2019 UEFA Nations League Final
# 2019 UEFA Nations League Final

The 2019 UEFA Nations League Final was a football match that determined the winners of the final tournament of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. It was the inaugural final of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The match was held on 9 June 2019 at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal, and was contested by hosts Portugal and the Netherlands.

Portugal won the final 1–0 to become the first champions of the UEFA Nations League.

## Venue

The final was played at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto—Portugal's second largest city.

The stadium is home to FC Porto.

## Background

Ahead of the inaugural final, hosts Portugal held a World Ranking of 7, while opponents the Netherlands were ranked sixteenth.

En route to the Nations League final, the Netherlands beat world champions France—who had won their world title approximately four months prior to their match.

Portugal and the Netherlands beat Switzerland and England respectively in their semi-finals.

## Route to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

| Portugal | Portugal | Round | Netherlands | Netherlands |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Opponents | Result | League phase | Opponents | Result |
| Italy | 1–0 (H) | Match 1 | France | 1–2 (A) |
| Poland | 3–2 (A) | Match 2 | Germany | 3–0 (H) |
| Italy | 0–0 (A) | Match 3 | France | 2–0 (H) |
| Poland | 1–1 (H) | Match 4 | Germany | 2–2 (A) |
| Group A3 winner Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Portugal 4 8 2  Italy 4 5 3  Poland 4 2 Source: UEFA | Group A3 winner Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Portugal 4 8 2  Italy 4 5 3  Poland 4 2 Source: UEFA | Final standings | Group A1 winner Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Netherlands 4 7 2  France 4 7 3  Germany 4 2 Source: UEFA | Group A1 winner Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Netherlands 4 7 2  France 4 7 3  Germany 4 2 Source: UEFA |
| Opponents | Result | Nations League Finals | Opponents | Result |
| Switzerland | 3–1 | Semi-finals | England | 3–1 (a.e.t.) |

## Pre-match

### Officials

On 7 June 2019, UEFA announced the appointment of Spaniard Alberto Undiano Mallenco as referee for the final, in what would be his final match as a professional referee. He was joined by compatriots Roberto Alonso Fernández and Juan Yuste Jiménez as assistant referees, Antonio Mateu Lahoz as the fourth official, and Raúl Cabañero Martínez as the reserve official. Alejandro Hernández Hernández served as the video assistant referee and Juan Martínez Munuera as the assistant video assistant referee.

## Match

### Details

| Portugal | Netherlands |
| - | - |
| GK | 1 | Rui Patrício |
| RB | 20 | Nélson Semedo |
| CB | 4 | Rúben Dias |
| CB | 6 | José Fonte |
| LB | 5 | Raphaël Guerreiro |
| CM | 13 | Danilo Pereira |
| CM | 14 | William Carvalho | 90+3' |
| CM | 16 | Bruno Fernandes | 81' |
| RF | 7 | Cristiano Ronaldo (c) |
| CF | 17 | Gonçalo Guedes | 75' |
| LF | 10 | Bernardo Silva |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 15 | Rafa Silva | 75' |
| MF | 8 | João Moutinho | 81' |
| MF | 18 | Rúben Neves | 90+3' |
| Manager: ||
| Fernando Santos ||
| GK | 1 | Jasper Cillessen |
| RB | 22 | Denzel Dumfries | 88' |
| CB | 3 | Matthijs de Ligt |
| CB | 4 | Virgil van Dijk (c) | 90+1' |
| LB | 17 | Daley Blind |
| CM | 15 | Marten de Roon | | 81' |
| CM | 21 | Frenkie de Jong |
| CM | 8 | Georginio Wijnaldum |
| RF | 7 | Steven Bergwijn | | 60' |
| CF | 10 | Memphis Depay |
| LF | 9 | Ryan Babel | | 46' |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 11 | Quincy Promes | | 46' |
| MF | 20 | Donny van de Beek | | 60' |
| FW | 19 | Luuk de Jong | | 81' |
| Manager: ||
| Ronald Koeman ||
| Man of the Match: Rúben Dias (Portugal) Assistant referees: Roberto Alonso Fernández (Spain) Juan Yuste Jiménez (Spain) Fourth official: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain) Reserve assistant referee: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (Spain) Video assistant referee: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain) Assistant video assistant referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (Spain) | Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Maximum of twelve named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions, with a fourth allowed in extra time. |

### Statistics

First half :

| Statistic | Portugal | Netherlands |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 0 | 0 |
| Total shots | 12 | 1 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 0 |
| Saves | 0 | 4 |
| Ball possession | 41% | 59% |
| Corner kicks | 6 | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 4 | 6 |
| Offsides | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |

Second half :

| Statistic | Portugal | Netherlands |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 7 | 4 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 1 |
| Saves | 3 | 2 |
| Ball possession | 50% | 50% |
| Corner kicks | 4 | 3 |
| Fouls committed | 2 | 7 |
| Offsides | 1 | 2 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |

Overall :

| Statistic | Portugal | Netherlands |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 19 | 5 |
| Shots on target | 7 | 1 |
| Saves | 3 | 6 |
| Ball possession | 45% | 55% |
| Corner kicks | 10 | 4 |
| Fouls committed | 6 | 13 |
| Offsides | 2 | 2 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
