2022–23 UEFA Nations League

The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League was the third season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.[1] The competition was held from June to September 2022 (league phase), June 2023 (Nations League Finals), and March 2024 (relegation play-outs).[2][3]

2022–23 UEFA Nations League
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
1 June – 27 September 2022
Nations League Finals:
14–18 June 2023
Relegation play-outs:
21–26 March 2024
Teams55
Final positions
Champions Spain (1st title)
Runners-up Croatia
Third place Italy
Fourth place Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches played162
Goals scored425 (2.62 per match)
Attendance3,225,868 (19,913 per match)
Top scorer(s)Norway Erling Haaland
Serbia Aleksandar Mitrović
(6 goals each)

Following their win in 2021, defending champions France were unable to retain their title in the finals after finishing third in their group.[4][5]

Spain won the final against Croatia, 5–4 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time, for their first UEFA Nations League title.

Format

The 55 UEFA national teams were divided into four leagues, with Leagues A, B, and C featuring 16 teams each, divided into four groups of four teams. League D featured seven teams divided into two groups, with one containing four teams and the other containing three. The teams were allocated to leagues based on the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League overall ranking. Each team played six matches within their group, except for one group in League D which played four, using the home-and-away round-robin format in June (four matchdays) and September 2022 (two matchdays).[6]

In the top division, League A, teams competed to become the UEFA Nations League champions. The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals in June 2023, which was played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, were determined using a draw. The host country was selected among the four qualified teams by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.

Teams also competed for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower league. The group winners in Leagues B, C, and D were promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group in Leagues A and B were relegated. As League C had four groups while League D had only two, the League C team that was to be relegated was determined by relegation play-outs in March 2024.

Originally, the play-outs would have involved all four of the fourth-placed League C teams, with the two losers being relegated to League D.[2] However, due to the ongoing suspension of Russia from all UEFA competitions,[7] the league allocation for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League was changed so that only one team would be relegated to League D, ensuring that League C would still consist of 16 teams.[8] Based on the Nations League overall ranking of the fourth-placed teams, the two worst-ranked teams qualified for the play-outs.[8]

The tie was played over two legs, with the higher-ranked team hosting the second leg. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs remained in League C, while the loser was relegated to League D. 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.[2]

Tiebreakers for group ranking

If two or more teams in the same group were equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:[2]

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.[a] If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 applied;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  9. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
  10. Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card due to two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  11. Position in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League access list.

Notes

Criteria for league ranking

Individual league rankings were established according to the following criteria:[2]

  1. Position in the group;
  2. Higher number of points;
  3. Superior goal difference;
  4. Higher number of goals scored;
  5. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
  6. Higher number of wins;
  7. Higher number of wins away from home;
  8. Lower disciplinary points total (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card due to two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
  9. Position in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League access list.

To rank teams in Leagues B and D, which were composed of different sized groups,[note 1] the results against the fourth-placed teams in these leagues were not taken into account when comparing teams placed first, second and third in their respective groups.[2][9]

The ranking of the top 4 teams in League A was determined by their finish in the Nations League Finals.[2]

Criteria for overall ranking

The overall UEFA Nations League rankings were established as follows:[2]

  1. The 16 League A teams were ranked 1st to 16th according to their league rankings.
  2. The 16 League B teams were ranked 17th to 32nd according to their league rankings.
  3. The 16 League C teams were ranked 33rd to 48th according to their league rankings.
  4. The 7 League D teams were ranked 49th to 55th according to their league rankings.

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League was linked with UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024.

The Euro 2024 qualifying group stage took place from March to November 2023, deciding 20 of the 23 teams that advanced to the final tournament to join hosts Germany. The 53 teams were drawn into ten groups after the completion of the UEFA Nations League (seven groups of five teams and three groups of six teams, with the four participants in the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals guaranteed to be drawn into groups of five teams), with the top two teams in each group qualifying. The draw seeding was based on the overall ranking of the Nations League.

Following the qualifying group stage, the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs took place in March 2024. The participants of the play-offs were not decided based on results from the qualifying group stage. Instead, twelve teams were selected based on their performance in the 2022–23 Nations League. These teams were divided into three paths, each containing four teams, with one team from each path qualifying for the final tournament. The group winners of Nations Leagues A, B, and C automatically qualified for the play-off path of their league unless they had already qualified for the final tournament via the qualifying group stage. If a group winner had already qualified through the qualifying group stage, they were replaced by the next best-ranked team in the same league. However, if there were not enough non-qualified teams in the same league, then the spot would go first to the best-ranked group winner of League D unless that team had already qualified for the final tournament. The remaining slots were then allocated to the next best team in the Nations League overall ranking, with the restriction that group winners of Leagues B and C could not face teams from a higher league.

