2020–21 UEFA Nations League B

2020–21 UEFA Nations League B
Tournament details
Dates3 September – 18 November 2020
Teams16
Promoted Austria
 Czech Republic
 Hungary
 Wales
Relegated Northern Ireland
 Slovakia
 Turkey
 Bulgaria
Tournament statistics
Matches played47
Goals scored104 (2.21 per match)
Attendance28,883 (615 per match)
Top scorer(s)Norway Erling Haaland (6 goals)

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B was the second division of the 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.[1]

Format

Following a format change from the first season, League B was expanded from 12 to 16 teams.[2] The league consisted of UEFA members ranked from 17 to 32 in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League overall ranking, split into four groups of four. Each team played six matches within their group, using the home-and-away round-robin format on double matchdays in September, October and November 2020.[3] The winners of each group were promoted to the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A, and the fourth-placed team of each group was relegated to the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C.[4]

Teams

Team changes

The following were the team changes of League B from the 2018–19 season:

Incoming
Promoted from
Nations League C
Group winners:
Following format change:
Outgoing
Promoted to
Nations League A

The following team changes were initially set to occur in League B, but did not after no teams were relegated due to the format change by UEFA:

Incoming
Initially relegated from
Nations League A
Outgoing
Initially relegated to
Nations League C

Seeding

In the 2020–21 access list, UEFA ranked teams based on the 2018–19 Nations League overall ranking, with a slight modification: teams that were originally relegated in the previous season were ranked immediately below teams promoted prior to the format change.[5][6] The seeding pots for the league phase were confirmed 4 December 2019,[7] and were based on the access list ranking.[4][8]

Pot 1
Team Rank
 Russia 17
 Austria 18
 Wales 19
 Czech Republic 20
Pot 2
Team Rank
 Scotland 21
 Norway 22
 Serbia 23
 Finland 24
Pot 3
Team Rank
 Slovakia 25
 Turkey 26
 Republic of Ireland 27
 Northern Ireland 28
Pot 4
Team Rank
 Bulgaria 29
 Israel 30
 Hungary 31
 Romania 32

The draw for the league phase took place at the Beurs van Berlage Conference Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 3 March 2020, 18:00 CET.[9][10][11][12] Each group contained one team from each pot.

Groups

The original fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 3 March 2020 following the draw.[13] On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee adjusted the league phase schedule for October and November 2020 to allow for the completion of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs.[14][15] Following the change, a revised schedule for the October and November 2020 fixtures was released by UEFA on 26 June 2020.[16][17]

Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Group 1

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation Austria Norway Romania Northern Ireland
1  Austria (P) 6 4 1 1 9 6 +3 13 Promotion to League A — 1–1 2–3 2–1
2  Norway 6 3 1 2 12 7 +5 10 1–2 — 4–0 1–0
3  Romania 6 2 2 2 8 9 −1 8 0–1 3–0[a] — 1–1
4  Northern Ireland (R) 6 0 2 4 4 11 −7 2 Relegation to League C 0–1 1–5 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ The Romania v Norway match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Romania after being cancelled as Norway could not travel to the match due to a positive SARS-CoV-2 test in the team.
Norway 1–2 Austria
  • Haaland 66'
 Report
Attendance: 0[18][note 2]
Romania 1–1 Northern Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 0[21][note 2]
Austria 2–3 Romania
 Report
Attendance: 0[22][note 2]
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Northern Ireland 1–5 Norway
 Report
Attendance: 0[23][note 2]
Norway 4–0 Romania
 Report
Attendance: 200[24]
Northern Ireland 0–1 Austria
Report
Attendance: 600[25]
Norway 1–0 Northern Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 200[26]
Romania 0–1 Austria
Report
Attendance: 0[27][note 3]
Austria 2–1 Northern Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 0[28][note 3]
Romania 3–0
Awarded[note 4]		 Norway
Report
Austria 1–1 Norway
 Report
Attendance: 0[30][note 3]
Northern Ireland 1–1 Romania
 Report
Attendance: 1,060[31]

Group 2

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation Czech Republic Scotland Israel Slovakia
1  Czech Republic (P) 6 4 0 2 9 5 +4 12 Promotion to League A — 1–2 1–0 2–0
2  Scotland 6 3 1 2 5 4 +1 10 1–0 — 1–1 1–0
3  Israel 6 2 2 2 7 7 0 8 1–2 1–0 — 1–1
4  Slovakia (R) 6 1 1 4 5 10 −5 4 Relegation to League C 1–3 1–0 2–3 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Scotland 1–1 Israel
 Report
Attendance: 295[32]
Slovakia 1–3 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 0[33][note 2]
Czech Republic 1–2 Scotland
 Report
Attendance: 0[34][note 2]
Israel 1–1 Slovakia
 Report
Attendance: 0[35][note 2]
Israel 1–2 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 0[36][note 3]
Scotland 1–0 Slovakia
 Report
Attendance: 93[37]
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
Scotland 1–0 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 299[38]
Slovakia 2–3 Israel
 Report
Attendance: 0[39][note 3]
Slovakia 1–0 Scotland
 Report
Attendance: 0[40][note 3]
Czech Republic 1–0 Israel
 Report
Attendance: 0[41][note 3]
Czech Republic 2–0 Slovakia
 Report
Attendance: 0[42][note 3]
Israel 1–0 Scotland
 Report
Attendance: 0[43][note 3]

