Euro 2024 qualifying draw: England to face Euro 2020 winners Italy and Ukraine in group

England have been drawn with Italy, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta in the Euro 2024 qualifying draw.

The group stage was drawn on Sunday morning, with the two teams who faced off in the Euro 2020 final meeting once again in Group C.

England will also take on Ukraine, with the top two teams qualifying automatically for the competition in Germany. North Macedonia, who prevented Italy from qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Malta are also in the group.

England’s recent performances against Italy do not bode the happiest of memories, with Gareth Southgate’s men losing on penalties against the Italians at Wembley after reaching their first-ever Euros final.

Currently, the England team are on a run of six games without a win, suffering Nations League relegation at the hands of Italy. They enter the upcoming World Cup with a lot of uncertainties.

Euro 2024 will have 24 teams, with Germany automatically qualifying as the host country and therefore were not in the draw.

There are 10 groups, seven with five teams and three with six. The top two teams in each group will qualify automatically for the tournament. The final places will be decided through the play-offs, with entry determined by performances in the Nations League.

There were several restrictions that prevented some countries from being paired together.

Because of the war in Ukraine, Ukraine and Belarus could not have been drawn into the same group. Political unrest prevented Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Gibraltar and Spain, from being paired. Kosovo could not have been in a group with either Bosnia-Herzegovina or Serbia.

Due to the locations of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Iceland, being on the edges of Europe, they could only have been drawn with one team from the other side of the continent.

Euro 2024 qualifying draw in full

Group A: Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus

Group B: Netherlands, France, Republic of Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar

Group C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta

Group D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey, Latvia

Group E: Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands, Moldova

Group F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia

Group G: Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania

Group H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino

Group I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra

Group J: Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein