Bit of a farce that the draw was so intertwined and restricted by the conclusion of the Nations League, with in particular us not going to know the top seeds in 8 of the groups until the end of March.
That said, I don't think the home nations can have too much complaints about their draws.
A: Germany or Italy ( winners of Nations League QF ), Slovakia, N Ireland, Luxembourg
C: Portugal or Denmark ( losers of Nations League QF ), Greece, Scotland, Belarus - prefer Denmark I think
J: Belgium, Wales, N Macedonia. Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein - Belgium not what they were.
K: England, Serbia. Albania, Latvia. Andorra. - nice selection of poor to mediocre nations ending in 'a'.
The 12 group winners qualify. Runners up go into play-offs with 4 teams from Nations League results. 4 from these 16 qualify after play-off SFs and finals, making 16 European qualifiers in total out of the now expanded 48 team finals.
Bit of a farce that the draw was so intertwined and restricted by the conclusion of the Nations League, with in particular us not going to know the top seeds in 8 of the groups until the end of March.
That said, I don't think the home nations can have too much complaints about their draws.
A: Germany or Italy ( winners of Nations League QF ), Slovakia, N Ireland, Luxembourg
C: Portugal or Denmark ( losers of Nations League QF ), Greece, Scotland, Belarus - prefer Denmark I think
J: Belgium, Wales, N Macedonia. Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein - Belgium not what they were.
K: England, Serbia. Albania, Latvia. Andorra. - nice selection of poor to mediocre nations ending in 'a'.
The 12 group winners qualify. Runners up go into play-offs with 4 teams from Nations League results. 4 from these 16 qualify after play-off SFs and finals, making 16 European qualifiers in total out of the now expanded 48 team finals.
Youd think Wales and NI could have a shot at second place in their groups; Scotland surely second but maybe could aim at first with this draw? England got to expect first place, not sure how could Serbia are these days? perhaps Andy Murray will feed back tips on beating England to Serbia team via Novak?!
If they don't make the top 2, England and Wales are well played to still get into the play-offs by Nations League results. N Ireland might also get into the POs through that route
