	Porto	Guimarães
	Estádio do Dragão	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques
	Capacity: 50,033	Capacity: 30,000

Draw

The draw took place on 3 December 2018, 14:30 CET (13:30 local time), at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.[19][20][21] No seeding was applied in the draw. The first two balls drawn were allocated as the administrative home teams for each semi-final pairing, with the next two balls drawn allocated as their opponents. For scheduling purposes, the semi-final pairing involving the host team was considered to be semi-final 1. The administrative home team for both the third place play-off and final were then jointly drawn between semi-final 1 and 2.[5]

Squads

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.[9]

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	5 June – Porto
	Portugal	3
					9 June – Porto
	Switzerland	1
					Portugal	1
	6 June – Guimarães
					Netherlands	0
	Netherlands (a.e.t.)	3
	England	1
					Third place play-off
					9 June – Guimarães
					Switzerland	0 (5)
					England (p)	0 (6)

All times are local, WEST (UTC+1).

Semi-finals

Portugal vs Switzerland

5 June 2019

19:45

Portugal	3–1	Switzerland
Ronaldo  25', 88', 90'	Report	Rodríguez  57' (pen.)

Estádio do Dragão, Porto

Attendance: 42,415[22]

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Portugal[23]

Switzerland[23]

GK 1 Rui Patrício RB 20 Nélson Semedo CB 3 Pepe  63' CB 4 Rúben Dias LB 5 Raphaël Guerreiro RM 16 Bruno Fernandes  90+1' CM 14 William Carvalho CM 18 Rúben Neves LM 10 Bernardo Silva CF 23 João Félix  70' CF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c) Substitutions: DF 6 José Fonte  63' MF 17 Gonçalo Guedes  70' MF 8 João Moutinho  90+1' Manager: Fernando Santos

GK 1 Yann Sommer RB 2 Kevin Mbabu CB 22 Fabian Schär  68' CB 5 Manuel Akanji LB 13 Ricardo Rodríguez RM 17 Denis Zakaria  71' CM 10 Granit Xhaka (c)  66' CM 8 Remo Freuler  89' LM 14 Steven Zuber  83' AM 23 Xherdan Shaqiri  85' CF 9 Haris Seferović Substitutions: MF 20 Edimilson Fernandes  71' MF 11 Renato Steffen  83' FW 19 Josip Drmić  89' Manager: Vladimir Petković

Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)[24] Assistant referees:[23] Mark Borsch (Germany) Stefan Lupp (Germany) Fourth official: Viktor Kassai (Hungary) Video assistant referee: Christian Dingert (Germany) Assistant video assistant referees: Tobias Stieler (Germany)

Netherlands vs England

6 June 2019

19:45

Netherlands	3–1 (a.e.t.)	England
De Ligt  73' Walker  97' (o.g.) Promes  114'	Report	Rashford  32' (pen.)

Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães

Attendance: 25,711[25]

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Netherlands[26]

England[26]

GK 1 Jasper Cillessen RB 22 Denzel Dumfries  45' CB 3 Matthijs de Ligt  30' CB 4 Virgil van Dijk (c) LB 17 Daley Blind CM 15 Marten de Roon  68' CM 21 Frenkie de Jong  114' CM 8 Georginio Wijnaldum RW 7 Steven Bergwijn  91' CF 10 Memphis Depay LW 9 Ryan Babel  68' Substitutions: FW 11 Quincy Promes  68' MF 20 Donny van de Beek  106'  68' MF 6 Davy Pröpper  91' MF 16 Kevin Strootman  114' Manager: Ronald Koeman

GK 1 Jordan Pickford RB 2 Kyle Walker CB 5 John Stones CB 6 Harry Maguire LB 14 Ben Chilwell CM 16 Declan Rice  106' CM 17 Fabian Delph  77' CM 18 Ross Barkley RW 11 Jadon Sancho  61' LW 10 Raheem Sterling (c) CF 19 Marcus Rashford  46' Substitutions: FW 9 Harry Kane  70'  46' MF 7 Jesse Lingard  61' MF 8 Jordan Henderson  77' MF 20 Dele Alli  106' Manager: Gareth Southgate

Man of the Match: Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands)[27] Assistant referees:[26] Nicolas Danos (France) Cyril Gringore (France) Fourth official: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece) Video assistant referee: François Letexier (France) Assistant video assistant referees: Nicolas Rainville (France)

Third place play-off

9 June 2019

14:00

Switzerland	0–0 (a.e.t.)	England
	Report
Penalties
Zuber Xhaka Akanji Mbabu Schär Drmić	5–6	Maguire Barkley Sancho Sterling Pickford Dier

Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães

Attendance: 15,742[28]

Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

Switzerland[29]

England[29]

