UEFA Nations League draw: France, Italy, Belgium in same group

Euro 2020 winners Italy and 2022 World Cup finalists France were drawn together in the UEFA Nations League group stage after the draw was held in Paris on Thursday.

The pair are in Group 2 in League A, which also includes Belgium and Israel.

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Germany and Hungary, who will face each other in the group stage of Euro 2024, were drawn together again, and they will also face Netherlands and Bosnia in Group 3.

Spain, winners of the last edition, will take on Denmark, Switzerland and Serbia in Group 4.

For the first time, there will be a quarterfinal stage of the Nations League, with the top two in each League A group qualifying for the new phase of the competition.

In League B, England and the Republic of Ireland were drawn together in Group 2, alongside Finland and Greece. This is England's first appearance in League B following their relegation after the last edition.

"I think everybody in England will think it was a big disappointment to drop down to League B but you still have difficult games," coach Gareth Southgate said.

Russia were excluded from the competition due to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The Nations League will be linked with European qualification for the 2026 World Cup. The four best-ranked Nations League group winners who finish outside the top two in their World Cup qualifying group will go into the playoff stage.

Following is the draw for the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League:

League A

Group A1: Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Scotland

Group A2: Italy, Belgium, France, Israel

Group A3: Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Bosnia

Group A4: Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Serbia

League B

Group B1: Czech Republic, Ukraine, Albania, Georgia

Group B2: England, Finland, Ireland, Greece

Group B3: Austria, Norway, Slovenia, Kazakhstan

Group B4: Wales, Iceland, Montenegro, Turkey

League C

Group C1: Sweden, Azerbaijan, Slovakia, Estonia

Group C2: Romania, Kosovo, Cyprus, Lithuania/Gibraltar*

Group C3: Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Northern Ireland, Belarus

Group C4: Armenia, Faroe Islands, North Macedonia, Latvia

League D

Group D1: Lithuania/Gibraltar*, San Marino, Liechtenstein

Group D2: Moldova, Malta, Andorra

(*Lithuania and Gibraltar play a relegation playoff in March to determine which team will be relegated to League D)

UEFA Nations League dates:

Matchdays 1-2: Sept. 5-10, 2024

Matchdays 3-4: Oct. 10-15, 2024

Matchdays 5-6: Nov. 14-19, 2024

Quarterfinals: March 20-23, 2025

Semifinals: June 4-5, 2025

Final and third-place match: June 8, 2025

Information from Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.