DFB team threatens strong group: This is how the Nations League draw works

2024/25 with quarter-finals for the first time

As of now, Julian Nagelsmann will no longer be the national coach when the national team plays in the Nations League again at the beginning of September. The 36-year-old, whose contract expires after the home European Championships in the summer, will be in the draw this Thursday (6:00 p.m.) in Paris. In the A-League, the DFB selection is threatened with a strong group.

Pots of the Nations League draw and possible DFB opponents

Germany is sorted into pot 3 in the Maison de la Mutualité for the strongest league along with Switzerland, France and Poland. The DFB selection will be drawn with one opponent from pots 1, 2 and 4. Possible configurations include Nations League opponents Spain, Portugal and Serbia. The game will be played on six matchdays in the second half of 2024 in return games.

Pot 1: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Netherlands

Pot 2: Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, Hungary

Pot 4: Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Scotland

Procedure and restrictions of the Nations League draw

The A league is the last to be drawn after leagues D, C and B. The complete pots are drawn first – when the Germany ball is drawn, two opponents have already been determined. The restrictions set by UEFA, such as Armenia and Azerbaijan not being allowed to meet, do not affect the A-League.

News and history in the Nations League

In the 2024/25 season, a quarter-final will be played for the first time in the Nations League, through which four of the 16 European starting places for the 2026 World Cup will be awarded. The four group winners of the A-League are no longer automatically qualified for the final tournament of the best four nations in the summer. Playoffs will be held together with the group runners-up in March 2025 and will be drawn in November.

But even this rule would only have been enough for the national team to advance for the first time in previous editions of the tournament. In the 2022/23 season, Nagelsmann’s predecessor Hansi Flick only finished third in the group. In 2020/21 with Joachim Löw, the DFB selection came second behind Spain, but what will be remembered most is the 6-0 defeat against the Spaniards in November 2020. In the premiere season of 2018/19, Germany came last and only in the smaller group of three Saved from relegation by the later increase.

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