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
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:
Scotland face Greece in play-offs as Nations League draw confirmed
Scotland have been drawn against Greece in the Nations League play-offs to stay in the top tier, while the Republic of Ireland face Bulgaria looking to avoid relegation to League C.
Steve Clarke’s side produced a late upturn in form to finish third in Group A1 after Andy Robertson headed a stoppage-time winner against Poland in Warsaw on Monday night.
Despite a 2-1 victory at Wembley, Greece ended as runners-up in Group B2 behind England, who responded with an impressive 3-0 win in Athens before seeing off the Republic of Ireland 5-0.
Scotland face Greece in play-offs as Nations League draw confirmed
Nations League quarter-final draw
Quarter-final 1: The Netherlands v Spain
Quarter-final 2: Croatia v France
Quarter-final 3: Denmark v Portugal
Quarter-final 4: Italy v Germany
Semi-final 1: Winner of QF4 v Winner of QF3
Semi-final 2: Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF2
Quarter-final first leg: March 20
Quarter-final second leg: March 23
Semi-finals: June 4-5
Third-place playoff: June 8
Final: June 8
Nations League draw - live
That’s it for today and for the Nations League - thanks for joining us and be sure to join us on The Independent across the weekend for our live coverage on all domestic matches!
Nations League draw - live
There we go then, Ireland and Scotland know what they need to do to stay in their respective Leagues next time - Bulgaria and Greece their opponents, respectively.
As for the finals, we could get a Germany v Spain final - the one every assumed would be the Euros final after the group stage, remember - while all three previous winners of the Nations League are still in the running to make it a record second triumph: Portugal, France and reigning champions Spain.
Nations League draw - live
Thankfully they’re not going to draw out semi-final balls to confirm that one will play the other in the final itself.
Italy/Germany/Portugal/Denmark will be the home team in the final, if you really want to know.
And that is all, with Uefa giving a quick rundown of the dates again - see earlier posts - and finally we conclude the Nations League draw and the international week as a whole.
Nations League draw - live
One draw remaining - to find out who the semi-finalists will be, depending on who wins those quarters of course. They’ll draw out match numbers of the quarters to determine it.
QF4 (Ita/Ger) v QF3 (Den/Por)
QF1 (Ned/Esp) v QF2 (Cro/Fra)
Nations League draw - live
As mentioned before, it’s runners-up out first, then the winners they’ll face.
Netherlands v Spain
Croatia v France
Denmark v Portugal
Italy v Germany
Nations League draw - live
There you go, Scotland will face two legs against Greece to remain in League A. As a reminder, the Greeks did beat England at Wembley not long ago - they finished behind Lee Carsley’s side on head to head in the end, but above Ireland and Finland.
And with that we move from the playoffs to the finals - the quarter-final draw coming up, then the fixture path for the semis.
Nations League draw - live
A/B playoffs:
Turkiye v Hungary
Ukraine v Belgium
Austria v Serbia
Greece v Scotland
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