Portugal at the UEFA Nations League

In September 2018, the UEFA Nations League starring all European nations officially commenced. This competition has been created to make the international breaks more competitive and interesting and remove as much friendly matches as possible. The teams are divided into four leagues of four groups, from League A to League D. The winners of each group from League A get to play the Finals, constituted of the semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and the final.

Since the first season, Portugal has always remained in League A, the highest level of this competition. Portugal is the first ever winner of the UEFA Nations League, topping their group against Italy and Poland, knocking out Switzerland in the semi-finals and beating the Netherlands in the final. They couldn't retain the trophy in the next season after finishing second to France in the group stage.

UEFA Nations League record

UEFA Nations League record
Season** Division Group Pld W D* L GF GA P/R Rank
Portugal 2018–19 A 3 6 4 2 0 9 4 Same position 1st
Italy 2020–21 A 3 6 4 1 1 12 4 Same position 5th
Netherlands 2022–23 A 2 6 3 1 2 11 3 Same position 6th
2024–25 A 1 In progress
Total 18 11 4 3 32 11 1 Title
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalties.
**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 Portugal scorers
Europe Portugal 2018–19 Group stage
 Italy 1–0 W Lisbon A. Silva
 Poland 2–3 W Chorzów A. Silva, Glik (o.g.), B. Silva
 Italy 0–0 D Milan –
 Poland 1–1 D Guimarães A. Silva
Semi-final   Switzerland 3–1 W Porto Ronaldo (3)
Final  Netherlands 1–0 W Porto Guedes
Europe Italy 2020–21 Group stage
 Croatia 4–1 W Porto Cancelo, Jota, Félix, A. Silva
 Sweden 2–0 W Solna Ronaldo (2)
 France 0–0 D Saint-Denis –
 Sweden 3–0 W Lisbon B. Silva, Jota (2)
 France 0–1 L Lisbon –
 Croatia 3–2 W Split Dias (2), Félix
Europe Netherlands 2022–23 Group stage
 Spain 1–1 D Seville Horta
  Switzerland 4–0 W Lisbon Carvalho, Ronaldo (2), Cancelo
 Czech Republic 2–0 W Lisbon Cancelo, Guedes
  Switzerland 0–1 L Geneva –
 Czech Republic 4–0 W Prague Dalot (2), Fernandes, Jota
 Spain 0–1 L Braga –
Europe 2024–25 Group stage
 Croatia 2–1 W Lisbon Dalot, Ronaldo
 Scotland 2–1 W Lisbon Fernandes, Ronaldo
 Poland – Warsaw
 Scotland – Glasgow
 Poland – Porto
 Croatia – Split

Group stage

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
  • e
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification[a] Portugal Italy Poland
1  Portugal 4 2 2 0 5 3 +2 8 Qualification for Nations League Finals — 1–0 1–1
2  Italy 4 1 2 1 2 2 0 5 0–0 — 1–1
3  Poland 4 0 2 2 4 6 −2 2 2–3 0–1 —
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.
Portugal 1–0 Italy
  • A. Silva 48'
 Report
Attendance: 52,635[1]
Poland 2–3 Portugal
Report
Attendance: 48,783[1]
Italy 0–0 Portugal
Report
Attendance: 73,000[1]
Portugal 1–1 Poland
  • A. Silva 34'
 Report

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

Portugal 3–1  Switzerland
 Report
  • Rodriguez 57' (pen.)
Attendance: 42,415[2]
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Final

Portugal 1–0 Netherlands
 Report

Group stage

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
  • e
 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.
Portugal 4–1 Croatia
 Report
Attendance: 0[4][note 1]
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
Sweden 0–2 Portugal
Report
Attendance: 0[5][note 1]
France 0–0 Portugal
Report
Portugal 3–0 Sweden
 Report
Attendance: 5,000[7]
Referee: Srđan Jovanović (Serbia)
Portugal 0–1 France
Report
Attendance: 0[8][note 2]
Croatia 2–3 Portugal
 Report
Attendance: 0[9][note 2]
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

