England to discover opponents in Nations League on Wednesday

IRELAND’S ITINERARY FOR the 2018 global season has taken shape with confirmation from Uefa of the fixture list for the inaugural Nations League, which begins in September.

The Nations League fixtures will replace the majority of friendlies, which former Manchester United winger Giggs believes can only be a positive for the continued development of worldwide football. The ultimate victor will qualify for Euro 2020.

There will be a mini-tournament for the League A group winners to decide the Nations League champion.

The Tartan Army will take on Albania and Israel as they aim to win promotion to League B along with the chance of a place at Euro 2020.

For the other sides there are opportunities to get promoted, relegated and also secure a place in Euro 2020.

Pot 1 consists of Germany, Portugal, Spain and England’s World Cup opponents Belgium.

England were in Pot 2 of League A, alongside Switzerland, France and Italy.

Pot 3: Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands. Slovakia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic are in Group 1.

Wales have been pitted against Republic of Ireland and Denmark in League B, with Northern Ireland landing ties against Austria and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Pot 1: Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia.

Pot 4: Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania. In League C, there is one three-team group and three four-team groups.

Azerbaijan are pitted against Faroe Islands, Malta and Kosovo in Group 3 of League D, AzerTag reports. After the completion of the group stage, the winners will play against each other in the playoffs and the victor will advance to the final stage of the tournament.

The first one will take place in June 2019.

“We weren’t lucky with the draw, thankfully”, Loew joked after UEFA allocated 55 teams into 16 groups in four tiers. If they have already qualified for the European Championship the next best-ranked team in their league will take their place in the play-offs. The countries will be divided into their four leagues, each of which will include two single-legged semi-finals and a one-off final.