In the next seven days, Italy will find out what’s in store for them. An important week awaits for Roberto Mancini’s side: on Thursday 3 December (17:30 CET), the UEFA Executive Committee will officially confirm Italy’s status as hosts of the Final Four of the Nations League, while the draw for the two semi-finals will be made on the same day. On Monday 7 December, meanwhile, the qualifying draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will take place.

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE. 
After the European Championship has taken place in the summer of 2021, a tournament which will kick off at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome (a further three matches will also be played at the same stadium), another major international football event will be coming to Italy. On Thursday, the UEFA Executive Committee will officially confirm the country’s status as hosts of the Final Four of the Nations League, with the Azzurri having topped Group A1 with twelve points (three wins and three draws, seven goals scored and just two conceded) ahead of the Netherlands, Poland and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The Final Four, which will involve Italy, France, Spain and Belgium, will be played from 6 to 10 October 2021 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan and the Juventus Stadium in Turin. The draw for the two semi-finals will take place on Thursday in Nyon.

QATAR 2022. The Azzurri’s results in the Nations League also contributed to the fact that they’re among the top ten European seeds for the World Cup qualifying draw, which will take place on Monday 7 December in Zurich. After going 22 games unbeaten (17 wins and five draws), Italy are now back in the top ten of the FIFA Ranking (sixth in Europe) for the first time in four and a half years, as a result of which they’ll be in Pot 1. So that they can fit in their Nations League commitments in October 2021, Mancini’s side will play eight qualifying matches (instead of ten) and will therefore be drawn in a group containing five sides. The winners of the ten groups will automatically qualify for the tournament, while there will then be a play-off stage to decide the final three UEFA representatives in Qatar. The play-offs will involve the ten group runners-up and the best two Nations League group winners (based on the Nations League overall ranking) that finished outside the top two in their qualifying group.

Pots for the World Cup qualifying draw

Pot 1: Belgium, France, England, Portugal, Spain, ITALY, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands
Pot 2: Switzerland, Wales, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Romania
Pot 3: Russia, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Czech Republic, Norway, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Greece, Finland
Pot 4: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Israel, Belarus, Georgia, Luxembourg
Pot 5: Armenia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Andorra
Pot 6: Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, San Marino