The Republic of Ireland will once again have their work cutout as they were drawn together with Denmark and Wales in the inaugural UEFA Nations League.
The new competition which will replace pointless friends will all 54 UEFA member nations compete in a series of groups under four different divisions.
Although Martin O’Neill’s men were placed in league B, their task of securing one of four Euro 2020 places was made all the more daunting as they were drawn against the two teams they faced on the road to this year’s World Cup.
The new competition which will see Ireland play four games later this year has been officially created by UEFA in order to create more competitive football will replace the traditional Autumn friendlies.
Although Ireland can still potentially make the tournament via the traditional campaign which gets underway in March 2019, it was hoped the new competition would create a back door route to the European Championships in two years time.
Ireland were heavily defeated by Denmark in their two legged World Cup play off against the Danes in November losing 5-1 on aggregate, whilst they only managed to scrape ahead of Wales in the qualifying group by beating them 1-0 in the final game in Cardiff earlier that month.