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The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first season began in September 2018 consisting of four groups in each of the four leagues ranked by UEFA coefficient of each country.

France has been on the highest level of the competition, in League A, since the beginning of this tournament. However France has only been part of the Nations League Finals once, in the 2020–21 season, while in the first season, they finished second of their group behind the Netherlands, but ahead of Germany, who was supposed to be relegated, but after changes on the format, stayed in League A. France won the Nations League on the 2020–21 season after winning Group A3, beating Belgium in the semi-finals and beating Spain in the final, making France the first ever European nation to win the World Cup, the European Championship and the Nations League.

UEFA Nations League record

UEFA Nations League record
Season** Division Group Pld W D* L GF GA P/R Rank
Portugal 2018–19 A 1 4 2 1 1 4 4 Same position 6th
Italy 2020–21 A 3 8 7 1 0 17 8 Same position 1st
Netherlands 2022–23 A 1 6 1 2 3 5 7 Same position 12th
Total 18 10 4 4 26 19 1 Title
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
**Group stage played home and away. Flag shown represents host nation for the finals stage. Red border colour indicates the finals stage was held on home soil.

List of matches

Season Round Opponent Score Result Venue France scorers
Europe Portugal 2018–19 Group stage
  Germany 0–0 D Munich
  Netherlands 2–1 W Saint-Denis Mbappé, Giroud
  Germany 2–1 W Saint-Denis Griezmann (2)
  Netherlands 0–2 L Rotterdam
Europe Italy 2020–21 Group stage
  Sweden 1–0 W Solna Mbappé
  Croatia 4–2 W Saint-Denis Griezmann, Livaković ( o.g.), Upamecano, Giroud
  Portugal 0–0 D Saint-Denis
  Croatia 2–1 W Zagreb Griezmann, Mbappé
  Portugal 1–0 W Lisbon Kanté
  Sweden 4–2 W Saint-Denis Giroud (2), Pavard, Coman
Semi-final   Belgium 3–2 W Turin Benzema, Mbappé, T. Hernandez
Final   Spain 2–1 W Milan Benzema, Mbappé
Europe Netherlands 2022–23 Group stage
  Denmark 1–2 L Saint-Denis Benzema
  Croatia 1–1 D Split Rabiot
  Austria 1–1 D Vienna Mbappé
  Croatia 0–1 L Saint-Denis
  Austria 2–0 W Saint-Denis Mbappé, Giroud
  Denmark 0–2 L Copenhagen

2018–19 UEFA Nations League

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification [a] Netherlands France Germany
1   Netherlands 4 2 1 1 8 4 +4 7 [b] Qualification for Nations League Finals 2–0 3–0
2   France 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7 [b] 2–1 2–1
3   Germany 4 0 2 2 3 7 −4 2 2–2 0–0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Due to revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated.
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head goal difference: Netherlands +1, France −1.
Germany 0–0  France
Report
Attendance: 67,485 [1]
Referee: Daniele Orsato ( Italy)

France 2–1  Netherlands
Report

France 2–1  Germany
Report
Attendance: 77,300 [1]

Netherlands 2–0  France
Report
Attendance: 44,366 [1]

2020–21 UEFA Nations League

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation France Portugal Croatia Sweden
1   France 6 5 1 0 12 5 +7 16 Qualification for Nations League Finals 0–0 4–2 4–2
2   Portugal 6 4 1 1 12 4 +8 13 0–1 4–1 3–0
3   Croatia 6 1 0 5 9 16 −7 3 [a] 1–2 2–3 2–1
4   Sweden (R) 6 1 0 5 5 13 −8 3 [a] Relegation to League B 0–1 0–2 2–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Sweden 0–1  France
Report
Attendance: 0

France 4–2  Croatia
Report

France 0–0  Portugal
Report

Croatia 1–2  France
Report
Attendance: 7,000 [3]

Portugal 0–1  France
Report

France 4–2  Sweden
Report

Finals

France qualified for its first appearance to the UEFA Nations League Finals in the 2020–21 season, after defeating Portugal on 14 November 2020. [5]

Semi-finals

Belgium  2–3  France
Report
Attendance: 12,409 [6]

Final

Spain  1–2  France
Report
Attendance: 31,511 [7]

2022–23 UEFA Nations League

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Croatia Denmark France Austria
1   Croatia 6 4 1 1 8 6 +2 13 Qualification for Nations League Finals 2–1 1–1 0–3
2   Denmark 6 4 0 2 9 5 +4 12 0–1 2–0 2–0
3   France 6 1 2 3 5 7 −2 5 0–1 1–2 2–0
4   Austria (R) 6 1 1 4 6 10 −4 4 Relegation to League B 1–3 1–2 1–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
France 1–2  Denmark
Report
Attendance: 75,833 [8]
Referee: Felix Zwayer ( Germany)

Croatia 1–1  France
Report
Attendance: 30,000 [9]
Referee: Marco Guida ( Italy)

Austria 1–1  France
Report

France 0–1  Croatia
Report
Attendance: 77,410 [11]
Referee: Orel Grinfeld ( Israel)

France 2–0  Austria
Report
Attendance: 70,188 [12]

Denmark 2–0  France
Report
Attendance: 36,064 [13]

Goalscorers

Player Goals 2018–19 2020–21 2022–23
Kylian Mbappé 7 1 4 2
Olivier Giroud 5 1 3 1
Antoine Griezmann 4 2 2
Karim Benzema 3 2 1
Kingsley Coman 1 1
Théo Hernandez 1 1
N'Golo Kanté 1 1
Benjamin Pavard 1 1
Adrien Rabiot 1 1
Dayot Upamecano 1 1
Own goals 1 1
Total 26 4 17 5

Bold players are still active with the national team.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Summary UEFA Nations League A – Group 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  2. ^ "France vs. Portugal". ESPN. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Croatia vs France, 14 October 2020". eu-football.info. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  4. ^ "France vs. Sweden" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Portugal 0–1 France-". UEFA.com. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Full Time Report – Semi-finals – Belgium v France" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Full Time Report – Final – Spain v France" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  8. ^ "France vs. Denmark" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Croatia vs. France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Austria vs. France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  11. ^ "France vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  12. ^ "France vs. Austria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Denmark vs. France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.

External links