IRELAND'S NATIONS LEAGUE adventure ended this week, and it's fair to say it's been a mixed bag for Stephen Kenny's side.
Ireland finished third in their group, with 7 points from 18. Many people would expected more, but there is little time to dwell on what could have been for Ireland. The Boys in Green will now have full focus on getting to Euro 2024 in Germany.
The qualifying draw for the tournament will place on Sunday, 9 October, in Frankfurt at 11am Irish time.
The draw will feature 53 UEFA member associations drawn into 10 groups seven groups of five teams and three groups of six.
Each team will be seeded, based on their showing in the Nations League.
Because of League A of the Nations League consisting of Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, Italy they will placed in a group of five for the draw. The four teams will play the Nations League final next June
Germany are excluded from the draw because they are the host nations, which means 53 teams (not Russia) will chasing the 24 spots available at the finals.
Dublin , Ireland - 22 September 2022; Manager Stephen Kenny and players during a Republic of Ireland training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Each Pot for the draw
Pot 1: Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, Poland.
Pot 2: France, Austria, Czech Republic, England, Wales, Israel, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Scotland, Finland.
Pot 3: Ukraine, Iceland, Norway, Slovenia, Albania, Montenegro, Romania, Sweden and Armenia, Ireland
Pot 4: Georgia, Greece, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, North Macedonia.
Pot 5: Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Belarus, Lithuania, Gibraltar, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Malta.
Pot 6: Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein.
Qualifying schedule in 2023:
23-25 March - Matchday 1. 26-28 March - Matchday 2. 16-17 June - Matchday 3. 19-20 June - Matchday 4. 7-9 Sept - Matchday 5. 10-12 Sept - Matchday 6. 12-14 Oct - Matchday 7. 15-17 Oct - Matchday 8. 16-18 Nov - Matchday 9. 19-21 Nov - Matchday 10, Play-off semi-finals: 21/03/2024
Play-off finals: 26/03/2024
As per UEFA rules, the top 10 of each group will go straight to the finals. The top three teams left in the group will have a play-off to decide their fate in in March 2024.
Twelve teams will enter those play-offs, which are played in three “paths” of four teams
The play-offs comprise single-leg knockout games, with semi-finals followed by three finals.
The winners of the play-offs will head to Germany
Euro 2024 will be staged across ten German cities from 14 June to 14 July
See More: Euro 2024, Ireland
