2020–21 UEFA Nations League C

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2020–21 UEFA Nations League C
Tournament details
DatesLeague phase:
3 September – 18 November 2020
Relegation play-outs:
24–29 March 2022
Teams16
Promoted Albania
 Armenia
 Montenegro
 Slovenia
Relegated Estonia
 Moldova
Tournament statistics
Matches played52
Goals scored103 (1.98 per match)
Attendance34,866 (671 per match)
Top scorer(s)Albania Sokol Cikalleshi
Estonia Rauno Sappinen
Montenegro Stevan Jovetić
Slovenia Haris Vučkić
(4 goals each)

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League C was the third 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 C was expanded from 15 to 16 teams.[2] The league consisted of UEFA members ranked from 33 to 48 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 B, and the fourth-placed team of each group advanced to the relegation play-outs.[4]

As League C had four groups while League D had only two, the two League C teams that were to be relegated to the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League D were determined by play-outs in March 2022. Based on the Nations League overall ranking, the best-ranked team faced the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team faced the third-ranked team. Two ties were played over two legs, with the higher-ranked team hosted the second leg. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs remained in League C, while the loser was relegated to League D. If the aggregate score was level, extra time was played (the away goals rule was not applied). If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner.[4] The away goals rule was originally to be used, but was abolished by the UEFA Executive Committee on 16 December 2021.[5]

Teams

Team changes

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

Incoming
Promoted from
Nations League D
Group winners: Following format change:
Outgoing
Promoted to
Nations League B
Group winners: Following format change:

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

Incoming
Initially relegated from
Nations League B
Outgoing
Initially relegated to
Nations League D

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.[6][7] The seeding pots for the league phase were confirmed 4 December 2019,[8] and were based on the access list ranking.[4][9]

Pot 1
Team Rank
 Greece 33
 Albania 34
 Montenegro 35
 Georgia 36
Pot 2
Team Rank
 North Macedonia 37
 Kosovo 38
 Belarus 39
 Cyprus 40
Pot 3
Team Rank
 Estonia 41
 Slovenia 42
 Lithuania 43
 Luxembourg 44
Pot 4
Team Rank
 Armenia 45
 Azerbaijan 46
 Kazakhstan 47
 Moldova 48

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.[10][11][12][13] Each group contained one team from each pot.

Groups

The original fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 3 March 2020 following the draw.[14] 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.[15][16] Following the change, a revised schedule for the October and November 2020 fixtures was released by UEFA on 26 June 2020.[17][18]

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 qualification Montenegro Luxembourg Azerbaijan Cyprus
1  Montenegro (P) 6 4 1 1 10 2 +8 13 Promotion to League B 1–2 2–0 4–0
2  Luxembourg 6 3 1 2 7 5 +2 10 0–1 0–0 2–0
3  Azerbaijan 6 1 3 2 2 4 −2 6 0–0 1–2 0–0
4  Cyprus (O) 6 1 1 4 2 10 −8 4 Qualification to relegation play-outs 0–2 2–1 0–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Azerbaijan 1–2 Luxembourg
  • Sheydayev 43'
Report
Cyprus 0–2 Montenegro
Report

Cyprus 0–1 Azerbaijan
Report
Luxembourg 0–1 Montenegro
Report

Luxembourg 2–0 Cyprus
Report
Montenegro 2–0 Azerbaijan
Report

Azerbaijan 0–0 Cyprus
Report
Attendance: 0[28][note 3]
Referee: Fran Jović (Croatia)
Montenegro 1–2 Luxembourg
Report

Azerbaijan 0–0 Montenegro
Report
Sergei Ivanov (Russia
)

Luxembourg 0–0 Azerbaijan
Report
Montenegro 4–0 Cyprus
Report

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Armenia North Macedonia Georgia (country) Estonia
1  Armenia (P) 6 3 2 1 9 6 +3 11 Promotion to League B 1–0 2–2 2–0
2  North Macedonia 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9 2–1 1–1 2–1
3  Georgia 6 1 4 1 6 6 0 7 1–2 1–1 0–0
4  Estonia (R) 6 0 3 3 5 9 −4 3 Qualification to relegation play-outs 1–1 3–3 0–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
North Macedonia 2–1 Armenia
Report
Estonia 0–1 Georgia
Report
A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
Attendance: 0[37][note 2]
)

Georgia 1–1 North Macedonia
Report
  • Ristovski
    33'

Armenia 2–2 Georgia
Report
City Stadium, Tychy (Poland)[note 6]
Attendance: 0[40][note 3]
)


North Macedonia 2–1 Estonia
Report
Georgia 1–2 Armenia
Report

Armenia 1–0 North Macedonia
Report
Georgia 0–0 Estonia
Report

Group 3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Slovenia Greece Kosovo Moldova
1  Slovenia (P) 6 4 2 0 8 1 +7 14 Promotion to League B 0–0 2–1 1–0
2  Greece 6 3 3 0 6 1 +5 12 0–0 0–0 2–0
3  Kosovo 6 1 2 3 4 6 −2 5 0–1 1–2 1–0
4  Moldova (R) 6 0 1 5 1 11 −10 1 Qualification to relegation play-outs 0–4 0–2 1–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Moldova 1–1 Kosovo
Report
Slovenia 0–0 Greece
Report

