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UEFA Nations League draw: Poland to play Croatia, Portugal, Scotland

09.02.2024 10:30
Poland have been drawn to play Croatia, Portugal and Scotland in the group stage of the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League.
Image: pzpn.pl
Image: pzpn.plpzpn.pl

Fans and pundits have shared mixed reactions to the draw, which the European football governing body held in Paris on Thursday.

Commentators generally agreed that Poland has been pitted against formidable opponents in its Nations League group, and that the matches will pose a significant challenge for the national team.

In the Nations League draw, European nations were arranged into four Leagues, A, B, C and D, based on their UEFA ranking.

Poland will play Croatia, Portugal and Scotland at home and away in Group 1 of the top League A from September to November.

The Nations League is UEFA’s newest national-team competition that is now in its fourth edition.

The European football governing body says the 2024/2025 edition of the competition has been expanded with a new knockout round to be played in March 2025. The League A group winners and runners-up will participate in home-and-away quarterfinals, with the winners of these ties qualifying for the final tournament in June 2025, according to the uefa.com website.

Meanwhile, the fourth-placed teams in League A will be automatically relegated to League B.

The competition's semifinals will take place on June 4 and 5, 2025. The winners will advance to the final on June 8, while the two beaten semifinalists will contest the match for third place earlier the same day.

The Nations League is designed to enable teams to play against those that are similarly ranked, while reducing the number of meaningless friendlies, UEFA said.

Portugal won the first edition of the Nations League in 2019, while France won the 2020/2021 UEFA Nations League, and Spain triumphed in the 2022/2023 edition.

2024/2025 UEFA Nations League

League A

Group A1: Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Scotland
Group A2: Italy, Belgium, France, Israel
Group A3: Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group A4: Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Serbia

Before the Nations League kicks off on September 5, Poland will face Estonia at home on March 21 in the playoffs for a place at the Euro 2024 football championships in Germany.

(gs)

Source: PAP, uefa.com/uefa.com