Group 3

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation Hungary Russia Serbia Turkey
1  Hungary (P) 6 3 2 1 7 4 +3 11 Promotion to League A — 2–3 1–1 2–0
2  Russia 6 2 2 2 9 12 −3 8 0–0 — 3–1 1–1
3  Serbia 6 1 3 2 9 7 +2 6[a] 0–1 5–0 — 0–0
4  Turkey (R) 6 1 3 2 6 8 −2 6[a] Relegation to League C 0–1 3–2 2–2 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points (2) and head-to-head goal difference (0). Head-to-head away goals: Serbia 2, Turkey 0.
Russia 3–1 Serbia
 Report
Attendance: 0[44][note 2]
Turkey 0–1 Hungary
Report
Attendance: 0[45][note 2]
Hungary 2–3 Russia
 Report
Attendance: 0[46][note 2]
Serbia 0–0 Turkey
Report
Attendance: 0[47][note 2]
Russia 1–1 Turkey
 Report
Attendance: 5,019[48]
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
Serbia 0–1 Hungary
Report
Attendance: 0[49][note 3]
Russia 0–0 Hungary
Report
Attendance: 4,821[50]
Turkey 2–2 Serbia
 Report
Attendance: 519[51]
Turkey 3–2 Russia
 Report
Attendance: 812[52]
Hungary 1–1 Serbia
 Report
Attendance: 0[53][note 3]
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Hungary 2–0 Turkey
 Report
Attendance: 0[54][note 3]
Serbia 5–0 Russia
 Report
Attendance: 0[55][note 3]

Group 4

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation Wales Finland Republic of Ireland Bulgaria
1  Wales (P) 6 5 1 0 7 1 +6 16 Promotion to League A — 3–1 1–0 1–0
2  Finland 6 4 0 2 7 5 +2 12 0–1 — 1–0 2–0
3  Republic of Ireland 6 0 3 3 1 4 −3 3 0–0 0–1 — 0–0
4  Bulgaria (R) 6 0 2 4 2 7 −5 2 Relegation to League C 0–1 1–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Bulgaria 1–1 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 0[56][note 2]
Finland 0–1 Wales
Report
Attendance: 0[57][note 2]
Wales 1–0 Bulgaria
 Report
Attendance: 0[58][note 2]
Republic of Ireland 0–1 Finland
Report
Attendance: 0[59][note 2]
Referee: Fabio Maresca (Italy)
Republic of Ireland 0–0 Wales
Report
Attendance: 0[60][note 3]
Finland 2–0 Bulgaria
 Report
Attendance: 6,587[61]
Finland 1–0 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 7,900[62]
Bulgaria 0–1 Wales
Report
Attendance: 478[63]
Bulgaria 1–2 Finland
 Report
Attendance: 0[64][note 3]
Wales 1–0 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 0[65][note 3]
Republic of Ireland 0–0 Bulgaria
Report
Attendance: 0[66][note 3]
Wales 3–1 Finland
 Report
Attendance: 0[67][note 3]

Goalscorers

There were 104 goals scored in 47 matches, for an average of 2.21 goals per match.

6 goals

5 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Overall ranking

The 16 League B teams were ranked 17th to 32nd overall in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League according to the following rules:[4][68]

  • The teams finishing first in the groups were ranked 17th to 20th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing second in the groups were ranked 21st to 24th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing third in the groups were ranked 25th to 28th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing fourth in the groups were ranked 29th to 32nd according to the results of the league phase.
Rnk Grp Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
17 B4  Wales 6 5 1 0 7 1 +6 16
18 B1  Austria 6 4 1 1 9 6 +3 13
19 B2  Czech Republic 6 4 0 2 9 5 +4 12
20 B3  Hungary 6 3 2 1 7 4 +3 11
21 B4  Finland 6 4 0 2 7 5 +2 12
22 B1  Norway 6 3 1 2 12 7 +5 10
23 B2  Scotland 6 3 1 2 5 4 +1 10
24 B3  Russia 6 2 2 2 9 12 −3 8
25 B2  Israel 6 2 2 2 7 7 0 8
26 B1  Romania 6 2 2 2 8 9 −1 8
27 B3  Serbia 6 1 3 2 9 7 +2 6
28 B4  Republic of Ireland 6 0 3 3 1 4 −3 3
29 B3  Turkey 6 1 3 2 6 8 −2 6
30 B2  Slovakia 6 1 1 4 5 10 −5 4
31 B4  Bulgaria 6 0 2 4 2 7 −5 2
32 B1  Northern Ireland 6 0 2 4 4 11 −7 2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria

Notes

  1. ^ CEST (UTC+2) for matchdays 1–4 (September and October 2020), CET (UTC+1) for matchdays 5–6 (November 2020).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, all matches scheduled for September 2020 were played behind closed doors.[19][20]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.
  4. ^ The Romania v Norway match was cancelled and awarded as a 3–0 win to Romania after the Norway national team were prohibited from travelling to Romania by the Norwegian government due to a positive SARS-CoV-2 test in the squad.[29]

References

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