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Nations League draw: Ireland face Bulgaria, Finland & Wales

The 2020-21 Nations League draw has been announced in Amsterdam, with Ireland facing Bulgaria, Fi...



Nations League draw: Ireland f...
Soccer

Nations League draw: Ireland face Bulgaria, Finland & Wales

The 2020-21 Nations League draw has been announced in Amsterdam, with Ireland facing Bulgaria, Finland and Wales in UEFA's continental competition.

The draw pits the Republic of Ireland against Bulgaria, Finland and Wales in Group B4.

The competition will give Stephen Kenny his first taste of competitive action with the Republic, as he will be head coach by the time of the games in September 2020.

Ireland are currently ranked 27th of Europe's 55 teams.

Nations League draw

Next year's competition differs slightly in that there will be four teams in each group in the top three divisions.

The Nations League also does not offer any guaranteed World Cup 2022 places, where the prior version gave away four Euro 2020 spots.

However, two teams can still qualify for the World Cup in Qatar because two of the play-off places - for three individual spots at the tournament - are available via the Nations League.

Ireland were along with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the second of the competition's four divisions - League B.

The matches will be from September to November 2020, with the finals taking place next summer, as below.

How the Nations League works

Teams play each other twice, with the four group winners of League A qualifying for the finals in June 2021.

The group winners in Leagues B, C and D gain promotion and those that finish bottom will be relegated.

With League C having four groups - and League D having only two - the two League C teams to be relegated will be chosen by play-offs.

Nations League matches

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

Finals2, 3, 6 June 2021

Portugal won the inaugural Nations League, beating the Netherlands 1-0 in the final in Guimaraes in June last year.

The first Nations League was seen as a relative success, given that it was initially greeted with scepticism after UEFA announced it in 2017.

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