GK 1 Yann Sommer CB 22 Fabian Schär CB 5 Manuel Akanji CB 4 Nico Elvedi RM 2 Kevin Mbabu CM 10 Granit Xhaka (c)  116' CM 8 Remo Freuler LM 13 Ricardo Rodríguez  87' RW 23 Xherdan Shaqiri  65' LW 20 Edimilson Fernandes  61' CF 9 Haris Seferović  113' Substitutions: MF 17 Denis Zakaria  61' MF 14 Steven Zuber  65' FW 19 Josip Drmić  87' MF 7 Noah Okafor  113' Manager: Vladimir Petković

GK 1 Jordan Pickford RB 22 Trent Alexander-Arnold CB 12 Joe Gomez CB 6 Harry Maguire LB 3 Danny Rose  23'  70' CM 4 Eric Dier CM 17 Fabian Delph  106' RW 7 Jesse Lingard  27'  106' AM 20 Dele Alli LW 10 Raheem Sterling CF 9 Harry Kane (c)  75' Substitutions: DF 2 Kyle Walker  70' FW 21 Callum Wilson  75' FW 11 Jadon Sancho  106' MF 18 Ross Barkley  106' Manager: Gareth Southgate

Man of the Match: Jordan Pickford (England)[30] Assistant referees:[29] Octavian Șovre (Romania) Sebastian Gheorghe (Romania) Fourth official: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece) Video assistant referee: Michael Fabbri (Italy) Assistant video assistant referees: Marco Di Bello (Italy)

Final

9 June 2019

19:45

Portugal	1–0	Netherlands
Guedes  60'	Report

Estádio do Dragão, Porto

Attendance: 43,199[31]

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)

Portugal[32]

Netherlands[32]

GK 1 Rui Patrício RB 20 Nélson Semedo CB 4 Rúben Dias CB 6 José Fonte LB 5 Raphaël Guerreiro CM 13 Danilo Pereira CM 14 William Carvalho  90+3' CM 16 Bruno Fernandes  81' RF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c) CF 17 Gonçalo Guedes  75' LF 10 Bernardo Silva Substitutions: MF 15 Rafa Silva  75' MF 8 João Moutinho  81' MF 18 Rúben Neves  90+3' Manager: Fernando Santos

GK 1 Jasper Cillessen RB 22 Denzel Dumfries  88' CB 3 Matthijs de Ligt CB 4 Virgil van Dijk (c)  90+1' LB 17 Daley Blind CM 15 Marten de Roon  81' CM 21 Frenkie de Jong CM 8 Georginio Wijnaldum RW 7 Steven Bergwijn  60' CF 10 Memphis Depay LW 9 Ryan Babel  46' Substitutions: FW 11 Quincy Promes  46' MF 20 Donny van de Beek  60' FW 19 Luuk de Jong  81' Manager: Ronald Koeman

Man of the Match: Rúben Dias (Portugal)[33] Assistant referees:[34] Roberto Alonso Fernández (Spain) Juan Yuste Jiménez (Spain) Fourth official: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain) Reserve assistant referee: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (Spain) Video assistant referee: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain) Assistant video assistant referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (Spain)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 9 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 2.25 goals per match.

3 goals

• Cristiano Ronaldo

1 goal

• Marcus Rashford
• Matthijs de Ligt
• Quincy Promes
• Gonçalo Guedes
• Ricardo Rodríguez

1 own goal

• Kyle Walker (against Netherlands)

Source: UEFA

Assists

2 assists

• Memphis Depay
• Bernardo Silva

1 assist

• Gonçalo Guedes

Source: UEFA

Awards

Team of the Tournament

The Team of the Tournament was selected by UEFA's technical observers, and includes at least one player from each of the four participants.[35]

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Jordan Pickford	Daley Blind Virgil van Dijk Rúben Dias Nélson Semedo	Frenkie de Jong Georginio Wijnaldum Bruno Fernandes	Cristiano Ronaldo Bernardo Silva Xherdan Shaqiri

UEFA also announced a team of the tournament based on the FedEx Performance Zone player rankings.[36]

FedEx Performance Zone Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Jordan Pickford	Matthijs de Ligt Rúben Dias Raphaël Guerreiro Manuel Akanji Kevin Mbabu	Frenkie de Jong Marten de Roon Bernardo Silva	Memphis Depay Cristiano Ronaldo

Player of the Tournament

The Player of the Tournament award was given to Bernardo Silva, who was chosen by UEFA's technical observers.

• Bernardo Silva[1]

Young Player of the Tournament

The SOCAR Young Player of the Tournament award was open to players born on or after 1 January 1996. The award was given to Frenkie de Jong, as chosen by UEFA's technical observers.