The three play-off paths each featured two single-legged semi-finals and one single-legged final. In the semi-finals, the best-ranked team hosted the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team hosted the third-ranked team. The host of each final was drawn between the winners of the semi-final pairings. The three play-off path winners joined the 20 teams that already qualified for the final tournament via the group stage.[10]

Schedule

The schedule of the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League was as follows.[2] Due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar that took place at the end of the year, the league phase was played in June and September 2022.

StageRoundDates
League phaseMatchday 11–4 June 2022[note 2]
Matchday 25–8 June 2022
Matchday 39–11 June 2022
Matchday 412–14 June 2022
Matchday 522–24 September 2022
Matchday 625–27 September 2022
FinalsSemi-finals14–15 June 2023
Third place play-off18 June 2023
Final
Relegation play-outsFirst leg21 March 2024
Second leg26 March 2024

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 17 December 2021, the day following the draw.[12][13] The fixture list for groups A4 and B1 were amended due to the postponement of Path A of UEFA qualifying for the World Cup.[11]

The relegation play-outs of League C were scheduled on the same dates as the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs. If one or more of the teams due to participate in the relegation play-outs had also qualified for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs, the relegation play-outs would have been cancelled and the lowest-ranked team in League C Nations League overall ranking would have been automatically relegated.[2]

Seeding

Map showing the leagues each national team participated in.
  League A
  League B
  League C
  League D

All 55 UEFA national teams entered the competition. The teams which finished bottom of their group in Leagues A and B, as well as the losers from the relegation play-outs of League C, from the 2020–21 season moved down a league, while the group winners of Leagues B, C, and D moved up. The remaining teams stayed in their respective leagues.[14]

In the 2022–23 access list, UEFA ranked teams based on the 2020–21 Nations League overall ranking,[15] with a slight modification: teams that were relegated in the previous season were ranked immediately below those who were promoted.[2] The seeding pots for the league phase were based on the access list ranking. The seeding pots, draw procedure, and fixture list procedures were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Chișinău, Moldova, on 22 September 2021.[16]

Key
Promoted in previous season after league phase
Relegated in previous season after league phase
*Relegated in previous season after relegation play-outs
League A
PotTeamPrvRank
1  France (title holders)1
 Spain2
 Italy3
 Belgium4
2  Portugal5
 Netherlands6
 Denmark7
 Germany8
3  England9
 Poland10
  Switzerland11
 Croatia12
4  Wales 13
 Austria 14
 Czech Republic 15
 Hungary 16
League B
PotTeamPrvRank
1  Ukraine 17
 Sweden 18
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 19
 Iceland 20
2  Finland21
 Norway22
 Scotland23
 Russia24
3  Israel25
 Romania26
 Serbia27
 Republic of Ireland28
4  Slovenia 29
 Montenegro 30
 Albania 31
 Armenia 32
League C
PotTeamPrvRank
1  Turkey 33
 Slovakia 34
 Bulgaria 35
 Northern Ireland 36
2  Greece37
 Belarus38
 Luxembourg39
 North Macedonia40
3  Lithuania41
 Georgia42
 Azerbaijan43
 Kosovo44
4  Kazakhstan[a]45
 Cyprus[a]46
 Gibraltar 47
 Faroe Islands 48
League D
PotTeamPrvRank
1  Estonia[a] *49
 Moldova[a] *50
 Liechtenstein51
 Malta52
2  Latvia53
 San Marino54
 Andorra55

The draw for the league phase took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on 16 December 2021, 18:00 CET.[17][18] The draw, originally planned to take place in Montreux, was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19][20]

As the league phase would be played in June and September 2022, no winter venue restrictions were applied in the draw. For political reasons, Russia and Ukraine (due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine) could not be drawn into the same group. Due to restrictions of excessive travel, any group could contain a maximum of one of the following pairs: Andorra and Kazakhstan, Malta and Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland and Kazakhstan, Gibraltar and Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iceland, Israel and Iceland.[16]

League A

Group A1

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1  Croatia641186+213Qualification for Nations League Finals2–11–10–3
2  Denmark640295+4120–12–02–0
3  France612357−250–11–22–0
4  Austria (R)6114610−44Relegation to League B1–31–21–1
Source: UEFA
(R) Relegated

Group A2

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1  Spain632185+311Qualification for Nations League Finals1–11–22–0
2  Portugal6312113+8100–14–02–0
3   Switzerland630369−390–11–02–1
4  Czech Republic (R)6114513−84Relegation to League B2–20–42–1
Source: UEFA
(R) Relegated

Group A3

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1  Italy632187+111Qualification for Nations League Finals2–11–11–0
2  Hungary631285+3100–21–11–0
3  Germany6141119+275–20–11–1
4  England (R)6033410−63Relegation to League B0–00–43–3
Source: UEFA
(R) Relegated

