England, Scotland and Wales could be paired together in Saturday’s Euro 2024 finals draw.
The Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg will host the draw ceremony, which gets under way at 5pm UK time.
Gareth Southgate’s England, runners-up at Euro 2020, will be one of the favourites to win the tournament, with in-form Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham set to be the shining light in a strong line-up.
Their performances in qualifying, where they topped Group C ahead of reigning European champions Italy, have earned them a place among the top seeds for the draw in what could be Southgate’s final bow as England boss.
His contract will be up next December and his future beyond that is uncertain.
Scotland are in Pot Three, while Wales are one of the 12 play-off hopefuls occupying three spots in Pot Four.
Rob Page’s side still have two big hurdles to overcome in order to join England and Scotland at the finals. They must first beat Finland on March 21 then also see off Poland or Estonia on March 26 to book their passage to Germany.
Page said at the time of the play-off draw on November 23: “The form we’re in at the minute and with the ‘Red Wall’ at home, we’ll take anyone on in Cardiff.
“It’s a great opportunity for us: we’re two wins at home away from another qualification to a major tournament. We’re hoping now for two big efforts.”
The placing of England, Scotland and Wales in different pots keeps open the possibility of them all being drawn together.
England faced Scotland in the group stage of Euro 2020 and Wales at the same stage at last year’s World Cup in Qatar. England and Wales also met at the group stage in Euro 2016.
From an England perspective, a ‘Group of Death’ would arguably include Denmark, the highest-ranked side in Pot Two, and the Netherlands or Croatia from Pot Three.
A rematch with Italy would round out a tough-looking pool for Southgate’s men, with the Azzurri alongside Wales in Pot Four.
Southgate, speaking after England’s final qualifier away to North Macedonia, said: “There looks like being really strong teams in Pot Two and Pot Three looks like it could be very strong.
“In the Euros we had Croatia in with us, who proved to be one of the best teams in the world over the last few years, and we managed to navigate that, so we’ve just got to be ready for whatever comes our way.”
Scotland were extremely impressive in qualification, finishing runners-up to Spain in Group A and booking their place in Germany with two matches to spare.
“It’s always nice to qualify for a major tournament,” Clarke said after last month’s final qualifier at home to Norway.
“Obviously the last one was Covid-restricted so we missed that connection and that feel with the fans.
“It’s great for everyone in the country that we have something to look forward to next summer.”
Pot One also contains last year’s World Cup finalists France, a Portugal team who won all 10 of their qualifying matches and a vulnerable-looking host nation Germany, who sacked their coach Hansi Flick in September following a 4-1 friendly defeat to Japan.
Terzic hopeful of Wembley send-off for Dortmund hero Reus
Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus will leave the club after 12 years at the end of the season but a Champions League final at Wembley would see his career at the Ruhr valley club come full circle, said coach Edin Terzic said on Saturday.
Reus scored once and set up two more goals in their 5-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday as Dortmund prepare to face Paris Saint-Germain in their return leg in France on Tuesday after their 1-0 first leg win in Germany earlier this week.
The Germans, Champions League winners in 1997, are hoping to make their first final in the competition since 2013 when they lost to Bayern Munich at Wembley.
A return to that stadium for this year's final would be a fitting finale for Reus' Dortmund career, Terzic said.
"Yes, a cycle would close," Terzic said. "It was in his first season at Dortmund that he played at Wembley and it would be perfect to return there," Terzic told a press conference.
"He is a living legend. He has put all other stories in the shadow today.
"What I wish is that the Marco Reus festival lasts for another month and we experience a few more games together," Terzic said.
The 34-year-old, who joined in 2012 and also spent a decade at the Ruhr Valley club as a youth player, has scored 169 goals in 425 matches for Dortmund while setting up another 130.
Reus won two German Cups but did not collect any other major titles, agonisingly missing out on his first ever Bundesliga trophy last season on the final matchday.
Dortmund are in fifth place in the Bundesliga with two games remaining. They were at risk of missing out on Champions League football next season before their win over PSG sealed a fifth spot for Germany in next season's competition.
Bayern Munich defender Guerreiro doubtful for Real Madrid match - Tuchel
Bayern Munich defender Raphael Guerreiro is doubtful for next week's Champions League semi-final return leg at Real Madrid after he picked up an injury in their 3-1 loss to Stuttgart on Saturday, head coach Thomas Tuchel has said.