• Frenkie de Jong[1]

Top Scorer

The "Alipay Top Scorer Trophy", given to the top scorer in the Nations League Finals,[37] was awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick in the semi-final against Switzerland.[38] 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 5) fewest yellow and red cards in Nations League Finals, 6) fewest yellow and red cards in league phase.[39]

Top scorer rankings

Rank	Player	Goals	Assists	Minutes
	Cristiano Ronaldo	3	0	191
	Gonçalo Guedes	1	1	101
	Marcus Rashford	1	0	49

Goal of the Tournament

The SOCAR Goal of the Tournament was decided by online voting. A total four goals were in the shortlist, chosen by UEFA's technical observers, from two players: Cristiano Ronaldo (all three goals against Switzerland) and Matthijs de Ligt (against England).[40][41] Ronaldo won the award for his second goal against Switzerland.[42]

Rank	Goalscorer	Opponent	Score	Result	Round
	Cristiano Ronaldo	Switzerland	2–1	3–1	Semi-finals
			3–1
			1–0
4	Matthijs de Ligt	England	1–1	3–1 (a.e.t.)	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.[9]

The following suspensions were served during the tournament:[43]

Player	Offence(s)	Suspension(s)
Danilo Pereira	in league phase vs Poland (20 November 2018)	Semi-finals vs Switzerland (5 June 2019)

Prize money

The prize money to be distributed was announced in October 2018.[44] In addition to the €2.25 million solidarity fee for participating in the Nations League, the four participants received an additional €2.25 million for winning their groups and qualifying for the Nations League Finals.

In addition, the participants received payment based on performance:

• Winners: €6 million
• Runners-up: €4.5 million
• Third place: €3.5 million
• Fourth place: €2.5 million

This meant that the maximum amount of solidarity and bonus fees for the UEFA Nations League winners was €10.5 million.

References

1. "Bernardo Silva and Frenkie de Jong win Nations League awards". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
2. "UEFA Nations League receives associations' green light". UEFA.com. 27 March 2014.
3. "Portugal set to be Nations League Finals hosts". UEFA.com. 17 November 2018.
4. "UEFA Nations League format and schedule approved". UEFA.com. 4 December 2014.
5. "UEFA Nations League Finals: Draw Procedure" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
6. "UEFA Nations League 2018/19 League Phase draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
7. "All you need to know: UEFA Nations League Finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
8. "Amendments to football's Laws of the Game in various UEFA competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
9. "Regulations of the UEFA Nations League 2018/19" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
10. "VAR to be used in UEFA Champions League knockout phase". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
11. "England, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland in Nations League Finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
12. "Portugal confirmed as Nations League Finals hosts". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
13. "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for Dublin meeting". UEFA.com. 16 November 2018.
14. "Lyon to host 2018 UEFA Europa League final". UEFA. 9 December 2016.
15. "UEFA Nations League regulations approved". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
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17. "Italy relegate Poland as Russia near promotion". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
18. "Portugal hold Italy to reach Finals, Sweden win". UEFA.com. 17 November 2018.
19. "UEFA Nations League Finals draw". UEFA.com.
20. "2019 UEFA Nations League Finals draw press kit" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
21. "Nations League Finals draw: Portugal v Switzerland, Netherlands v England". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
22. "Full Time Report – Semi-finals – Portugal v Switzerland" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
23. "Tactical Line-ups – Semi-finals – Portugal v Switzerland" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
24. Atkin, John (5 June 2019). "Portugal 3–1 Switzerland: Nations League at a glance". UEFA.com. Porto: Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
25. "Full Time Report – Semi-finals – Netherlands v England" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
26. "Tactical Line-ups – Semi-finals – Netherlands v England" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
27. Atkin, John (6 June 2019). "Netherlands 3–1 England: Nations League at a glance". UEFA.com. Guimarães: Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
28. "Full Time Report – Third-place match – Switzerland v England" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
29. "Tactical Line-ups – Third-place match – Switzerland v England" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
30. "England beat Switzerland on penalties in Nations League match for third place". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
31. "Full Time Report – Final – Portugal v Netherlands" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
32. "Tactical Line-ups – Final – Portugal v Netherlands" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
33. Atkin, John (9 June 2019). "Portugal 1–0 Netherlands: Nations League final at a glance". UEFA.com. Porto: Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
34. "Porto swansong for proud Undiano". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
35. "UEFA Nations League Finals: Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
36. UEFA [@UEFAEURO] (9 June 2019). "FedEx Performance Zone Team of the Tournament" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019 – via Twitter.
37. "Strikers compete for Alipay trophy at Nations League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
38. UEFA [@UEFAEURO] (10 June 2019). "Alipay Top Scorer rankings" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019 – via Twitter.
39. "Alipay Top Scorer". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
40. "SOCAR Goal of the Tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
41. UEFA [@UEFAEURO] (9 June 2019). "SOCAR Goal of the Tournament" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019 – via Twitter.
42. "Goal of the Tournament: clean sweep for Ronaldo". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
43. "UEFA Nations League 2019: Booking List before semi-finals" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
44. "Increased UEFA Nations League solidarity and bonus fees". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.

External links

• Official website
• 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, UEFA.com
• UEFA Technical Report