Group A4

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1  Netherlands6510146+816Qualification for Nations League Finals1–02–23–2
2  Belgium6312118+3101–46–12–1
3  Poland6213612−670–20–12–1
4  Wales (R)6015611−51Relegation to League B1–21–10–1
Source: UEFA
(R) Relegated

Nations League Finals

The four nations from Group A4 (Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Wales) bid to host the Nations League Finals.[21] As the nation that qualified for the finals, the Netherlands was granted hosting rights.[22] The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw on 25 January 2023, 11:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. For scheduling purposes, the host team was allocated to semi-final 1 as the administrative home team.[23]

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
14 June – Rotterdam
 
 
 Netherlands2
 
18 June – Rotterdam
 
 Croatia (a.e.t.)4
 
 Croatia0 (4)
 
15 June – Enschede
 
 Spain (p)0 (5)
 
 Spain2
 
 
 Italy1
 
Third place play-off
 
 
18 June – Enschede
 
 
 Netherlands2
 
 
 Italy3

Semi-finals

Netherlands  2–4 (a.e.t.)  Croatia
  • Malen 34'
  • Lang 90+6'
Report
Attendance: 39,359[24]

Spain  2–1  Italy
Report

Third-place play-off

Netherlands  2–3  Italy
Report
Attendance: 21,292[26]
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)

Final

Top goalscorers

There were 140 goals scored in 52 matches, for an average of 2.69 goals per match.

RankPlayerGoals
League A top goalscorers
1 Michy Batshuayi3
Luka Modrić
Steven Bergwijn
Memphis Depay
530 players2

League B

Group B1

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or relegation
1  Scotland (P)6411115+613Promotion to League A3–02–12–0
2  Ukraine6321104+6110–01–13–0
3  Republic of Ireland621387+173–00–13–2
4  Armenia (R)6105417−133Relegation to League C1–40–51–0
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Group B2

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or relegation
1  Israel (P)422086+28Promotion to League A2–22–1Canc.
2  Iceland404066042–21–1Canc.
3  Albania402246−221–21–1Canc.
4  Russia[a] (R, D)00000000Banned from tournamentCanc.Canc.Canc.
Source: UEFA
(D) Disqualified; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Group B3

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or relegation
1  Bosnia and Herzegovina (P)632188011Promotion to League A3–21–01–0
2  Finland622286+281–12–01–1
3  Montenegro62136607[a]1–10–22–0
4  Romania (R)621368−27[a]Relegation to League C4–11–00–3
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Group B4

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or relegation
1  Serbia (P)6411135+813Promotion to League A0–14–14–1
2  Norway6312770100–20–03–2
3  Slovenia6132610−462–22–10–2
4  Sweden (R)6114711−44Relegation to League C0–11–21–1
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Top goalscorers

There were 112 goals scored in 42 matches, for an average of 2.67 goals per match.

RankPlayerGoals
League B top goalscorers
1 Erling Haaland6
Aleksandar Mitrović
3 Stefan Mugoša4
4 Edin Džeko3
Teemu Pukki
Benjamin Šeško
Emil Forsberg
Artem Dovbyk
915 players2

League C

Group C1

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or qualification
1  Turkey (P)6411185+1313Promotion to League B3–34–02–0
2  Luxembourg632197+2110–22–21–0
3  Faroe Islands6222710−382–10–12–1
4  Lithuania (O)6015214−121Qualification for relegation play-outs0–60–21–1
Source: UEFA
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Group C2

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion
1  Greece (P)6501102+815Promotion to League B2–03–13–0
2  Kosovo6303118+390–13–25–1
3  Northern Ireland6123710−35[a]0–12–12–2
4  Cyprus6123412−85[a]1–00–20–0
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted
Notes:

Group C3

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion
1  Kazakhstan (P)641186+213Promotion to League B2–02–12–1
2  Azerbaijan631274+3103–00–12–0
3  Slovakia621356−170–11–21–1
4  Belarus603337−431–10–00–1
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted

Group C4

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion or qualification
1  Georgia (P)6510163+1316Promotion to League B0–02–04–0
2  Bulgaria6231108+292–51–15–1
3  North Macedonia621377070–30–14–0
4  Gibraltar (R)6015318−151Qualification for relegation play-outs1–21–10–2
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Ranking of fourth-placed teams

PosGrpTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1C2  Cyprus6123412−85
2C3  Belarus603337−43
3C1  Lithuania (O)6015214−121Qualification for relegation play-outs
4C4  Gibraltar (R)6015318−151
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Relegation play-outs

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Gibraltar  0–2  Lithuania0–10–1

Top goalscorers

There were 129 goals scored in 50 matches, for an average of 2.58 goals per match.

