UEFA Nations League 2020-21 Betting Odds

2021 UEFA Nations League Finals

We’re looking forward to the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals, with the tournament scheduled to take place between 6-10 October and this event will be hosted by Italy who actually managed to qualify for the final four by virtue of winning their group.

It is hoped that there will be spectators in attendance when it comes to the Nations League Finals considering it takes place in the autumn of 2021, with the four recent group winners of League A lining up for the chance to become the second winner of this competition.

When Will the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals Draw Be Made?

We’re looking at an open draw for the Nations League Finals which will take place on 3 December, with Italy the hosts already allocated to the first semi-final for administrative purposes. It means that Italy will play their semi-final clash on 6 October, although it remains to be seen whether they will draw France, Belgium or Spain.

What Are the Betting Odds for the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals?

The bookies are finding it hard to separate four quality international teams, with France trading as favourites with some bookies and Les Bleus came through a fairly tough qualifying section which included previous winners Portugal, although Didier Deschamps’ side were able to win in Lisbon and that helped them top the section.

France are also the reigning world champions, although they will clearly have a tough draw irrespective of whom they are paired with and Spain are possibly the form team at the time of writing considering that La Roja destroyed Germany by a 6-0 scoreline after running riot in their final Nations League group game.

The Spanish appear to have a new lease of life under Luis Enrique and Manchester City’s Ferran Torres looks like the real deal in a red shirt, while Alvaro Morata is scoring for fun for his country and Sergio Ramos continues to add experience and knowhow in central defence.

Italy will be the hosts and Roberto Mancini’s side won three and drew three of their six games to illustrate that they’ll be hard to beat, with the Netherlands only able to play second fiddle to the Azzurri and they’ll hope for a vociferous home support.

Meanwhile, Belgium continue be the number one ranked team in the world and they are likely to be a formidable opponent for any team, with Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne potentially pulling the strings, although Youri Tielemans is also a midfielder who is having a big impact at international level.

When Will the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals Matches Happen?

Italy will play the first semi-final on 6 October 2021 and this game will be against either France, Belgium or Spain, with Milan or Turin being the host city for this game. There will then be a clash in either Milan or Turin the following day before the final being contested on 10 October. We will see the third place play-off take place on the same day and that will occur shortly before the final itself.

Bet On Nations League 2020-21

The UEFA Nations League is an excellent competition which has reduced the number of meaningless international friendly matches, with similarly-matched teams competing against each other for the chance to win silverware and qualify for major tournaments.

The 55 UEFA national teams are basically divided into four categories and they all participate in a group against other sides for the chance to win their particular segment. The winner of Nations League A is crowned the overall champions, while the leading teams in the other Nations Leagues can enjoy promotion, with relegation also being a feature.

When Does the 2020-21 Nations League Take Place?

The 2020-21 Nations League begins with the group stage and there are 6 match days which actually cover a number of days in succession.

1. Match Day 1 – 3-5 September 2020
2. Match Day 2 – 6-8 September 2020
3. Match Day 3 – 10-11 October 2020
4. Match Day 4 – 13-14 October 2020
5. Match Day 5 – 14-15 November 2020
6. Match Day 6 – 17-18 November 2020

Finally in March 2022 there are due to be relegation play-outs where teams will scrap it out to avoid being demoted to a lower Nations League division.

Who Are the Favourites to Win the Nations League?

The bookmakers regard the leading Nations League teams as quite evenly-matched and France are among the front runners, with BetVictor pricing them up at 6.00 although they have the same odds for Belgium who are also regarded as one of the strongest outfits in the world.

England are also given a realistic chance of glory along with reigning champions Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands. These teams will all compete against each other in the group stage before the leading team from each section goes through to play in the semis and the final.

What Are the 2020-21 Nations League A Groups and Fixtures?

Group 1

1. Italy
2. Netherlands
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Poland

1. England
2. Belgium
3. Denmark
4. Iceland

1. Portugal
2. France
3. Sweden
4. Croatia

1. Switzerland
2. Spain
3. Ukraine
4. Germany

The four Nations League A groups were determined by a draw after a seeding was put in place to ensure that the strongest teams didn’t all compete against each other. Italy and the Netherlands are the favourites to compete for top honours in Group 1, while Group 2 consists of England and Belgium who met in the most recent World Cup.

Group 3 looks highly competitive and has Croatia going up against Portugal and France, while Germany and Spain are in a tough Group 4 along with Switzerland and Ukraine.

Nations League Format and Structure

The first ever Nations League gets underway in September 2018 following France’s victory in the World Cup in July. Games will take place during dates previously allocated to international friendly matches, with the main qualification games for the Euros and World Cup unaffected.

The format is relatively simple but we would expect changes to be made as the competition develops. For the 2018-19 Nations League there will be 55 sides, including Kosovo who became an officially recognised UEFA nation in 2016. There will be four Leagues, with League D the weakest and set to feature 16 sides. League C will have 15, with the top two divisions both consisting of 12 nations.

The divisions for the initial season will be decided using a ranking system based on recent results. League A, the top tier, will include England, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Poland and Croatia.

The 12 sides in Leagues A and B are split into four Groups (1-4) and will play each other home and away. League C has four groups of four and one of three, with the 16 teams in Group D divided into four groups of four.

The winners of each group in League A meet in the Nations League semi finals before a final will decide the overall champion. In the other Leagues, the group winners are promoted to the league above, with group losers (the nation finishing bottom), relegated.

Obviously there is no promotion from League A or relegation from League D. Aside from promotion, relegation and the overall title, there are, as said, four spots at the Euros up for grabs. These will be decided using the highest ranked non-qualified sides from each group in order to generate 16 teams. The 16 nations will be split in to four, with semis and a final deciding which four nations will be heading to the European Championships.

This new tournament offers a number of big advantages, guaranteeing the best sides lots of high class friendly games that should prove easy to market. In addition, the lesser nations will benefit as the TV contract with UEFA is centralised. Moreover, such sides will have an extra chance to qualify for the Euros.

Some may argue this latter points is a negative, devaluing the main qualification process. However, all in all we think the early signs about the Nations League are positive. The tournament should definitely serve to make friendly games far more interesting and, hopefully, make betting on them a little more predictable.