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Post by rugbytoffee on Jan 23, 2018 13:56:58 GMT
 England will discover their opponents in the new Nations League on Wednesday. Boss Gareth Southgate will travel to Switzerland for the draw of the new format, which will replace the majority of friendlies. The Three Lions are in Pot 2 of League A for the draw with France, Switzerland and Italy. They could draw Germany, Portugal, Belgium or Spain from Pot 1 and Poland, Iceland, Croatia or Holland from Pot 3. Four Leagues of A, B, C and D will be split into four groups of three or four teams. League B includes Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, who are in Pot 1, Pot 2 and Pot 3 respectively and they could all be in the same group. The draw is new Wales manager Ryan Giggs’ first official duty after he was appointed earlier this month. Giggs is still to name his backroom staff with Paul Scholes, Mike Phelan and Nicky Butt all linked to roles under the new boss. Scotland are in Pot 1 of League C and could play the likes of Greece, Cyprus, Montenegro and Lithuania. Scotland remain managerless after Michael O’Neill turned down the chance to replace Gordon Strachan and is expected remain with Northern Ireland. The Nations League is designed to allow teams to play against those who are equally ranked and will offer some who do not qualify for Euro 2020 via the normal route a path to the play-offs. The 16 Nations League group winners will go into the play-offs but if they have already qualified for the European Championships the next best-ranked team in their league will take their place. Each league has a path of its own, and will consist of two single-leg semi-finals and a one-off final. The winner of each path qualifies for EURO 2020. At the end of the group stages, those who finish bottom of the groups will be relegated to the league below and four teams will be promoted to the league above. It is due to start between September 6 and 8 while the draw for the finals is in December with the finals, which includes semi-finals and a third-placed game, held between June 5-9, 2019. The draw will be held at UEFA’S headquarters in Lausanne in Switzerland at 11am GMT on Wednesday. |
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Post by rugbytoffee on Jan 24, 2018 15:40:49 GMT
Draw Wednesday for the UEFA Nations League groups (games to be played from Sept. 6 through Nov. 20):
League A
Group 1: Germany, France, Netherlands.
Group 2: Belgium, Switzerland, Iceland.
Group 3: Portugal, Italy, Poland.
Group 4: Spain, England, Croatia.
League B
Group 1: Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic.
Group 2: Russia, Sweden, Turkey.
Group 3: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland.
Group 4: Wales, Ireland, Denmark.
League C
Group 1: Scotland, Albania, Israel.
Group 2: Hungary, Greece, Finland, Estonia.
Group 3: Slovenia, Norway, Bulgaria, Cyprus.
Group 4: Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Lithuania.
League D
Group 1: Georgia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Andorra.
Group 2: Belarus, Luxembourg, Moldova, San Marino.
Group 3: Azerbaijan, Faeroe Islands, Malta, Kosovo.
Group 4: Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar.
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