FOOTBALL: Northern Ireland will learn Nations Cup fate in January

The competition, which will begin in September 2018, will run alongside qualifying for the European Championship and has been introduced to provide more competitive and meaningful international matches for countries.

Four places for Euro 2020 will be up for grabs in the inaugural Nations League, which will see UEFA’s 55 countries split into four leagues depending on their ranking, with each league divided into four groups.

Teams will play each other home and away between September and November 2018, with the group winners gaining promotion and the bottom side dropping down.

The winners of each of the groups in League A - which will include the top-ranked sides - will advance to a final-four competition in summer 2019.

Qualifying for Euro 2020 will now begin in March 2019 with countries split into 10 groups of five or six.

The top two sides from each group will qualify for the tournament and the last four places will be determined through the European Qualifiers play-offs, which will take place within a league.

The play-offs will be contested by the 16 UEFA Nations League group winners or the next best-ranked team in their league if the top side have already qualified for Euro 2020.

The draw for the league phase will take place in Lausanne on January 24.