Slovenia 1–0 Moldova
Report
Kosovo 1–2 Greece
Report
  • Limnios
    2'
  • Siovas
    51'

Greece 2–0 Moldova
Report
Kosovo 0–1 Slovenia
Report

Greece 0–0 Kosovo
Report
Moldova 0–4 Slovenia
Report

Moldova 0–2 Greece
Report
Attendance: 0[57][note 3]
Referee: Fran Jović (Croatia)
Slovenia 2–1 Kosovo
Report

Greece 0–0 Slovenia
Report
Kosovo 1–0 Moldova
Report

Group 4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification Albania Belarus Lithuania Kazakhstan
1  Albania (P) 6 3 2 1 8 4 +4 11 Promotion to League B 3–2 0–1 3–1
2  Belarus 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10 0–2 2–0 2–0
3  Lithuania 6 2 2 2 5 7 −2 8 0–0 2–2 0–2
4  Kazakhstan (O) 6 1 1 4 5 9 −4 4 Qualification to relegation play-outs 0–0 1–2 1–2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Lithuania 0–2 Kazakhstan
Report
  • Zaynutdinov
    3'
  • Kuat 86'
Belarus 0–2 Albania
Report

Kazakhstan 1–2 Belarus
  • Aimbetov
    62'
Report
Albania 0–1 Lithuania
Report

Kazakhstan 0–0 Albania
Report
Lithuania 2–2 Belarus
Report

Lithuania 0–0 Albania
Report
Attendance: 696[67]
Referee: Karim Abed (France)
Belarus 2–0 Kazakhstan
Report
North Macedonia
)

Albania 3–1 Kazakhstan
Report
Belarus 2–0 Lithuania
Report
Attendance: 1,985[70]

Albania 3–2 Belarus
Report
Radu Petrescu (Romania
)

Relegation play-outs

The fourth-placed teams of League C participated in the relegation play-outs to determine the two teams which would be relegated. The relegation play-outs were scheduled on the same dates as the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying play-offs. If at least one of the teams due to participate in the relegation play-outs had also qualified for the World Cup qualifying play-offs (none ultimately did), the relegation play-outs would have been cancelled, and the teams in League C ranked 47th and 48th in the Nations League overall ranking would have been automatically relegated.[4]

The play-out ties were as follows, with the higher-ranked teams hosting the second leg:[4]

  • Team ranked first vs. team ranked fourth
  • Team ranked second vs. team ranked third

Times are CET/CEST,[note 9] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Ranking

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 C4  Kazakhstan 6 1 1 4 5 9 −4 4
2 C1  Cyprus 6 1 1 4 2 10 −8 4
3 C2  Estonia 6 0 3 3 5 9 −4 3
4 C3  Moldova 6 0 1 5 1 11 −10 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria

Summary

Team 1
Agg.
Tooltip Aggregate score
Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Moldova  2–2 (4–5 p)  Kazakhstan 1–2 1–0 (
a.e.t.
)
Estonia  0–2  Cyprus 0–0 0–2

Matches

Moldova 1–2 Kazakhstan
Report

2–2 on aggregate. Kazakhstan won 5–4 on penalties and remained in League C, while Moldova were relegated to League D.


Estonia 0–0 Cyprus
Report
Cyprus 2–0 Estonia
Report

Cyprus won 2–0 on aggregate and remained in League C, while Estonia were relegated to League D.

Goalscorers

There were 103 goals scored in 52 matches, for an average of 1.98 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Overall ranking

The 16 League C teams were ranked 33rd to 48th overall in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League according to the following rules:[4][77]

  • The teams finishing first in the groups were ranked 33rd to 36th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing second in the groups were ranked 37th to 40th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing third in the groups were ranked 41st to 44th according to the results of the league phase.
  • The teams finishing fourth in the groups were ranked 45th to 48th according to the results of the league phase.
Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
33 C3  Slovenia 6 4 2 0 8 1 +7 14
34 C1  Montenegro 6 4 1 1 10 2 +8 13
35 C4  Albania 6 3 2 1 8 4 +4 11
36 C2  Armenia 6 3 2 1 9 6 +3 11
37 C3  Greece 6 3 3 0 6 1 +5 12
38 C4  Belarus 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10
39 C1  Luxembourg 6 3 1 2 7 5 +2 10
40 C2  North Macedonia 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9
41 C4  Lithuania 6 2 2 2 5 7 −2 8
42 C2  Georgia 6 1 4 1 6 6 0 7
43 C1  Azerbaijan 6 1 3 2 2 4 −2 6
44 C3  Kosovo 6 1 2 3 4 6 −2 5
45 C4  Kazakhstan 6 1 1 4 5 9 −4 4
46 C1  Cyprus 6 1 1 4 2 10 −8 4
47 C2  Estonia 6 0 3 3 5 9 −4 3
48 C3  Moldova 6 0 1 5 1 11 −10 1
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 p Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, all matches scheduled for September 2020 were played behind closed doors.[20][21]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.
  4. Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[27]
  5. ^ The match between Moldova and Kosovo was played on neutral venue as there were no diplomatic relations between the two countries.[48]
  6. ^ CET (UTC+1) for the first leg matches (24–25 March 2022), and CEST (UTC+2) for the second leg matches (28–29 March 2022).

References

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External links