Malta’s dreams of winning promotion in this year’s Nations League may have been dashed. But there’s plenty more fascinating football to look forward to. This is because France, Spain, Italy and Belgium will go head-to-head to decide who wins the 2020/21 Nations League.
The finals of this year’s Nations League won’t actually take place until October 2021. This will nearly be an entire year after the end of some surreal Nations League games that were held in virtually empty stadiums to decide the final four.
The 2020/21 Nations League finals will feature the two semi-finals that take place on October 6 and 7. Following this, there’s the usual fairly pointless game to decide third place. The final itself will be held on October 10, 2021.
While the Nations League finals are being held far in the future, it hasn’t stopped many bookmakers like https://www.erfahrungen.com/en/betfair/ from serving up odds for the teams most likely to win this international football competition. So who has the best odds for winning the 2020/21 Nations League?
Belgium
Could this finally be the year that Belgium win a major footballing tournament? Belgium are currently ranked as the world’s number one team, and with good reason. The Belgian squad is packed with talent that includes Manchester City’s playmaker Kevin De Bruyne – arguably the best player in the Premier League. In fact that whole Belgian squad is strong ranging from quality forwards like Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku to powerful defenders like Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld.
However, Belgium have shown plenty of promise before, but have come up short in other major footballing tournaments such as the 2018 World Cup. Much will depend on whether star player Eden Hazard is able to stay fit for the Nations League campaign. The 29-year-old has battled with fitness since signing for Real Madrid, and hopes are high that the gifted player is finally ready to guide Belgium to international footballing glory.
Belgium made relatively light work of their opponents to top Group A2. England were swept aside in a convincing 2-0 win, and a talented Denmark team could do little to stop Roberto Martinez’s team from progressing to Nations League finals.
France
World Cup champions France were the first team to book their place in the 2020/21 Nations League finals. Didier Deschamps’ side faced a tough challenge in Group A3 with the current Nations League title-holders Portugal in opposition. But France managed to come up with the goods to top the table ahead of Portugal and other tough competition like Croatia and Sweden.
It remains to be seen whether this French team has the firepower that guided the side to World Cup glory in 2018. There is little doubt that Kylian Mbappe is doing a good job of fulfilling his huge potential. Plus defenders like Benjamin Pavard have been putting in plenty of quality work at club level, and even Olivier Giroud has quietly overtaken Michel Platini to become France’s second highest goal scorer.
But there remain a few questions about the France team. Will Antoine Griezmann continue with the lack of form that has blighted his time at Barcelona? Can Paul Pogba shake of the injuries that have dogged his stint at Manchester United? All will be revealed when the Nations League finals roll around in less than a year.
Spain
In recent years Spain have repeatedly looked promising, but have fallen short at the big moments. However, it looks like a Spanish renaissance could be underway. Nowhere was this more true than when Luis Enrique’s team somehow beat Germany six-nil in the Nations League qualifiers.
It was a stunning performance and it introduced the wider world to the very promising talents of young forward Ferran Torres. The Manchester City striker isn’t the only young player who’s promising to shake up Spanish football, as Barcelona’s 18-year old wonder-kid Ansu Fati should be in fine form by this time next year.
However, it seems that Spain could still be in a period of transition. With key defenders like Sergio Ramos now in their mid-thirties, it remains to be seen how Luis Enrique will select the constantly evolving Spanish squad.
Italy
The return of Italy to a major football tournament is undoubtedly good news. After all, the absence of Italy from the 2018 World Cup sent shockwaves around the footballing world. Roberto Mancini’s team managed to claim their Nations League finals place by topping Group A1 ahead of the much-fancied Dutch team, as well as Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It’s a much-changed Italian team, but there will be a few familiar faces on display. Firstly Ciro Immobile is well-known for producing endless goals for his club team Lazio, while Chelsea fans will know all about the midfield strength of Jorginho.
Plus there’s even hope that Moise Kean will finally get chance to shine after a disappointing time at Everton. The 20-year old recently picked up a few goals on loan to Paris Saint Germain, and he’ll be hoping to stamp his imprint on the new-look Italian team. Italy are currently the dark horses to win the 2020/21 Nations League. But after the bizarre Nations League qualifiers, it seems that anything could happen.
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