Paul Fennessy

THE DRAW for the 2026-27 Nations League takes place tomorrow, and Ireland will be among the countries watching on with interest.

The draw is due to take place at the Brussels Expo in Belgium, around 5pm Irish time and can be watched live on Uefa’s official website.

As a reminder, the Boys in Green will be in League B, the second-highest tier, after avoiding relegation to League C thanks to a two-legged playoff victory over Bulgaria last March.

In this latest edition of the competition, the league phase matches will take place between 24 September and 17 November 2026.

The quarter-finals and A-B/B-C promotion-relegation playoffs are set for 25-30 March 2027, with the finals on 9-13 June 2027, and League C/D play-offs are set for 23–28 March 2028.

A strong performance in the Nations League is important for seeding and can boost a team’s chances of qualification for a major tournament.

Although in Ireland’s case, it is less essential than usual, given that the Boys in Green are likely to qualify for Euro 2028 as tournament co-hosts if they do not advance automatically.

Whether Heimir Hallgrímsson is in charge of Ireland by the time the Nations League begins remains to be seen.

The Icelandic coach’s contract is due to expire at the end of the current tournament cycle.

His decision may depend on how Ireland fare in the upcoming playoffs, as they bid to secure World Cup qualification by beating Czechia on 26 March and Denmark/North Macedonia on 31 March.

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54 teams will compete in the upcoming Nations League.

Leagues A, B, and C will each feature 16 teams divided into four groups of four.

Meanwhile, League D comprises six teams divided into two groups of three.

As usual, the teams that finish bottom will be relegated (aside from League D teams), and those that top their group (aside from League A teams) will be promoted, while there will be promotion-relegation playoffs involving teams that finish second and second from bottom.

Given that League C has four groups and League D has two, the two worst-ranked League C teams will automatically be relegated, while the other two will contest the playoffs against the League D runners-up.

Every team in Leagues A-C will play six matches (three each home and away), while League D teams play four fixtures.

In League A, the group winners and runners-up progress to the quarter-finals, played home-and-away over two legs.

In all playoff cases, the higher-ranked teams have the advantage of hosting the second leg.

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Ireland are one of 16 teams in League B. 

Teams are seeded into four pots based on previous performances.

Ireland are third seeds, along with Slovakia, Georgia and Romania, so the Boys in Green cannot be paired with any of these teams.

The first seeds are: Scotland, Hungary, Poland and Israel.

The second seeds are: Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria and Ukraine.

The fourth seeds are: Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland and Kosovo.

So, based on seeding, you can determine the theoretical worst and the best-case scenarios for Ireland:

Worst-case scenario for Ireland: Scotland, Switzerland, Sweden.

Best-case scenario for Ireland: Israel, Ukraine, Kosovo.