16 teams set for Euro 2020 playoffs; draw to shape games

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — The 16-team lineup for the 2020 European Championship playoffs was confirmed Tuesday with a draw needed this week to decide which three nations join Iceland in the top-tier bracket.

The 16 teams will be divided into four brackets based on their placement in last year’s Nations League, with the winner in each advancing to next year’s tournament.

Single-game semifinals in each bracket will be played on March 26, with the four finals played five days later.

A UEFA draw on Friday will decide home advantage in the four playoff finals.

The final qualifying group games on Tuesday settled the second-tier League B playoffs: Bosnia-Herzegovina will host Northern Ireland, and Slovakia will host Ireland.

Iceland was the only team ranked high enough for the League A bracket that didn’t qualify directly for the tournament, meaning three teams that would otherwise have been in League C will be placed in that pot instead.

Those three will be taken from the quartet of Bulgaria, Hungary, Israel and Romania.

The fourth team among those will face Scotland in League C, which also includes Norway and Serbia.

Scotland, Romania and Hungary are among the 12 host countries for the 24-team tournament. Their reward for advancing would be at least two home games in the Euro 2020 group stage.

League D includes Georgia, Belarus, North Macedonia and Kosovo, four teams that have never reached a major tournament before.

Euro 2020 groups are drawn Nov. 30 in Bucharest, Romania, four months before the playoffs.