Group stage

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
  • e
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Spain Portugal Switzerland Czech Republic
1  Spain 6 3 2 1 8 5 +3 11 Qualification for Nations League Finals — 1–1 1–2 2–0
2  Portugal 6 3 1 2 11 3 +8 10 0–1 — 4–0 2–0
3   Switzerland 6 3 0 3 6 9 −3 9 0–1 1–0 — 2–1
4  Czech Republic (R) 6 1 1 4 5 13 −8 4 Relegation to League B 2–2 0–4 2–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
Spain 1–1 Portugal
 Report
Attendance: 41,236[10]
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
Portugal 4–0  Switzerland
 Report
Attendance: 42,325[11]
Portugal 2–0 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 44,100[12]
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
Switzerland 1–0 Portugal
Report
Attendance: 26,300[13]
Referee: Fran Jović (Croatia)
Czech Republic 0–4 Portugal
Report
Attendance: 19,322[14]
Referee: Srđan Jovanović (Serbia)
Portugal 0–1 Spain
Report
Attendance: 28,196[15]

Group stage

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
  • e
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Portugal Croatia Poland Scotland
1  Portugal 2 2 0 0 4 2 +2 6 Advance to quarter-finals — 2–1 15 Nov 2–1
2  Croatia 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3[a] 18 Nov — 1–0 12 Oct
3  Poland 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3[a] Qualification for relegation play-offs 12 Oct 15 Oct — 18 Nov
4  Scotland 2 0 0 2 3 5 −2 0 Relegation to League B 15 Oct 15 Nov 2–3 —
Updated to match(es) played on 8 September 2024. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Croatia 3, Poland 0.
Portugal 2–1 Croatia
 Report
Attendance: 57,675[16]
Portugal 2–1 Scotland
Report
Attendance: 59,894[17]
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Poland v Portugal
Report
Scotland v Portugal
Report
Portugal v Poland
Report
Croatia v Portugal
Report

Goalscorers

Player Goals 2018–19 2020–21 2022–23 2024–25
Cristiano Ronaldo 9 3 2 2 2
Diogo Jota 4 3 1
André Silva 4 3 1
João Cancelo 3 1 2
Diogo Dalot 3 2 1
Rúben Dias 2 2
João Félix 2 2
Bruno Fernandes 2 1 1
Gonçalo Guedes 2 1 1
Bernardo Silva 2 1 1
William Carvalho 1 1
Ricardo Horta 1 1
Own goals 1 1
Total 36 9 12 11 4

Bold players are still active with the national team.

See also

Notes

[note 1] [note 2]

  1. ^ a b c Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, all matches scheduled for September 2020 were played behind closed doors.[18][19]
  2. ^ a b c Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Summary UEFA Nations League A – Group 3". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Full Time Report – Semi-finals – Portugal v Switzerland" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Full Time Report – Final – Portugal v Netherlands" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Portugal vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Sweden vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  6. ^ "France vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Portugal vs. Sweden" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Portugal vs. France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Croatia vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Spain vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Portugal vs. Switzerland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Portugal vs. Czech Republic" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Switzerland vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Czech Republic vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Portugal vs. Spain" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Portugal vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Portugal vs. Scotland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  18. ^ "UEFA meets general secretaries of member associations". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  19. ^ "UEFA Super Cup to test partial return of spectators". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  • Portugal profile on the official UEFA website
  • v
  • t
  • e
Portugal national football team
General
Venues
Statistics
Results
  • 1921–39
  • 1940–59
  • 1960–79
  • 1980–99
  • 2000–19
  • 2020–present
Players
Goals
World Cup Finals
UEFA Euro Finals
UEFA Nations League Finals
Confederations Cup Finals
Other tournaments
Rivalries
Culture
Other FPF teams