UEFA Nations League matchday 6: 3 takeaways – Final Four set

The UEFA Nations League concluded the group stage portion of the tournament. Here are three takeaways to emerge from the final matchday.

The group stage of the UEFA Nations League concluded Wednesday, rendering a series of positive and negative verdicts for all of us to process and analyze now that the competition goes into hiatus until late next year.

In League A, the four group winners (Spain, France, Italy and Belgium) advanced to the final four, which is scheduled to be played in October 2021. Leagues B, C and D also concluded the group stage portion of the competition.

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If the aim of the 55-team UEFA Nations League was to replace meaningless friendlies with a tournament that national teams would take seriously, it has once again proved largely successful. The competition, now in its second edition after Portugal’s conquest in 2019, did not disappoint, especially after matchday 5 failed to deliver any group winners in League A.

Indeed, it took the final 90 minutes of each group to determine which sides would advance to the semifinals. That alone is a testament to how competitive League A was this fall. Even with coronavirus cases rising throughout much of Europe, games went on after much of the club season was paused last spring.

Here are three takeaways from matchday 6 and what it means for the UEFA Nations League going forward.

League A final four set

Spain, France, Italy and Belgium have reached the semis. Let’s start with Tuesday’s games after Spain demolished Germany 6-0 to win Group 4 thanks to a Ferran Torres hat trick, a 180-turnaround after a lackluster 1-1 draw days earlier against Switzerland. Inconsistent maybe, but La Roja has proven to be one tough opponent in games that really matter.

France, the defending World Cup champions, won Group 3, outlasting Portugal, winners of last year’s Nations League. Les Bleus defeated Sweden 4-2 to clinch the group, although their 1-0 win against Portugal this past Saturday proved to be the crucial result. Led by Oliver Giroud and Kylian Mbappe, France confirms their status as one of the world’s best national teams.

It was on Wednesday that Italy and Belgium booked their tickets to the semifinals, winning Group 1 and 2, respectively. Roberto Mancini’s transformation of the Azzurri since the debacle of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup has been truly epic, capped off by a 22-game unbeaten streak.  Romelu Lukaku-led Belgium, the No. 1 team in the world at the moment, proved once again that their upward trajectory knows no end.

League B teams earn promotion

Over in League B, Wednesday’s games resulted in the promotion of four teams: Austria, Czech Republic, Hungry and Wales.

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These four sides will participate in League A in the following edition of the Nations League in two years’ time. Wales, in particular, should be highlighted for having the best record in League B. Led by striker Gareth Bale, Wales has confirmed their status as a mid-tier national team with the potential to be a Cinderella side in major tournaments.

The best of the rest

In League C, Montenegro, Armenia, Albania and Slovenia gained promotion, while two tiny nations, the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar, were promoted out of League D.

Teams who also put in solid showings were League A sides Poland and Denmark. Over in League B, Scandinavian sides Norway, led by striker Erling Haaland, and Finland also put in strong performances that bode well for the future. These four teams are better positioned going into the 2022 World Cup qualifying as a result of their recent showings.

In an age where a virus has engulfed much of the planet and large parts of Europe remain on lockdown, UEFA was able to pull off the group stage of the Nations League, similar to the way they did the knockout rounds of the Champions League back in August.