The Nations League draw takes place in Paris this afternoon with the prospect of the Republic of Ireland Men’s Senior Team drawing England in League B to which they were relegated in the last round.

Importantly it will set the fixture list for three games at the Aviva Stadium and three away from home in September, October and November of this year.

In a change to the format the team that finishes second in the group will play the team that finishes third in League A for a promotion play off and on the other side the team that comes third will play the team that finishes runner-up in League C.  The winners and the fourth-placed team are automatically promoted and relegated respectively.  The play-off matches are scheduled for March 2025.

The Republic of Ireland could end up with the toughest group on FIFA rankings of England, Ukraine and Turkey or the easiest on paper of Czechia, Iceland and Kazakhstan.

The latter might lead to a quirk because of the excessive distance they can only be drawn in a group with one of England, Wales, Iceland or the Republic of Ireland so if we are already drawn with one or other of those from Pots 1 or 2 then the Kazakhs will be moved along to the next possible group

Pot 1: Austria, Czechia, England, Wales

Pot 3: Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, Montenegro

Pot 4: Georgia, Greece, Turkey, Kazakhstan.

Northern Ireland are in League C.  Their worst case would be Sweden, Bulgaria and Belarus, and their best on paper of Armenia, the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar.

Pot 1: Romania, Armenia, Sweden and Luxembourg

Pot 3: Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Slovakia and Cyprus

Pot 4: Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania or Gibraltar and Latvia

The draw will be streamed live on UEFA.com from 5 PM Irish time this afternoon.

 

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