UEFA Nations League
European association football tournament for men's national teams
AI overview
The UEFA Nations League is a football tournament that brings together men's national teams from across Europe to compete against each other. It matters because it gives these countries regular competitive matches and a way to earn rankings and qualification spots for major tournaments like the World Cup and European Championship.
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Article
The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies and give nations competitive encounters with equally ranked teams. Teams from all the European associations compete in a league structure featuring promotion and relegation.
The first tournament was in September 2018, with the four group winners from League A qualifying for the first finals, played in Portugal in June 2019. The host team, Portugal defeated the Netherlands in the final to become the inaugural competition winners. In 2021 France won the trophy by beating Spain in the host country, and Italy achieved 3rd place by beating Belgium. In the 2023 tournament, Spain won by beating Croatia on penalties. The current champions are Portugal, who defeated holders Spain in the 2025 final to secure their second title.