WALES have been drawn against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark in UEFA’s new Nations League competition.

Recently installed national team boss Ryan Giggs was in Lausanne for the draw which saw his Wales team take their place in Group Four of League B.

The competition's format sees four leagues split into four groups of three or four teams, replacing the majority of friendlies.

The first round of matches for the 2018/2019 season will start in September.

The Nations League, which has promotion and relegation, is designed to allow teams to play against those who are similarly ranked and offers some who don’t qualify for Euro 2020 via the normal route a path to the play-offs.

Scotland, who are still without a new manager, were one of the top seeds in League C and drawn into Group One alongside Albania and Israel.

Northern Ireland are in Group Three of League B, and will play Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina, while England face Spain and Croatia in Group Four of League A.

Group One sees world champions Germany meet France and Holland, while Euro 2016 winners Portugal face Italy and Poland in Group Three.

The Nations League will see semi-finals, the final and a third-placed game held between June 5-9, 2019.

The 16 Nations League group winners will go into play-offs for Euro 2020, to be played in March 2020.

If they have already qualified for the European Championship the next best-ranked team in their league will take their place in the play-offs.

Each league has a path of its own and will consist of two single-leg semi-finals and a one-off final – the winner of each path qualifies for Euro 2020.

At the end of the group stages of the Nations League, those who finish bottom of the groups will be relegated to the league below and four teams will be promoted to the league above.