Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco has family in Italy, but confesses he’s not sure who they will cheer on in the Nations League that day, while France and Israel are also tough opponents.
The draw was made in Paris today and the tournament will begin in September, with the top two from each group going through to the quarter-finals in March 2025.
The winners then enter the Final Four competition in June 2025.
“Whether you think a draw is good or bad depends on the expectations you went in with,” Belgium coach Tedesco told HLN.
“In this competition, we were always going to have tough opponents and we knew that. I am happy with the draw. It is a good opportunity to measure ourselves against the best after the European Championship.”
Italy reached the Final Four in 2021 and 2023, beating Belgium in the first of those for third place, while France won the Nations League in 2018.
“The ambition should always be to win, it doesn’t matter who we are up against. France have a lot of quality, both in the starting XI and on the bench.
“I am very happy to have drawn Italy, because I have family living there. That will be special. Naturally, my family supports Italy, but maybe for one day they can cheer on my team – I think.”
Tedesco was born in Italy, in the province of Cosenza, but his family moved to Germany when he was only two years old.
It remains to be seen what the situation will be like in September, but it is possible the away fixtures with Israel will have to be played on neutral turf due to security concerns.
“It’s true there is a special situation there, but I can have little impact on that decision,” concluded Tedesco.
𝙎𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙤 𝙐𝙀𝙁𝘼 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚 🔮
🔴 𝘎𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰 𝟤
▶️ ITALIA 🇮🇹
▶️ Belgio 🇧🇪
▶️ Francia 🇫🇷
▶️ Israele 🇮🇱#UNL#Nazionale #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/xwdsmddD6c— Nazionale Italiana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri) February 8, 2024