What do England need to get promoted in the Nations League?

England must beat Greece to have any chance of promotion to the top tier of the UEFA Nations League. Lee Carsley's interim tenure ends with a game against Ireland, the team he played for as a player.

However, the match against Ireland will be meaningless if the "Three Lions" cannot win against Greece. With 9 players withdrawing from this training session, the situation of the England team is quite chaotic. It seems that everyone is waiting for the day Thomas Tuchel officially becomes the head coach of the "Three Lions" on January 1, 2025.

However, Carsley still has to complete the task well in the remaining 2 matches for the "Three Lions" to be promoted to League A. In the match against Greece last month, Carsley fielded a team with many attacking players and led to a surprising defeat.

Greece have won all four of their matches in the Nations League this year. With a goal difference advantage over England (+8 to +5), they will still lead the group if they lose by less than two goals. And a draw against the Three Lions will give Greece the initiative. In the final match, they will face the bottom team in the group, Finland.

If England finish second, they will have to enter a promotion play-off against one of the third-placed teams in League A. Currently, Poland, Belgium, Hungary or Serbia are potential play-off opponents for England. The first and second legs will be played on 20 and 23 March next year.

That will be the time Tuchel has started working with the England team. At the same time, the German strategist also identified the opponents in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers of the "Three Lions". The draw will take place on December 13 with 12 groups with the participation of 4 or 5 countries.

There is still a small chance that England could drop to third place in their Nations League group, but this scenario is highly unlikely given England's much better goal difference than Ireland.

"We had a disappointing game against Greece, and now we have the chance to make amends when we go out there. I know how important that is. It's easy to have regrets after the result and the performance. I believe in what we've tried. It's important to try something new," Carsley said ahead of the match against Greece.