England’s ‘entire focus’ is on this summer’s Euros, says Southgate

Gareth Southgate admitted all England’s focus was on this summer’s European Championship as the Nations League draw pitted his team against the Republic of Ireland.

The two sides will meet competitively for the first time since March 1991 and are also up against Euro 2004 winners Greece plus Finland in Group B2. The Nations League ties will be played in the autumn when South gate could, depending on how the summer tournament in Germany goes, be out of the job, and he admitted it was difficult to see past the euro sat the moment.

“Our entire focus is on (the Euros),” he told Sky Sports.

“I know we’re here for a draw for a different competition but all we’re thinking about is our preparation for Germany and we’re really looking forward to the competition. We finished runners-up last time. We’ve been ranked in the top five in the world for four or five years so we know we have a good team.

“But we know in tournaments that on one day there are lots of good teams in Europe who can win matches against each other. There are also some other strong squads.”

The last competitive encounter between England and the Republic was a Euro 92 qualifier at Wembley, where a Niall Quinn goal cancelled out Lee Dixon's opener.

Wales will be up against Iceland, Montenegro and Turkey in Group B4.

Michael O’neill’s Northern Ireland were drawn in Group C 3, where they will take on Luxembourg, bulgaria and belarus.

The league phase will be played between September and October before League A quarter-finals and promotion/ relegation play-offs take place in March 2025.