After 120 minutes, penalties were needed to decide the winner of the 2025 UEFA Nations League final between Portugal and Spain in front of 65,852 fans at Munich’s Allianz Arena. Martin Zubimendi (21’) and Mikel Oyarzabal (45’) had scored for Spain and Nuno Mendes (26’) and Cristiano Ronaldo (61’) were the scorers for Portugal in what was a tightly contested affair.

Twice, Spain had taken the lead just for Portugal to draw even. Although on balance, the 90 minutes belonged to a more dynamic Spain side, Portugal were better in extra time, where they pressed their neighbours and should have won the game.

At that stage, Ronaldo was no longer on the pitch. The 40-year-old, who scored his 139th goal in his 220th game for Portugal, left the pitch in the 88th minute. Although he did score, Portugal was more dynamic and dangerous without Ronaldo in the 30 minutes of extra time.

Still, it was a game on a knife’s edge. Spain appeared to have the better chances and finished the game with a better xG of 2.06 to Portugal’s 1.02. But based on the eye test, Portugal seemed to have more in the extra time. But even then, both sides ultimately lacked a clinical striker, and with the score still scoreless in extra time, the game headed to penalties.

Until the fourth round of penalties, both teams were perfect. Gonçalo Ramos, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, and Nuno Mendes scored for Portugal, and Mikel Merino, Alex Baena, and Isco scored for Spain. Then Álvaro Morata stepped up and Diogo Costa stopped his shot. With the game on the line, Ruben Neves stepped up to win it for Portugal.

“Our fighting spirit and togetherness were decisive today,” Portugal star Bruno Fernandes said. “We knew it would be a tough game, Spain is one of the best national teams in the world. They play brilliant football and have amazing footballers, but we also know that we have a good team.”

It is Portugal’s second title in the UEFA Nations League. The Seleção won the title in 2019, beating the Netherlands in Porto in the first-ever edition of the tournament. Portugal, therefore, becomes the first country to win the tournament twice.

Where does this tournament rank, then? The four games in Munich and Stuttgart were certainly a spectacle. Whether it was the 1-2 between Germany and Portugal in the first semifinal, the 5-4 between Spain and France in the second final or the two final games, the level was very high between Europe’s top nations.

Furthermore, there was certainly a sense that the players took this tournament more seriously than the usual end-of-season national team friendlies that were traditionally scheduled around the same time. Still, there is also a flipside; the tournament is now wedged in between a long club season and the new FIFA Club World Cup.

Indeed, many of the players involved either in the Nations League finals or the 2026 World Cup qualifiers will now head straight back to their respective clubs to start preparations for the 32-team Club World Cup in the United States. Those games will kick off on June 12 and last a month.

The show must go on. Indeed, despite the increased number of games, the stadiums remain full. The Allianz Arena in Munich was sold out for the Germany vs. Portugal match. Then, even without Die Nationalmannschaft, over 65,000 packed into the Arena in Fröttmaning to watch stars like Ronaldo and Lamine Yamal.

Speaking of the stars, although Ronaldo scored, he and Yamal were overshadowed by other players. For Portugal, goalscorer Mendes was fantastic. Meanwhile, Spanish winger Nico Williams was in excellent form.

The same Williams who has been linked as a potential alternative to Florian Wirtz to Bayern Munich. It is hard to overlook the impact Williams would have in combination with Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise. The latter scored against Germany earlier today.

That’s perhaps another takeaway from the tournament. There are many fast and exciting talents in European football. For top clubs like Bayern, the Nations League will certainly have provided a great platform to scout them in their own stadiums.

For the fans in Munich and Stuttgart, it was the cherry on top of a great season. The curtain has now fallen on the season in Europe, just as it is about to kick off again in the US with the Club World Cup, because the show must go on.