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2024–25 UEFA Nations League A

International football competition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A is the top division of the 2024–25 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the fourth season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. League A began with the league phase in September 2024, and will culminate with the Nations League Finals in June 2025 to determine the champions of the competition.

Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...

For the first time, a quarter-final round was contested in League A by the group winners and runners-up, with the winners advancing to the Nations League Finals.

Spain were the defending champions, having won the 2023 finals.

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Format

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League A consists of the 16 top-ranked UEFA members in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League access list, split into four groups of four. Each team played six matches within their group, using the home-and-away round-robin format on double matchdays in September, October and November 2024.[1]

On 25 January 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee approved a modified format for the Nations League after the league phase, with the following changes being implemented in League A:[2][3]

  • A new quarter-final round to be played in March 2025 was introduced, thus creating continuity between the league phase ending in November 2024 and the Nations League Finals in June 2025.
  • The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals, unlike previous editions where only the group winners advanced to the finals.
  • The four third-placed teams of League A faced the four runners-up of League B in the relegation play-offs, which were also introduced starting this season.

The last-placed teams of each group continued to be relegated directly to League B, while the third-placed teams competed against the runners-up of League B to determine their permanence in League A for the next season or their relegation to 2026–27 UEFA Nations League B. The relegation play-offs were played home-and-away over two legs in March 2025, with the League A third-placed teams hosting the second leg.

The quarter-finals were also played home and away over two legs. In each tie, group winners faced a runner-up from a different group, with the group winner hosting the second leg. The four quarter-final winners advanced to the Finals.

The Nations League Finals retain its previous format, which is played in a knockout format in June 2025, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings were determined using an open draw. The host country was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee, preferably hosted by one of the participating teams, with the winners of the final crowned as the champions of the UEFA Nations League.

In all two-legged ties, the team that scored more goals on aggregate was the winner. If the aggregate score was level, extra time was played without the away goals rule. If the score remained level after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner.[4]

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Teams

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The 16 League A teams includes the top 12 teams from the 2022–23 League A overall ranking and four promoted teams from the 2022–23 League B.

Team changes

The following were the team changes in League A from the 2022–23 season:[5]

More information Promoted from Nations League B, Relegated to Nations League B ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina returned to League A, after a one-season absence, by securing first place in their 2022–23 League B group with a 1–0 victory over Montenegro on 23 September 2022.[6][7] Israel, Scotland and Serbia reached the top flight of the UEFA Nations League for the first time, all three following similar paths, starting in League C in the inaugural edition and spending two seasons in League B before their promotion to League A.[8][9]

Seeding

In the 2024–25 access list, UEFA ranked teams based on the 2022–23 Nations League overall ranking, considering promotion and relegation between the leagues and the results of the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals.[10] The seeding pots for the league phase were confirmed on 2 December 2023,[11] and were based on the access list ranking.[4]

More information Team, Rank ...

The draw for the league phase took place at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris, France, on 8 February 2024, 18:00 CET.[12][13] Each group contained one team from each pot.

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Groups

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The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 9 February 2024, the day following the draw.[14][15][16]

Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Group 1

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
More information Portugal, 2–1 ...
Attendance: 57,675[17]
More information Scotland, 2–3 ...
Attendance: 46,356[18]
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)

More information Croatia, 1–0 ...
Attendance: 12,612[19]
More information Portugal, 2–1 ...
Attendance: 59,894[20]
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)

More information Croatia, 2–1 ...
Attendance: 21,702[21]
More information Poland, 1–3 ...

More information Poland, 3–3 ...
More information Scotland, 0–0 ...
Attendance: 49,057[24]

More information Portugal, 5–1 ...
Attendance: 47,239[25]
Referee: Donatas Rumšas (Lithuania)
More information Scotland, 1–0 ...
Attendance: 48,810[26]

More information Croatia, 1–1 ...
Attendance: 33,386[27]
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
More information Poland, 1–2 ...

Group 2

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Tied on head to head results. Overall goal difference: France +6, Italy +5.
  2. Tied on head to head points. Head to head goal difference: Belgium +1, Israel –1.
More information Belgium, 3–1 ...
More information France, 1–3 ...

More information France, 2–0 ...
More information Israel, 1–2 ...
Attendance: 2,090[33]

More information Israel, 1–4 ...
Attendance: 2,226[34]
More information Italy, 2–2 ...
Attendance: 44,297[35]
Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)

More information Belgium, 1–2 ...
More information Italy, 4–1 ...

More information Belgium, 0–1 ...
More information France, 0–0 ...

