Malta was drawn in Group D1 of the UEFA Nations League along with Andorra, Latvia and the Faroe Islands. The draw was held in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino were drawn in Group D2.
The Faroe Islands are currently ranked 110th, Andorra 135th and Latvia 137th while Malta is 184th.
This will be the third consecutive competition where Malta will meet the Faroe Islands. In eight matches, the Faroe Islands won five, Malta won twice, the other game ending in a draw. The Faroe Islands won two friendly World Cup qualifiers in 1997 – first at Ta’ Qali and then at home with an identical 2-1 score. In August 2004, the Faroe Islands won a friendly match at home and then Malta won a friendly match in November 2013 at Ta’ Qali.
In the UEFA Nations League in 2018, Malta lost 1-3 in Torshavn and the clash at Ta’ Qali ended in 1-1 draw. On the other hand, in the EURO qualifiers last year, Malta won 2-1 at Ta’ Qali but lost 0-1 in Torshavn.
Malta and Latvia met five times – Malta defeated Latvia 1-0 in a friendly match in May 1992 and 2-1 in the Malta International Tournament in February 1998 at home, losing 0-2 at Ta’ Qali in September 2010 in a EURO qualifier. At home, Latvia won a friendly match at home in June 1994 and 2-0 in a EURO qualifier in October 2011.
Malta and Andorra met twice in friendly matches, both ending in 1-1 draws – a draw in the Rothmans Tournament in February 2000 and another draw in a friendly match in March 2002.
The 55 associations were split into four Leagues according to their position in the UEFA National Team Coefficient Rankings (1–16 in League A, 17–32 in League B, 33-48 in League C, 49–55 in League D). Within each League teams have been subdivided into two (League D) or four pots (for Leagues A, B and C), again according to the rankings.
Teams play each other home and away, with the four group winners of League A qualifying for the UEFA Nations League Finals in June 2021 that feature semi-finals, a third-place match and the final. The group winners in Leagues B, C and D gain promotion and those who finish bottom of the groups in Leagues A and B will be relegated.
As League C has four groups while League D has only two, the two League C teams to be relegated will be determined by two-leg play-offs in March 2022. If a team due to participate in the play-offs qualifies for the 2022 FIFA World Cup play-offs, the League C teams ranked 47th and 48th in the overall UEFA Nations League rankings are automatically relegated.
UEFA will confirm the 162 League phase fixtures, with dates and kick-off times, shortly. Kick-off times are 15:00 CET (Saturday and Sunday, optional), 18:00 CET and 20:45 CET. Matchweeks are below:
Matchday 1: 3–5 September 2020
Matchday 2: 6–8 September 2020
Matchday 3: 8–10 October 2020
Matchday 4: 11–13 October 2020
Matchday 5: 12–14 November 2020
Matchday 6: 15–17 November 2020
Finals: 2, 3, 6 June 2021
The UEFA Nations League will be the first competitive tests for new Malta national coach Devis Mangia after a number of friendly matches in the coming weeks.
Malta hosts Gibraltar and Azerbaijan on March 26 and March 30 respectively before playing two friendly matches in Austria against Slovenia and another team yet to be confirmed. Another friendly match is scheduled against Portugal on June 9 in Lisbon.
LEAGUE A
Group A1: Netherlands, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland
Group A2: England, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland
Group A3: Portugal (holders), France, Sweden, Croatia
Group A4: Switzerland, Spain, Ukraine, Germany
LEAGUE B
Group B1: Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland, Romania
Group B2: Czech Republic, Scotland, Slovakia, Israel
Group B3: Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary
Group B4: Wales, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria
LEAGUE C
Group C1: Montenegro, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan
Group C2: Georgia, North Macedonia, Estonia, Armenia
Group C3: Greece, Kosovo, Slovenia, Moldova
Group C4: Albania, Belarus, Lithuania, Kazakhstan
LEAGUE D
Group D1: Faroe Islands, Latvia, Andorra, Malta
Group D2: Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino
