Soccer

Republic of Ireland to start Nations League campaign against England in Dublin

England boss Southgate not surprised by Carsley links to Republic job

The Republic of Ireland and England face each other in their Nations League opener
The Republic of Ireland and England face each other in their Nations League opener (Ben Stansall/PA)
By Simon Peach, PA Chief Football Writer

The Republic of Ireland and England will kick-off the next edition of the Nations League against each other in their first match competitive meeting since 1991.

The nations were drawn together in Paris on Thursday and UEFA has confirmed the pair will open Group B2 in Dublin on September 7.

The return fixture in England will take place on matchday six on November 17, with the pool completed by Finland and Greece.

The Republic of Ireland have still to appoint a successor to Stephen Kenny who stepped down as manager in November, with FAI CEO Jonathan Hill insisting no-one has yet been formally offered the job.

Former Republic of Ireland midfielder and England U21 coach Lee Carsley has been heavily linked with the post while ex-Celtic boss and former Northern Ireland international Neil Lennon is also rumoured to be interested.

Carsley’s stock has risen since he guided England’s U21s to European Championship success in 2023 and England manager Gareth Southgate says he isn’t surprised by Carsley being linked with the Republic job.

In the wake of the Nations League draw, Southgate said: “I think he feels valued by us but I can understand why other people would be interested as well.

“He enjoys the job he has with us. We’re really happy working with him.

“It’s more John McDermott’s role as technical director to discuss things but he’s done a fabulous job and we’ve got a fabulous connection with all our junior teams.

“We have a club environment basically and we try to share as much as we can and we’re always interested to know more and more about the younger players.”

These will be the first competitive fixtures between the Republic and England since a Euro 92 qualifier at Wembley. They have met in four friendlies since then, most recently in November 2020 at Wembley.

Lee Carsley is the England Under-21 manager
England U21 manager Lee Carsley is among the favourites to succeed Stephen Kenny as Republic of Ireland manager (Martin Rickett/PA)

This will be England’s first taste of the Nations League’s second tier, having gone from winning bronze in 2019 at the inaugural edition to relegation in the most recent campaign.

Scotland have been promoted to the top tier this time around and have been drawn against Croatia, Portugal and Poland.

Steve Clarke’s men open Group A1 at home to Poland on September 5 and round it off away to the same opposition on November 18.

Wales welcome Turkey when they kick-off Group B4 on September 6, with Iceland and Montenegro completing their group.

Northern Ireland also start their campaign with a home fixture. Luxembourg are the visitors on September 5, with Bulgaria and Belarus completing Group C3.

Their away game against Belarus, scheduled for October 12, is set to be played at a neutral venue.

UEFA, in its Nations League draw press kit, said: “Based on decisions by the UEFA executive committee, Belarus and Ukraine organise their respective home matches on neutral ground until further notice.”