The draw for the league phase of the third edition of the UEFA Nations League took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday.
Armenia, which is in group B1 of League B, will face Ukraine, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. The games will take place in June and September 2022, the Football Federation of Armenia said.
The Nations League, introduced to replace meaningless friendly matches with more competitive games, splits all of Europe’s 55 member nations into four leagues.
Each league contains four groups of four teams except for the bottom League D, which has seven teams in total and just two groups.
The tournament will be played either side of next year’s World Cup, with group matches from June to September and then the four-team finals — featuring the winners of the four groups in League A – in June 2023.
“We must be competitive and play to win in all the matches”, Armenia head coach Joaquin Caparros after the Nations League draw.
“The teams are prepared very well physically and technically. We have to be competitive and play for a win in all the matches. Of course, Ukraine are the favorites, but Republic of Ireland and Scotland are also good teams,” he added.
Armenia captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan is confident the team is able to fight against all opponents in the Nations League.
“I think it’s not the easiest group, but it could be even worse. We know Republic of Ireland very well and have “very good” memories about them,” Henrikh said ironically.
Armenia was left out of Euro 2012 play-off after referee Iturralde Gonsalez incorrectly red-carded Armenian keeper Roman Berezovsky. Replays showed Berezovsky blocking the shot with his chest but the referee had made his decision and uncapped Arsen Petrosyan had to be introduced with holding midfielder Edgar Malakyan sacrificed.
“We’ll play against Scotland for the first time. As for Ukraine, Armenia has played against them on many occasions. And though the last meeting was in early 2000s, we know them very well. I think we are capable of fighting against these teams. If we manage to stay in B league, it will be a success,” Mkhitaryan said.
Armenia’s schedule:
June 4, 2022 – Scotland vs Armenia
June 7, 2022 – Armenian vs Republic of Ireland
June 11, 2022 – Ukraine vs Armenia
June 14, 2022 – Armenia vs Scotland
September 23, – 2022 Armenia vs Ukraine
September 26 – Republic of Ireland vs Armenia
