UEFA Nations League Winners by Year: Complete List of Past Champions | OneFootball

The UEFA Nations League final four has taken center stage over the past week as the main course of the international action in Europe.

Since the tournament's first edition in 2018–19, the Nations League has replaced a bulk of international friendlies, with UEFA's intention to have more meaningful matches during international breaks.

The best games of the tournament usually come in the final four, when the top national teams of the season meet for the semifinals and final a week after the club season comes to an end.

Three nations league champions have been crowned to date. Spain bested France in the semifinals and Portugal came from behind to defeat Germany to set up the 2024–25 final, the first title match between two previous winners. Portugal won the first ever Nations League title, whilst Spain are the current title holders.

Let's take a look back at which countries have won the UEFA Nations League and how the finals unfolded.

Portugal defeated the Netherlands to become the first UEFA Nations League champions in the summer of 2019. Playing at home at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1–0 thanks to Gonçalo Guedes's first international goal. The trophy was Cristiano Ronaldo's second major piece of silverware with Portugal.

France came from behind and defeated Spain to win the title in 2020–21. After falling behind thanks to a goal from Mikel Oyarzabal, Les Bleus responded. First, Karim Benzema leveled the match and then Kylian Mbappé scored the winner at San Siro to crown France champions.

Spain got their revenge in 2022–23, defeating Croatia 5–4 on penalties after neither team could find the back of the net for 120 minutes. Dani Carvajal scored the winning penalty at Stadion Feijenoord in the Netherlands and Luis de la Fuente began his tenure as manager of the national team with a trophy in his first major tournament.

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