Nations League draw: England to face Iceland, Denmark and Belgium in 2020/21 competition

Republic of Ireland in League B, Group 4 alongside Wales; Scotland drawn against Euro 2020 play-off opponents Israel

Image: England were knocked out in the semi-finals of the inaugural Nations League

England have been drawn to face Iceland, Denmark and Belgium in the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League.

Gareth Southgate's side face Iceland in League A, Group 2; the two sides' first meeting since the Three Lions' Euro 2016 last-16 shock defeat in France.

England will also play Belgium, who are currently ranked No 1 in the latest FIFA world rankings, a side they lost twice to at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Republic of Ireland have been drawn against Wales in League B, Group 4, alongside Bulgaria and Finland.

Image: Wales have been drawn alongside Republic of Ireland in League B, Group 4

Scotland will come up against Israel in League B, Group 2, the same side they face in their Euro 2020 play-off later this month. Slovakia and Czech Republic make up the rest of that group.

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Northern Ireland face a tricky Group 1 in League B against Romania, Norway and Austria.

Image: Northern Ireland fell to 26th in the latest FIFA world rankings

Elsewhere, last year's finalists Netherlands are up against Italy in Group 1, while France, Portugal and Croatia make up a competitive Group 3. Recent world champions Germany and Spain are in Group 4.

Also See:

League A

Group 1: Poland; Bosnia-Herzegovina; Italy; Netherlands

Group 2: Iceland; Denmark; Belgium; England

Group 3: Croatia; Sweden; France; Portugal

Group 4: Germany; Ukraine; Spain; Switzerland

League B

Group 1: Romania; Northern Ireland; Norway; Austria

Group 2: Israel; Slovakia; Scotland; Czech Republic

Group 3: Hungary; Turkey; Serbia; Russia

Group 4: Bulgaria; Republic of Ireland; Finland; Wales

League C

Group 1: Azerbaijan; Luxembourg; Cyprus; Montenegro

Group 2: Armenia; Estonia; North Macedonia; Georgia

Group 3: Moldova; Slovenia; Kosovo; Greece

Group 4: Kazakhstan; Lithuania; Belarus; Albania

League D

Group 1: Malta; Andorra; Latvia; Faroe Islands

Group 2: San Marino; Liechtenstein; Gibraltar

Image: Portugal were crowned the inaugural Nations League champions last year

When are the games played?

Matchday 1: 3-5 September 2020
Matchday 2: 6-8 September 2020
Matchday 3: 8-10 October 2020
Matchday 4: 11-13 October 2020
Matchday 5: 12-14 November 2020
Matchday 6: 15-17 November 2020

Finals: 2, 3, 6 June 2021

Relegation play-offs: 24, 25, 28, 29 March 2022

England's Nations League group fixtures

September 5: Iceland vs England

September 8: Denmark vs England

October 9: England vs Belgium

October 12: England vs Denmark

November 12: Belgium vs England

November 15: England vs Iceland

Southgate: Nations League tougher than qualifiers

England manager Gareth Southgate is relishing another Nations League campaign and says it provides more difficult competition compared to qualifying matches

"It's nice to play some different teams in competitive games. We've obviously had quite a few games with Croatia and Switzerland recently.

"All of the groups are quite tough and we've got a really good fixture with Belgium - a team we haven't played much over the past couple of years.

"We could have had it tougher with pots including teams like Germany and Croatia. That's the Nations League - we found it a good competition last time. The excitement was brought from playing those top sides rather than having the friendlies, which are important for us this month in terms of preparation for a finals, but in that September, October, November period, I think the competitive games are better.

"The best way to improve is to play the best teams. We got very proficient in the European Qualifiers at beating teams who defended deep and managed to score a lot of goals.

"You're only developing one part of your game in those tests and these matches will be a much greater test of our all-round game and will be on the back of the summer that we don't know exactly the outcome and where we'll be as a team."

Analysis: Familiar faces, but good draw for England

Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol...

Image: England lost twice to Belgium in the 2018 World Cup in Russia

"Lots of interesting stories in England's group. We all know about Belgium, their fantastic players from the Premier League and beyond. That's a fantastic two games to look forward to, with Belgium currently ranked No 1 in the world.

"Lots of bad memories for England fans in Iceland, Roy Hodgson's last game in charge at Euro 2016. England are actually playing Denmark in a friendly at Wembley in a few weeks' time.

"Gareth Southgate would have been expecting a tough group, but apart from Belgium you'd think England would be favourites in the other two games, and they've avoided the extremely tough A4 group, with Switzerland drawn with Spain, Germany and Ukraine."

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