Portugal in the UEFA Nations League
# Portugal in 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2018–19 | A | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4 | | 1st |
| 2020–21 | A | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | | 5th |
| 2022–23 | A | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 3 | | 6th |
| Total | Total | Total | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 11 | 1 Title | 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 will be held on home soil.

## List of matches

| Year | Round | Opponent | Score | Result | Venue | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2018–19 | Group stage |
| 2018–19 | Group stage | Italy | 1–0 | W | Lisbon | A. Silva |
| 2018–19 | Group stage | Poland | 2–3 | W | Chorzów | A. Silva, Glik (o.g.), B. Silva |
| 2018–19 | Group stage | Italy | 0–0 | D | Milan | |
| 2018–19 | Group stage | Poland | 1–1 | D | Guimarães | A. Silva |
| 2018–19 | Semi-final | Switzerland | 3–1 | W | Porto | Ronaldo (3) |
| 2018–19 | Final | Netherlands | 1–0 | W | Porto | Guedes |
| 2020–21 | Group stage |
| 2020–21 | Group stage | Croatia | 4–1 | W | Porto | Cancelo, Jota, Félix, A. Silva |
| 2020–21 | Group stage | Sweden | 2–0 | W | Solna | Ronaldo (2) |
| 2020–21 | Group stage | France | 0–0 | D | Saint-Denis | |
| 2020–21 | Group stage | Sweden | 3–0 | W | Lisbon | B. Silva, Jota (2) |
| 2020–21 | Group stage | France | 0–1 | L | Lisbon | |
| 2020–21 | Group stage | Croatia | 3–2 | W | Split | Dias (2), Félix |
| 2022–23 | Group stage |
| 2022–23 | Group stage | Spain | 1–1 | D | Seville | Horta |
| 2022–23 | Group stage | Switzerland | 4–0 | W | Lisbon | Carvalho, Ronaldo (2), Cancelo |
| 2022–23 | Group stage | Czech Republic | 2–0 | W | Lisbon | Cancelo, Guedes |
| 2022–23 | Group stage | Switzerland | 0–1 | L | Geneva | |
| 2022–23 | Group stage | Czech Republic | 4–0 | W | Prague | Dalot (2), Fernandes, Jota |
| 2022–23 | Group stage | Spain | 0–1 | L | Braga | |

## 2018–19 UEFA Nations League

### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 | — |

* ↑ Due to revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated.

### Knockout phase

Semi-final

Final

## 2020–21 UEFA Nations League

### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | | | | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 | | 1–2 | 2–3 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Sweden (R) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 | Relegation to League B | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | — |

* 1 2 Tied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.

## 2022–23 UEFA Nations League

### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | | | | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 | — |

## Goalscorers

| Player | Goals | 2018–19 | 2020–21 | 2022–23 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Diogo Jota | 4 | | 3 | 1 |
| André Silva | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| João Cancelo | 3 | | 1 | 2 |
| Diogo Dalot | 2 | | | 2 |
| Rúben Dias | 2 | | 2 | |
| João Félix | 2 | | 2 | |
| Gonçalo Guedes | 2 | 1 | | 1 |
| Bernardo Silva | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carvalho | 1 | | | 1 |
| Bruno Fernandes | 1 | | | 1 |
| Ricardo Horta | 1 | | | 1 |
| Own goals | 1 | 1 | | |
| Total | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 |

Bold players are still active with the national team.

