The draw for the Qualification for 2024 European Champions was completed in Frankfurt yesterday, with all the home nations having representatives in attendance.
England have been drawn in Group C, alongside Italy, the reigning EURO champions, who beat Gareth Southgate’s men on penalties in the 2020 (2021) final.
The Three Lions have also been paired with Ukraine, who England beat 4-0 in the Quarter-Final of EURO2020.
North Macedonia and Malta make up the rest of Group C, where the top two nations will automatically qualify for the finals in Germany.
England, for the first time since World Cup 2010 Qualifying, were not in Pot A, the group of counties with the highest coefficient rankings. This stemmed from a poor Nations League performance that saw them relegated to League 2.
Southgate mentioned the irony of having so many fixtures against Italy, after losing the EURO final, as well as being relegated in the Nations League with a 1-0 loss to Mancini’s side.
“We seemed to be playing Croatia every five minutes not so long ago and now its seems we have got that situation with Italy.”
Southgate will face up to the nation that he first took charge of the Three Lions against: Malta. England ran out 2-0 victors at Wembley back in October 2016. The matchday squad included the Wayne Rooney, Andros Townsend, and Michail Antonio- who now has seven caps for Jamaica.
Russia has been banned from this competition due to its invasion of Ukraine, with questions needing to be asked about where Ukraine will play their home fixtures. Since the invasion started in February, Ukraine has played in the cities of Lodz and Krakow in neighboring Poland.
“We don’t know what that [games against Ukraine] will look like politically and venue wise,” added Southgate.
“All of us, of course, have got more that we are thinking about when we talk about Ukraine than football, but the team themselves football-wise are a very good side.”
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Elsewhere in the draw, the other home nations have been given favorable draws.
Scotland are in Group A, alongside 2008 and 2012 winners Spain, Erling Haaland’s Norway, as well as Georgia and Cyrpus.
Wales faces a rematch of the 2020 group stage, as they face Turkey. As well as Croatia, Armenia, and Latvia.
Northern Ireland was in Pot 5, making them one of the lowest-ranked teams in the qualification stage.
They have been drawn against, Euro2020 semi-finalists Denmark, as well as Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, and the lowest-ranked team in Europe, San Marino.
With the dates of the fixtures released, many fans have been preparing for their trips away, however, UEFA have released a statement saying:
“We have noticed an issue with the calendar and we ask you to DISREGARD the fixture list that was sent out”, read Uefa’s message. “A new version will be issued as soon as possible. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.”
For more on this developing story, stay up to date on ParkLife Sport.
