England have been drawn to face Italy in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri defeated Gareth Southgate’s side on penalties at Wembley to win the Euro 2020 final.
Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta are the other teams in Group C.
Italy will also face North Macedonia who defeated Mancini’s side in their 2022 World Cup play-off in March.
Southgate said, “It’s ironic when you’ve had a fixture like we’ve had and then played them again already again so recently that you seem to have these sort of things.”
Mancini, on the other hand, reacted to the draw, saying that he knew they would be getting England.
He said, “I knew that we’d get either England or France, but that’s OK. It’s a decent five-team group, no easy matches, all ones we can have a go at.”
Other big ties are Netherlands and Greece in Group B, Croatia and Wales in Group D, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal would face Iceland and 4 other Nations in Group J.
Russia were not part of the draw as they are banned from Euro 2024 qualification by UEFA following their invasion of Ukraine.
Two teams – the group winners and runners-up – will qualify automatically from each of the 10 groups for Euro 2024.
Three teams will then qualify via the play-offs.
Germany automatically qualify as hosts for the 24-nation- tournament
Euro 2024 qualifying groups 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, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein.
The opening game of Euro 2024 is billed for June 14, 2024 with the final taking place on July 14, 2024 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany.
