Italy in Pot One for Euro 2024 Qualifying Draw

Following Tuesday’s UEFA Nations League matches, Italy now knows their potential opponents ahead of 9 October’s UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying draw.

Gli Azzurri topped Hungary 2-0 on Sunday to finish top of their Nations League group. It means that Roberto Mancini’s men will be playing in next year’s Nations League finals. It also means that they will be in Pot 1 of the Euro qualifying draw. Since they will partake in the Nations League finals, Italy’s Euro qualifying group will consist of five teams and not six.

As Euro 2024 hosts, Germany is excluded from the draw. Russia is still banned, leaving 53 teams in the qualifying round. There will be seven groups of five and three groups of six, with all games played in the 2023 international windows. The top two teams from each group will join Germany in the finals.

There are also three more spots available, which will see 12 teams fight for those final places for the Euros. The 12 teams that won their Nations League groups in leagues A through C are assured a place in this playoff round, should they fail to end up in the top two of their group. This applies to Italy, who will be expected to qualify for the tournament automatically.

Potential Opponents for Italy

Looking at the teams Italy could face in the qualifiers, there are two clear big names. Those include defending World Cup and outgoing Nations League champions France, and England, who lost in last year’s Euro final. Both countries ended up in Pot 2 as a result of their poor Nations League showings.

Ukraine, Norway and Sweden are the standouts names in Pot 3, while Greece and Turkey the biggest names in Pot 4. Slovakia and Northern Ireland head Pot 5.

The draw for the 2024 Euro qualifiers will take place on 9 October at noon CET. The qualifying matches will occur in the five international windows in 2023, with the playoffs taking place in March 2024.

 

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