Uefa Nations League draw: as it happened, reaction
The draw took place in Lausanne today with Spain drawn in Group 4 of League A and will face England and Croatia (home and away)</br><a title="Barcelona-Getafe live: LaLiga Santander matchweek 23" href="https://en.as.com/en/2018/02/11/football/1518361030_055869.html">Barcelona-Getafe live: LaLiga Santander matchweek 23</a>
55 minutes were all it needed to allocate the 55 Uefa countries to their respective groups in the four Leagues that compose the new Uefa Nations League competition.
In top tier League A, Spain find themselves in a tough Group 4 where they will face England and Croatia with the winner heading to next June's Final Four to determine the winner of the inaugural Uefa Nations League. One of three will also find themselves relegated to League B for the second edition of the new competition.
Group of Death
League A also threw up the inevitable "Group of Death" with France, Netherlands and World Champions Germany drawn together in Group A.
Home nations
Both Republic of Ireland and Wales find themselves grouped together in League B with new Wales boss Ryan Giggs hoping to avenge the recent 0-1 defeat in Cardiff where a James McLean goal fired Ireland into a play-off place where they subsequently lost to Denmark. Ironically it's the Danes who complete Group 4.
It's Wales and Denmark in the #NationsLeague! We'll have fixture dates for the four games later today. #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/JffTQLs62Z
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) January 24, 2018
Northern Ireland have been drawn with Bosnia and Austria in Group 2 (League B) with Scotland facing Albania and Israel in Group 1 of League C.
Uefa Nations League draw: as it happened
Uefa Nations League draw: preview
Hands up at the back who understands the new Uefa Nations League competition ? Ok, you're not alone but fear not AS English has been swotting up and can reel off by heart every detail and minor feature that constitutes Uefa's latest international football brainchild.
First things first.... this is not a bad initiative. International games have been losing their sheen for some time now and the average fan's appetite was waning somewhat with qualifying groups being marauded through by the perennial big seeds and in between international friendly games that really failed to crank up the enthusiasm level.
Related stories
Enter the Uefa Nations League a competition which as European football's governing body claim: Is a new competition that aims to ensure the continued success of national team football by replacing most friendlies with competitive matches and by allowing all nations to play against equally ranked teams.
We'll go into more detail on the structure, format etc during the course of the morning but in the meantime, here is a brief 2 minute video is an ideal introduction to the tournament.