UEFA Nations League: the final stages are finally here!

This is it! Almost a year after the group stages, which took place from September 3 to November 18, 2021, the four best teams of League A are about to start the final stages of the second edition of the competition, which will see a new nation crowned, as the Portuguese defending champion will not be present to defend his title.

As a reminder, the UEFA Nations League is a competition that takes place every two years and its main objective is to replace the friendly matches, which have very little interest for sponsors. For the bigger nations, it is an opportunity to win a new trophy. But the smaller nations are not left out! Indeed, the UEFA Nations League has also been set up to allow these small nations to qualify for major competitions such as the Euro or even the World Cup!

So who will succeed Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal? The teams, the favourites, the outsiders, the bets to try... Here is everything you need to know about the final stages of the 2020-2021 edition of the UEFA Nations League!

The teams in the running

There are four of them. Four nations that have fought hard to top their League A group and try to succeed the inaugural winner of this UEFA Nations League: Portugal. This year, the contenders for the trophy are the following.

Italy

The recent winner of the last European Championship has a significant advantage over its rivals! Indeed, Italy will play its games at home, so the transalpine public will be there to support the Squadra Azzura.

To get to this point, Italy had to get out of a very tough group. In fact, in addition to Italy, two teams could have claimed the top spot in Group A: Memphis Depay's Netherlands and Robert Lewandowski's Poland.

And the fight was fierce until the end! The four teams went head to head and in the end, it was the Italians who came out on top, with three wins and three draws and therefore no losses.

If Italy is clearly not the favorite, it is nevertheless an opponent that should not be taken lightly, and can still be considered a serious outsider.

Belgium

Here it is, the big favorite to the final victory in this UEFA Nations League! Belgium has simply dominated its group, composed of England, Denmark and Iceland, with five victories in six games and a small failure against the English (1-2).

For this, the Red Devils can thank one man: Romelu Lukaku. The striker finished the group phase as top scorer with five goals. At 28 years old, the Chelsea striker seems to be at his best and doesn't intend to stop there!

In addition to its serial striker, Belgium of Roberto Martinez will be able to count on a welded collective, punctuated with strong individualities, like Eden Hazard, Dries Mertens or Youri Tielemans.

France

Cocorico! After missing the final stages of the first edition of the UEFA Nations League at the very last day, Didier Deschamps' Blues will be present in Italy to fight for the final victory!

Like their Belgian neighbors, France literally dominated group C of this League A, by realizing an almost perfect course! Six games, five victories, no defeats and an honorary place as the best group leader of the competition, with sixteen points collected out of eighteen possible. And this, despite the presence of the Portuguese title holder and his legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

But the hardest part is yet to come for Karim Benzema and his teammates, who will have to defeat their eternal rivals Belgium in the semi-finals.

Spain

For a long time, Spain has been a giant of world soccer and is now an outsider in the final stages of the UEFA Nations League. But in a group that included Germany, La Roja is far from having made a figuration.

The proof is that the Spanish finished first in their group D, having conceded only three goals! Only Italy did better in the competition (two goals conceded). A group phase concluded in beauty with a clear victory 6-0 against the Germans.

So, will La Roja regain their former glory by winning the second edition of the UEFA Nations League?

Semi-finals matchups

The semi-finals will take place on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 and Thursday, October 7, 2021. On the menu, four of the greatest soccer nations will be competing. All of them will have in heart to appear well and to win a new trophy to add to its palmares! All this may make some of you want to put down a little ticket! Here is everything you need to know about these UEFA Nations League semi-finals!

Italy-Spain

This first semi-final will be a revenge for the Spaniards. Indeed, Luis Enrique's men were eliminated by the Azzurri at the same stage of the last Euro, after a penalty shootout (1-1 a.p., 4 penalties to 2).

For this match, Roberto Mancini's Italy will have to do without his star striker, Ciro Immobile, injured. Former Parisian Moise Kean is likely to be in the starting line-up. On the Spanish side, they are betting on youth with the presence in the group of Bryan Gil (20 years), Pedri (18 years) and even the Barcelona wonderkid Gavi (17 years).

A match that should turn in favor of the European champions, who could take advantage of the lack of experience of some Spanish players.

Here are the three tips for the Italy-Spain match:

• Both teams not to score : odds at 1.79 ;

• Italy winner: odds at 2.23 ;

• Moise Kean to score: odds at 3.30.

France-Belgium

The other semi-final is not left out, opposing two great rivals! The last confrontation is none other than the semi-final of the last World Cup, in 2018, where Didier Deschamps' Les Bleus won on a goal by Samuel Umtiti, who had "broken the gait" for the occasion.

A defeat that remained in the throat of the Belgians, as evidenced by the post-match statement of goalkeeper Thibault Courtois: "We lost against a team that is not better than us." As for France, it had then defeated Croatia to win its second World Cup.

But things have changed and the Red Devils arrive in Turin with a knife between their teeth, determined to take their rivals out of the competition. To do so, they will be able to count on their striker Romelu Lukaku, who will be looking to finish as the top scorer in this edition of the Nations League. But Les Bleus will rely on their trio of Mbappé-Benzema-Griezmann to frustrate Belgium's desire for revenge.

Here are the three tips for the France-Belgium match:

• Both teams to score: odds at 1.98 ;

• Romelu Lukaku to score: odds at 2.70 ;

• Karim Benzema to score: odds at 3.05.

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