RankPlayerGoals
League C top goalscorers
1 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia5
Vedat Muriqi
3 Gerson Rodrigues4
Serdar Dursun
5 Kiril Despodov3
Anastasios Bakasetas
Abat Aymbetov
Danel Sinani
915 players2

League D

Group D1

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion
1  Latvia (P)6411125+713[a]Promotion to League C1–23–01–0
2  Moldova6411106+413[a]2–42–12–0
3  Andorra622267−181–10–02–1
4  Liechtenstein6006111−1000–20–20–2
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted
Notes:

Group D2

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPromotion
1  Estonia (P)4400102+812Promotion to League C2–12–0
2  Malta420254+161–21–0
3  San Marino400409−900–40–2
Source: UEFA
(P) Promoted

Top goalscorers

There were 44 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 2.44 goals per match.

RankPlayerGoals
League D top goalscorers
1 Vladislavs Gutkovskis5
2 Henri Anier4
Jānis Ikaunieks
Ion Nicolaescu
5 Albert Rosas2
Rauno Sappinen
Roberts Uldriķis
Victor Stînă
918 players1

Overall ranking

The results of each team were used to calculate the overall ranking of the competition,[2][28] which was used for seeding in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group stage draw.[10]

League ALeague B
RnkTeamPldPts
1  Spain611
2  Croatia613
3  Italy611
4  Netherlands616
5  Denmark612
6  Portugal610
7  Belgium610
8  Hungary610
9   Switzerland69
10  Germany67
11  Poland67
12  France65
13  Austria64
14  Czech Republic64
15  England63
16  Wales61
Source: UEFA
RnkTeamPldPts
17  Israel48
18  Bosnia and Herzegovina48
19  Serbia47
20  Scotland47
21  Finland47
22  Ukraine45
23  Iceland44
24  Norway44
25  Slovenia45
26  Republic of Ireland44
27  Albania42
28  Montenegro41
29  Romania67
30  Sweden64
31  Armenia63
32  Russia00
Source: UEFA
League CLeague D
RnkTeamPldPts
33  Georgia616
34  Greece615
35  Turkey613
36  Kazakhstan613
37  Luxembourg611
38  Azerbaijan610
39  Kosovo69
40  Bulgaria69
41  Faroe Islands68
42  North Macedonia67
43  Slovakia67
44  Northern Ireland65
45  Cyprus65
46  Belarus63
47  Lithuania61
48  Gibraltar61
Source: UEFA
RnkTeamPldPts
49  Estonia412
50  Latvia47
51  Moldova47
52  Malta46
53  Andorra42
54  San Marino40
55  Liechtenstein60
Source: UEFA

Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs

Teams who were unsuccessful in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group stage could still qualify for the final tournament via the play-offs. Leagues A, B, and C in the UEFA Nations League were each allocated one of the three remaining UEFA Euro 2024 places. Four teams who did not already qualify for the European Championship finals competed in the play-offs for each of those leagues, with the matches taking place in March 2024.[10]

The team selection process, using a set of criteria, determined the twelve teams that would compete in the play-offs based on the Nations League overall rankings.[29]

League A
RankTeam
GW  Spain
GW  Croatia
GW  Italy
GW  Netherlands
5  Denmark
6  Portugal
7  Belgium
8  Hungary
9   Switzerland
10  Germany
11  Poland
12  France
13  Austria
14  Czech Republic
15  England
16  Wales
League B
RankTeam
17 GW  Israel
18 GW  Bosnia and Herzegovina
19 GW  Serbia
20 GW  Scotland
21  Finland
22  Ukraine
23  Iceland
24  Norway
25  Slovenia
26  Republic of Ireland
27  Albania
28  Montenegro
29  Romania
30  Sweden
31  Armenia
32  Russia
League C
RankTeam
33 GW  Georgia
34 GW  Greece
35 GW  Turkey
36 GW  Kazakhstan
37  Luxembourg
38  Azerbaijan
39  Kosovo
40  Bulgaria
41  Faroe Islands
42  North Macedonia
43  Slovakia
44  Northern Ireland
45  Cyprus
46  Belarus
47  Lithuania
48  Gibraltar
League D
RankTeam
49 BD  Estonia
50  Latvia
51  Moldova
52  Malta
53  Andorra
54  San Marino
55  Liechtenstein

Key

  • GW Group winner from Nations League A, B or C
  • BD Best group winner from Nations League D
  •   Team in bold advanced to play-offs
  •   Team qualified directly to final tournament
  •  †  UEFA Euro 2024 host, qualified automatically
  •  ‡  Banned from qualifying competition

Notes

References

External links