The draw for the 2026-27 Nations League takes place in Brussels on Thursday. Here, we take a look at how things could work out for the Republic of Ireland, and what impact the country's status as co-hosts for Euro 2028 has on proceedings.
When is the draw?
The draw ceremony will begin at 5pm Irish time at the Brussels Expo in Belgium.
Who can Ireland get?
The Republic of Ireland will be in the draw for League B having beaten Bulgaria in play-off last March to avoid dropping down to League C. The 16 League B teams have been divided into four seeding pots based on rankings, with Heimir Hallgrimsson's men in pot three.
That means they could face Scotland, our old friends Hungary, Poland or Israel from pot one. Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria and Ukraine are confirmed as the second seeds, while the fourth seeds are Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, and Kosovo.
Will it have any impact on qualification for the next Euros?
England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales are the co-hosts of Euro 2028 but none may require the safety net of the Nations League as an alternate route to qualification.
That's because if any of those four fail to make it to Euro 2028 from their regular qualifying groups, two host nation places have been reserved by UEFA. So it would require more than two of them to miss out on the top two in their regular groups for the Nations League route to come into play.
The Boys in Green will obviously want to make it to the Euros by delivering on the pitch, but they only need two of England, Scotland and Wales to qualify to be absolutely certain of a place at the tournament.
Qualifying directly does come with a reward, as host nations would get to play all their group games in front of their own fans. Dublin will host two Group B and three Group E games.
Ireland would go into Group E if they qualified directly. If they won the group, their round-16 game would be in Dublin. If they came second it would be at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Northern Ireland - who are no longer co-hosts after Casement Park was withdrawn as a Euro 2028 venue - have no such host nation protection and therefore are more likely to need the Nations League as a fall-back.
As usual, the best-ranked group winners in the Nations League who have not already qualified will get a shot at the Euro 2028 play-offs. How many countries get that chance depends on how many of the reserved host nation places are required.
If neither of them are used - or both are used - four teams from the Nations League plus the four regular qualifying group runners-up with the worst records will be involved in the play-offs.
However, if only one of the host nation places is used, 12 teams will enter the play-offs, meaning eight teams from the Nations League will be involved.
When will the Nations League matches be played?
The opening four matches of the group phase will be in a new, extended September to October international window later this year, with the final two played in the November international break.
The quarter-finals and the promotion-relegation play-offs between the leagues will be played in March 2027, with the four-team finals being played the following June in a single nation still to be confirmed.
FIXTURES
Matchday 1: 24-26 September
Matchday 2: 27-29 September
Matchday 3: 30 September-3 October
Matchday 4: 4-6 October
Matchday 5: 12-14 November
Matchday 6: 15-17 November