More information Israel, 1–0 ...
Attendance: 675[40]
Referee: Sebastian Gishamer (Austria)
More information Italy, 1–3 ...
Attendance: 68,158[41]

Group 3

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
More information Germany, 5–0 ...
More information Netherlands, 5–2 ...
Attendance: 31,139[43]
Referee: Donatas Rumšas (Lithuania)

More information Hungary, 0–0 ...
Attendance: 46,443[44]
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
More information Netherlands, 2–2 ...
Attendance: 50,109[45]
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)

More information Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1–2 ...
More information Hungary, 1–1 ...
Attendance: 55,300[47]
Referee: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland)

More information Bosnia and Herzegovina, 0–2 ...
More information Germany, 1–0 ...
Attendance: 68,367[49]

More information Germany, 7–0 ...
Attendance: 28,143[50]
Referee: Vassilis Fotias (Greece)
More information Netherlands, 4–0 ...

More information Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1–1 ...
More information Hungary, 1–1 ...
Attendance: 53,212[53]
Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)

Group 4

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
More information Denmark, 2–0 ...
More information Serbia, 0–0 ...

More information Denmark, 2–0 ...
More information Switzerland, 1–4 ...

More information Serbia, 2–0 ...
Attendance: 6,383[58]
Referee: Simone Sozza (Italy)
More information Spain, 1–0 ...
Attendance: 29,870[59]


More information Spain, 3–0 ...
More information Switzerland, 2–2 ...
Attendance: 16,182[61]

More information Denmark, 1–2 ...
Attendance: 36,985[62]
Referee: Rade Obrenović (Slovenia)
More information Switzerland, 1–1 ...

More information Serbia, 0–0 ...
More information Spain, 3–2 ...
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Knockout stage

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Bracket

Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 Italy134
4 June – Munich
 Germany235
 Germany1
 Portugal2
 Denmark123
8 June – Munich
 Portugal (a.e.t.)055
 Portugal (p)2 (5)
 Spain2 (3)
 Netherlands235 (4)
5 June – Stuttgart
 Spain (p)235 (5)
 Spain5Third place play-off
 France4 8 June – Stuttgart
 Croatia202 (4)
 Germany0
 France (p)022 (5)
 France2

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 22 November 2024, 12:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, along with the draw for the semi-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs.[66][67] In the draw, teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other.[68] First, the group runners-up were drawn into a quarter-final pairing (1 to 4), after which group winners were drawn and allocated to the first available quarter-final (in numerical order).[69]

Seeding

The group winners were seeded in the draw, while the runners-up were unseeded.[70] The Nations League interim overall ranking of November 2024 is shown below in brackets.

More information Group, Winners (seeded in Pot 1) ...

Summary

The first legs were played on 20 March, and the second legs were played on 23 March 2025.[14]

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Matches

Times are CET (UTC+1), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).[71]

More information Netherlands, 2–2 ...
Attendance: 42,003[72]
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
More information Spain, 3–3 (a.e.t.) ...
Attendance: 48,082[73]

5–5 on aggregate; Spain won 5–4 on penalties.


More information Croatia, 2–0 ...
Attendance: 30,551[74]
Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)

2–2 on aggregate; France won 5–4 on penalties.


More information Denmark, 1–0 ...
More information Portugal, 5–2 (a.e.t.) ...

Portugal won 5–3 on aggregate.


More information Italy, 1–2 ...
Attendance: 60,334[78]
More information Germany, 3–3 ...

Germany won 5–4 on aggregate.

Nations League Finals

UEFA appointed the winner of the quarter-final tie between Italy and Germany, which Germany ultimately won, as the host for the final tournament.[80][81] The semi-finals pairings were determined by means of an open draw on 22 November 2024, 12:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, along with the draw for the League A quarter-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs.[66][67] For scheduling purposes, the host team was allocated to semi-final 1 as the administrative home team.[68]

Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA.

Semi-finals

More information Germany, 1–2 ...
Attendance: 65,823[83]

More information Spain, 5–4 ...
Attendance: 51,724[84]

Third place play-off

More information Germany, 0–2 ...
Attendance: 51,313[85]

Final

More information Portugal, 2–2 (a.e.t.) ...
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Goalscorers

There were 190 goals scored in 60 matches, for an average of 3.17 goals per match.

8 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

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Overall ranking

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Following the league phase, the 16 League A teams were ordered 1st to 16th in an interim overall ranking for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League according to the following rules:[4][87]

  • The teams finishing first in the groups were ranked 1st to 4th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing second in the groups were ranked 5th to 8th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing third in the groups were ranked 9th to 12th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing fourth in the groups were ranked 13th to 16th according to the results of the league phase.
More information Rnk, Grp ...
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria

A final overall ranking will also be compiled, though this is only used to rank teams within their new leagues for the following edition of the competition.[4]

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Notes

  1. CEST (UTC+2) for matchdays 1–4 (September and October 2024), CET (UTC+1) for matchdays 5–6 (November 2024).
  2. Due to the Gaza war protests, the Belgium v Israel match was played at a neutral venue and behind closed doors.
  3. Due to the Gaza war, Israel were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[32]
  4. The Germany v Portugal match, originally scheduled for 21:00, was delayed by ten minutes due to adverse weather conditions impacting the teams' warm-ups.[82]
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References

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