Gibraltar have drawn Leichtenstein, Macedonia and Armenia in the inaugural UEFA Nations League.
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As a result, Northern Ireland swerved a potential grouping with the Republic of Ireland, who were instead pitted against Denmark in Group B4.
The group stage will take place from 6 September 2018 to November 2019.
Southgate added: “We saw in November with our matches against Brazil and Germany, the enthusiasm of players, supporters, of everybody was at a different level – and that is what we have to recreate to make global football meaningful”.
Southgate said: “Spain is a great game for us, they are one of the best teams in the world”.
Twenty teams will secure their berths in EURO 2020 through qualifiers to be held starting in March 2019, with the remaining four tickets up for grabs for those teams benefiting from the 2018-19 Nations League.
“Some countries knew they will always struggle to get to a World Cup or a Euro, and they will now have another reason to invest in youth development”. “We continue to build and enrich our offering in the long term and these rights are a great addition to our other strong worldwide rights featuring many Belgian star players in LaLiga, Serie A and Ligue 1”.
“We haven’t played Croatia in a while, but we want to test ourselves against those sorts of teams and try to beat them, this will be a great opportunity to do that”. “Now matches have been arranged for teams at similar levels, so the concept is quite good and motivates players to improve”. One of our biggest challenges is the cost of holding friendlies and bringing teams here.
‘This is a better format than friendlies, ‘ he said.
For manager-less Scotland, being in League C may be a blessing.
That’s Germany, France and the Netherlands all facing off in Group 1 of League A. Should be interesting. The 12 highest-ranked teams have been placed in League A and drawn in four groups of three.
Up against Portugal and Poland, it could have been worse for the Azzurri, but succeeding in that group will be far from an easy task.
Group 2: Russia, Sweden, Turkey.
Northern Ireland are in the same group as Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, England will play Spain and Croatia while Germany, France and Netherlands are all in the same pool.
Group 4: Wales, Republic of Ireland, Denmark.
Group 2: Hungary, Greece, Finland, Estonia.
Group 4: Romania, Montenegro, Lithuania.
Group 1: Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic.
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This ensures that a fourth-tier side – such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands or Malta – will reach Euro 2020.
