Home Nations Set to Be Pitted Against Each Other in Inaugural UEFA Nations League

Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland could all be drawn together in UEFA's inaugural Nations League next year due to their respective seedings.

The three home nations could face one another in the competition, which is set to replace friendly matches on the international stage in a bid to "create more meaningful and competitive matches for teams and a dedicated calendar and structure for national team football".

BBC Sport has revealed that the Red Dragons, the Green & White Army and the Boys in Green could be pitted against one another after they were placed in the League B mix in the various seedings pots.

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Wales have been placed into pot one, with the Republic in pot two and Northern Ireland in pot three.

England and Scotland, meanwhile, have been put into Leagues A and C respectively, with the duo then placed into pots one in both categories.

The draw could see Wales and the Republic face off for the first time since the latter ended the former's hopes of qualifying for a first World Cup in 60 years when they beat Wales 1-0 in Cardiff in early October.

Northern Ireland and Wales, meanwhile, also battled it out in the last-16 of Euro 2016 - a match that Chris Coleman's side won 1-0 on their way to the semi-finals in France.

The UEFA Nations League will provide four nations with a place at Euro 2020 - the first international tournament in Europe to be held in multiple cities across the continent - and help determine which sides get seeded into which pots for the competition's subsequent draw.

In a further attempt to make the matches even more competitive, there will be promotional places up for grabs and the possibility of a national side being relegated into a lower league.

Leagues A and B will be comprised of four groups of three teams, League C will have one group of three and three groups of four and League D will contain four groups of four.

With Euro 2020 also being expanded to 24 teams, those nations in League D - the 16 lowest ranked sides in the competition - will have the chance to qualify for the tournament too.