Bayern, who also had Eric Dier taken off at half-time with a head injury, face Real in Spain on Wednesday after their 2-2 draw in Munich earlier this week.
Portugal international Guerreiro was taken off in the 17th minute after he hurt his ankle in an attempt to block a shot.
"Raphael Guerreiro needed crutches to walk. It is very, very bitter for us. He was supposed to get some playing time today to be ready for Wednesday. Instead, now we have to see what happens," Tuchel told reporters.
"Eric Dier had to get stitches to the head wound that then opened up again so we at some point said it was enough. We did not want to risk it."
Bayern have several injury concerns, with defender Matthijs De Ligt still doing individual training and fellow defender Dayot Upamecano, who came on for Dier, working back to full fitness after recovering from injury.
"If there ever was a day when we needed to put this behind us quickly then it is today, and we see what we need for Wednesday," Tuchel said.
"The medical meetings at the moment are more maths than medical. Who is on 60 per cent, who on 30 per cent, who can't play at all," said the coach, who will leave at the end of the season following a disappointing domestic run.
Bayern are second in the league, two points ahead of Stuttgart in third and with two games left to play. The title has already been wrapped up by leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Pochettino: Chelsea facing 'most dangerous' game against West Ham
Mauricio Pochettino has warned his Chelsea players they face their "most dangerous" game when West Ham visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Blues picked up one of their best Premier League results of the season on Thursday in beating Tottenham 2-0 on home soil.
Another London derby now awaits, but Pochettino believes the quick turnaround in matches could work against his side.
"It is the most dangerous game because now we have to keep the same mentality for Sunday," he said.
"We are playing a team who are so strong, have physicality and West Ham are having a fantastic season and have been competing in Europe.
"We need to recover players. We don't have too many options to add fresh people to the squad and they have had the whole week to prepare."
Inconsistent Chelsea have often struggled to build on positive results this season, explaining why they sit eighth in the Premier League.
Pochettino's side are two points better off than West Ham with a game in hand as they both desperately attempt to keep their top-six hopes alive.
West Ham are winless in five matches in all competitions, seeing them drop down the Premier League and exit the Europa League.
Doubts remain over manager David Moyes' future, with his current deal expiring at the end of the campaign, but he is focusing only on Chelsea.
"We're going to have to play well to get a result against them," Moyes said at his pre-match press conference.
"I think [Pochettino's] had a difficult job, and they've started to hit form. Mauricio is a great manager, and they have a lot of good, young players.
"There are lots of tough stadiums to go to, Stamford Bridge being one of those. We'll go there and do everything we can to get a result."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chelsea - Cole Palmer
Palmer has undoubtedly been Chelsea's best player in his debut campaign at the club, having scored and assisted a combined 29 goals in 29 Premier League matches.
The England international has been directly involved in a goal against 13 different opponents in the competition this term, and he will be looking to make that 14 against West Ham after missing the reverse fixture.
West Ham - Michail Antonio
Antonio earned West Ham a point against Liverpool last time out and now has a combined 99 goals and assists in the Premier League for United.
That leaves the Jamaica international, who has four goals in his past seven outings, one short of hitting a milestone that no other player has ever managed for the club.
MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN
West Ham won 3-1 when the sides most recently met in August and are aiming to pull off a Premier League double in this fixture for just the third time, having previously done so in 2002-03 and 2019-20.
However, Chelsea have lost just one of their past 17 home league games against West Ham - a 1-0 defeat in November 2019 under Frank Lampard.
Goals can be expected as West Ham have gone 15 Premier League games without a clean sheet, last having a longer run without a shutout in the top flight between March and November 2008 (24 games).
Five of West Ham's last 10 Premier League matches, meanwhile, have seen both teams score two or more goals, including each of the last two.
Facing Chelsea on a Sunday could prove to be good news for West Ham as their London rivals have won just one of their past 13 league games on the final day of the week.
However, Moyes will need no reminding he has never won an away league match against Chelsea in 18 attempts. Pochettino will become the 11th different manager he has faced at Stamford Bridge in that time.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
CHELSEA - 49.4%
DRAW - 26.5%
WEST HAM - 24.1%
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