Nations League draw live - Scotland learn playoff fate plus quarter-final ties featuring Spain and France
England weren’t involved in the draw after securing an immediate return to League A
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Your support makes all the difference.The Nations League came to a close this week in terms of the actual group action, but further fixtures yet lie ahead: the semi-finals and final as usual for those competing at the top end, but also even more games in yet another an expanded Uefa competition.
This time around we have play-offs for promotion and relegation spots, and instead of just a final four encounter, we’ve got quarter-finals to look forward to too.
Scotland and Republic of Ireland are both involved in the playoffs, the former after Andy Robertson’s last-minute heroics, while aiming for Nations League glory this time around will be the likes of European champions Spain, along with France, Germany and Netherlands.
See the full draw along with explanations, rules and when the matches will take place and reaction to the draw in our live blog below:
Nations League draw - live
The finals previously were just semis and final; as mentioned, this year has expanded. So:
Quarter-finals are played over two legs, 20 March and 23 March 2025.
Then it’s onto the semis, a one-off game on 4 or 5 June, with the final - and a third-place playoff for extra irrelevance - taking place on 8 June 2025.
Impressive mileage from a competition few people seem to be all that bothered about, you might say. Still, it’s probably better than friendlies.
Nations League draw - live
Let’s break this down then: playoffs to come, but first the ‘finals’ to sort out.
We have eight quarter-finalists, which are four seeded - the winners from League A groups - and four unseeded nations - the runners-up, naturally.
Each runner-up will be drawn against a winner, but not the one from the Nations League group they already played in. So, Portugal topped A1 ahead of Croatia, for example, so they won’t face each other again now.
Pot 1 (winners): Portugal, France, Germany, Spain
Pot 2 (r/ups): Croatia, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark
Nations League draw: Date, time and how to follow
The Uefa Nations League has undergone changes this season, with the addition of quarter-finals to the knockout stage as well as promotion/relegation play-offs at the conclusion of the first phase.
England have already secured automatic promotion back to League A, through winning Group B2, but there is still plenty to play for elsewhere, with further matches to be played across March and June.
That, incredibly, includes Scotland , who rescued themselves from automatic relegation with back-to-back wins over Croatia and Poland to end the campaign in third place of Group A1. Andy Robertson’s dramatic winner in Warsaw means Steve Clarke’s side will play one of the runners-up from League B over a two-legged play-off in March, in a bid to preserve their top-tier status.
Meanwhile, Spain are the defending Nations League champions and will be out to retain their crown against the likes of France, Portugal, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in the Nations League finals.
The draw takes place today and here’s everything you need to know.
Nations League draw: Date, time and how play-offs work as Scotland learn fate
Scotland are among the teams looking to be playing in League A next season
Nations League draw - live
Morning all - if you thought the international break was done, you’ve jumped the gun. We’ve one more notable activity to take care of first before the domestic game returns to our screens and scenes: the Nations League draw.
That’s coming up at 11am GMT, with plenty of build-up and explanation beforehand as well as the draw itself.
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