The UEFA Nations League 2022/23 draw has been made – and England are in a group with Italy, Germany and Hungary.
Scroll down to see the complete draw, as Scotland take on Republic of Ireland, Wales face trips to Netherlands and Belgium, while Northern Ireland face former Euros winners Greece.
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The draw kicks off at 5pm GMT and you probably have some questions.
Need a refresher on a brief history of the Nations League? Here's your 60-second guide suitable for pasting into a WhatsApp group...
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The inaugural Nations League was born in 2018/19, where teams were split into groups of three and separated by league. England – you may remember – were in a group with Croatia and Spain and managed to get to the final four, along with Switzerland, Netherlands and Portugal. The latter nation won the tournament on home soil. Ahh, the heady days of 2019, eh?
The 2020/21 edition was recently won by France, as they beat Spain in the final. This was the one where England played against Iceland, Belgium and Denmark in their group. UEFA didn't actually relegate anyone as promised, since they restructured all the groups accordingly.
This time, we'll see the third-ever Nations League and it's starting to get a little more prestigious. It's an actual trophy and you get a nice patch on your shirt for winning. And anyway, it'll be a good barometer for who the top sides are ahead of next year's World Cup and another Euros in 2024.
So... what's the point in the Nations League?
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No, it's not a silly question. We have enough football on as it is – and with managers and players complaining about the calendar being stacked, why did UEFA add in another competition? Especially one so complicated?
The Nations League was actually brought in to replace friendlies. Friendlies are, by and large, pointless. There's no competitive element to them whatsoever.
Additionally, a player has to represent their country in a competitive fixture in order to be locked in to play for that nation: Diego Costa, for example, played for Brazil twice but not competitively before Spain pounced for him. At least now, if England were to call up Arsenal star Folarin Balogun for a couple of Nations League fixtures, they wouldn't have to worry about Nigeria or the United States poaching the 19-year-old, despite him spending his footballing education in our country.
Not only do people want to watch competitive fixtures though, they want to see countries playing other countries of a similar level. Qualifiers don't have much of that, since big sides are separated. Equally, the likes of Lichtenstein and San Marino are (hopefully) not going to get battered a dozen times.
Here's how the pots work
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That's League A, right there. Scroll down if you need explaining on what the leagues are again.
So there will be four groups of four drawn: one from each pot. That means England will face:
One of France, Spain, Italy or Belgium
One of Portugal, Netherlands, Denmark or Germany
And one of Wales, Austria, Czech Republic or Hungary
Who's in what League and what pot?
Good question. Glad you asked.
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It's a nice trophy...
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*chef's kiss*
Let's remind ourselves of 2021's edition...
It was world champions France that beat Spain in the final in the autumn, thanks to Kylian Mbappe with one of the strangest international goals in recent times.
We're looking for any member state that's going to be in the UEFA Nations League draw this evening – so that rules out the likes of Vatican City and Calalonia, along with other countries that don't have official football teams in the UEFA confederation.
The silver fox himself Pedro Pinto is here to present the draw, hopefully with none of the technical malfunctions that we had during the Champions League midweek.
No sound though on Sky... you're on mute, Pedro. Come on, man.
UEFA are just fixing the technical issues. We're off to a great start.
Andrey Arshavin has just arrived at the scene with a new microphone and a reset button (we assume).
We'll get ready to go again shortly.
Aaaaaaand we're back.
We're just rolling through the #EqualGame awards, which UEFA hand out for inclusivity and diversity.
We're just looking back on the last Nations League - which gives us a great chance to relive this...
🏆 Karim @Benzema 🇫🇷 remporte le But du tournoi! 🔥👏👏C'est vous qui avez élu cette pépite inscrite en finale de la #NationsLeague 💪 @equipedefrance pic.twitter.com/eTTGYlqtxnOctober 13, 2021
Our former pros are here to do the draws. It's the legendary midfielders Robert Pires and Gaizka Mendieta.
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Zidane or Mbappe?
Pires is very blunt. "Zidane", he says without so much as a hesitation.
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Deputy General Secretary of UEFA, Giorgio Marchetti has arrived, the man with the velvet voice to assist with the draw.
Good to see he kept his job after those gremlins during the Champions League fiasco in the week. Probably shifted the blame onto Arshavin, didn't he?
Mendieta and Pires have aged like fine Malbecs.
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The draw begins with League D
Latvia are the first team drawn into D1 with Andorra; San Marino in the other group.
Kazakhstan or Moldova in D1; Cyprus or Estonia in D2.
Malta in D2; Liechtenstein in D1.
So... D1:
Liechtenstein
Kazakhstan or Moldova
Latvia
D2
Cyprus or Estonia
Malta
San Marino
C1
Faroe Islands
C2
Cyprus or Estonia
C3
Kazakhstan or Moldova
C4
Gibraltar
C1
Faroe Islands
Lithuania
C2
Kosovo
Cyprus or Estonia
C3
Kazakhstan or Moldova
Azerbaijan
C4
Gibraltar
Georgia
The complete C1 group:
Turkey
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Faroe Islands
C2
Northern Ireland
Kosovo
Greece
Cyprus/Estonia
C3
Slovakia
Belarus
Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan/Moldova
C4
Bulgaria
North Macedonia
Georgia
Gibraltar
Not a bad draw for Northern Ireland – now we're looking towards League B...
We're flying through.
B1
Armenia
B2
Albania
B3
Montenegro
B4
Slovenia
B1
Armenia
Republic of Ireland
B2
Albania
Israel
B3
Montenegro
Romania
B4
Slovenia
Serbia
B1
Armenia
Republic of Ireland
Scotland
B2
Albania
Israel
Russia
B3
Montenegro
Romania
Finland
B4
Slovenia
Serbia
Norway
B1
Armenia
Republic of Ireland
Scotland
Ukraine
B2
Albania
Israel
Russia
Iceland
B3
Montenegro
Romania
Finland
Bosnia-Herzegovina
B4
Slovenia
Serbia
Norway
Sweden
Scotland face Republic of Ireland! Probably the most exciting clash we've seen elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Sweden face Norway. There are some derbies in this Nations League.
Now onto the big boys – it's League A
A1
Austria
A2
Czech Republic
A3
Hungary
A4
Wales
A1
Austria
Croatia
A2
Czech Republic
Switzerland
A3
Hungary
England
A4
Wales
Poland
A1
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
A2
Czech Republic
Switzerland
Portugal
A3
Hungary
England
Germany
A4
Wales
Poland
Netherlands
A1
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
France
A2
Czech Republic
Switzerland
Portugal
Spain
A3
Hungary
England
Germany
Italy
A4
Wales
Poland
Netherlands
Belgium
So, England get Germany, Italy and Hungary in their next Nations League group. Group of Death? Well, there aren't many easy ones, are there?
Wales have got Netherlands, Poland and Belgium, which will be tasty - elsewhere, Spain play neighbours Portugal and France are up against Croatia, once more.
