UEFA Nations League - McCarthy deems it a good draw for the Boys in Green

The UEFA Nations League will return later this year kicking off in September and the 55 teams in the competition found out today who they will face.

The draw took place in Amsterdam with the Republic of Ireland drawn against Wales, Bulgaria and Finland in Group 4 of League B with former Netherlands international Rafael van der Vaart doing the honours pulling Ireland out from pot 3.

While Mick McCarthy attended the draw it will be incoming boss Stephen Kenny who will take the reigns when McCarthy bids farewell after EURO 2016.

The Boys in Green, who were relegated in last year’s competition, managed to remain in League B due to a restructure in the competition’s design by UEFA with the second tier now containing four team groups compared with groups of three last time out.

Bulgaria will be familiar opposition to Ireland as they faced off in a friendly last September with McCathy’s men winning 3-1 on the night.

Ex-Manchester United player Ryan Giggs’ Welsh side are another side who Ireland know all too well as they previously clashed in the inaugural Nations League competition, as well as the 2018 World Cup campaign.

The last opponent in the group that the Irish will play is Finland who are fresh from their Euro 2020 Qualifying group where they topped their group above Italy.

The Republic of Ireland last played Finland during Mick McCarthy’s first spell in charge of the Boys in Green – Ireland won 3-0 in an away friendly in August 2002. The teams have faced each other five teams with the Boys in Green unbeaten with three wins and two draws.

The six rounds of matches will take place between September and November. There are two World Cup play-off places awaiting the highest placed group winners who do not automatically go through from the qualifying competition.

Speaking after the draw Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy said: “That draw was as good as we could have got. If Stephen Kenny was watching back home, he will be very happy.

“When I see that Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary group, we could have been in there.

“Wales are the stand-out side and they had a great 2016 European Championships and they’re already looking forward to this summer’s finals.

“We’ve played Bulgaria and beaten them recently and that experience will be good for any of my players if they come up against them in the Nations League. I don’t know a lot about Finland but I’m sure the players will look forward to playing them in the group.

“The Nations League is a good tournament. I enjoyed the games the first time around and the competitive nature of them - it’s so much better than friendlies.”

Draw in full

The new league structure comprises of 16 teams in Leagues A, B and C and seven teams in League D. The teams were allocated to leagues based on the overall ranking following the inaugural UEFA Nations League last year.

League A

Group A1: Netherlands, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Poland.

Group A2: England, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland.

Group A3: Portugal, France, Sweden, Croatia.

Group A4: Switzerland, Spain, Ukraine, Germany.

• The group winners will contest the Nations League Finals (semi-finals, match for third-place and final) in June 2021 to become the second Nations League winners. One host country will be chosen from among the finalist teams.

• Teams who finish bottom of their groups will be then relegated to League B.

League B

Group B1: Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland, Romania.

Group B2: Czech Republic, Scotland, Slovakia, Israel.

Group B3: Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary.

Group B4: Wales, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria.

• The group winners will automatically gain promotion. Teams who finish bottom of their group will be then relegated to League C.

League C

Group C1: Montenegro, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan.

Group C2: Georgia, North Macedonia, Estonia, Armenia.

Group C3: Greece, Kosovo, Slovenia, Moldova.

Group C4: Albania, Belarus, Lithuania, Kazakhstan.

• Two league C teams will be relegated to League D for the third edition of the competition in 2022/23. Those two teams are determined by play-offs which will be played both home and away. They will contest of the four fourth-ranked teams from each League C group.

League D

Group D1: Faroe Islands, Latvia, Andorra, Malta.

Group D2: Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.

• The group winners of each group will gain promotion.

The change of format explained

The change of format followed a consultation process which involved all of UEFA’s 55 national associations and reflects upon their desire to further minimise the number of friendly matches being played.

It also increases sporting fairness as all teams in the same group will play their last match on the same day and at the same time. In addition to this, the number of competitive matches during the competition’s league phase will jump from 138 to 162, therefore increasing the commercial value of the competition.

2020/21 UEFA Nations League calendar

Matchday 1: 3-5 September 2020

Matchday 2: 6-8 September 2020

Matchday 3: 8-10 October 2020

Matchday 4: 11-13 October 2020

Matchday 5: 12-14 November 2020

Matchday 6: 15-17 November 2020

Finals draw: TBC

Finals: 2-6 June 2021

Republic of Ireland fixtures:

Sep 3 - Bulgaria v Ireland

Sep 6 - Ireland v Finland

Oct 10 - Ireland v Wales

Oct 13 - Finland v Ireland

Nov 13 - Wales v Ireland

Nov 16 - Ireland v Bulgaria