England, Italy and Germany were placed in the same group in the draw for the next edition of the UEFA Nations League on Thursday, a competition in which France will defend their title. England also played Hungary twice in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup earlier this year, winning 4-0 in Budapest and drawing 1-1 at home. France won the last edition of the Nations League, beating Spain 2-1 in the final in Milan in October. The Nations League, introduced to replace meaningless friendly matches with more competitive games, splits all of Europe's 55 member nations into four leagues. The first Nations League included play-offs that allowed one nation from each league to qualify for Euro 2020, resulting in minnows North Macedonia coming out of League D to play at the finals.

Source: The Nation December 17, 2021 13:10 UTC