The Malta football team will face current European champions Italy and finalists England in the 2024 European Championship qualifiers. The draws were held in Germany on Sunday

There were great expectations among the football fraternity in Malta to see the national team paired with at least one of the European giants and Sunday’s draw pitted the national team with arguably the two most popular national teams on the island as they will face Italy and England in the qualifying campaign that will get under way next March.

Malta, which, earlier this month missed out on promotion in the UEFA Nations League following a 2-1 defeat in Estonia, will also be up against Ukraine and Northern Macedonia, in a five-team Group C.

The first matches of the Euro 2024 qualifiers are planned for March 23, 2023.

Malta FA president Bjorn Vassallo said that the opportunity to play against two countries that among the best in the world and the most followed in Malta  will excite the Maltese fans and increase their interest in the national team.

“This is, without doubt, an historic draw for the Maltese national team,” Vassallo said in his first comments to the Malta Football Association website.

“The fact that our national team has been drawn to face Italy and England, two teams who enjoy a high pedigree in international football, inevitably provides us with a very tough draw from a sporting aspect.

The Malta FA has some work to do before the start of the European Championship qualifiers as it needs to settle the future of the national teams’ head coach Devis Mangia who is currently suspended after he was accused of alleged improper conduct against two national team players.

The case has been referred to the Malta FA’s Safeguarding Officer.

Preparations for the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign are due to start with a friendly match against Ireland in November.

Malta has faced both England and Italy in qualifying matches for the European Championship.

Malta’s first competitive meeting with Italy, for the 1988 European Championship saw the Italians win at the National Stadium 2-0 on December 6, 1986 before romping to a 5-0 win in the return match in January 1987.

Malta and Italy were drawn again for the Euro 2016 qualifiers. On that occasion the Italians had to battle more for the points as they grabbed a 1-0 win in Ta’ Qali in March 2014.

Malta faced Italy also for the 1994 World Cup and the Azzurri, led by Arrigo Sacchi, won 2-0 at the National Stadium before scoring a comprehensive 6-1 win in the second match in Italy.

On the other hand, Malta faced England just once in the European Championship qualifiers.

In fact, the first meeting between the two countries was way back on February 3, 1971 when in front of a packed Stadium in Gżira, England battled to a 1-0 win.

The return match at Wembley Stadium was played three months later with the Three Lions romping to a 5-0 win.

Thirty five years had to pass for the two countries to be drawn against each other but this time they faced each other in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and on that occasion England won the first clash at Wembley Stadium 2-0 before cruising to a 4-0 win in Ta’ Qali the following year.

Qualifying groups   

These are the Euro 2024 qualifying groups following the draw on Sunday:

Group A

Spain

Scotland

Norway

Georgia

Cyprus

 

Group B

Netherlands

France

Republic of Ireland

Greece

Gibraltar

 

Group C

Italy

England

Ukraine

North Macedonia

Malta

 

Group D

Croatia

Wales

Armenia

Turkey

Latvia

 

Group E

Poland

Czech Republic

Albania

Faroe Islands

Moldova

 

Group F

Belgium

Austria

Sweden

Azerbaijan

Estonia

 

Group G 

Hungary

Serbia

Montenegro

Bulgaria

Lithuania

 

Group H

Denmark

Finland

Slovenia

Kazakhstan

Northern Ireland

San Marino

 

Group I

Switzerland

Israel

Romania

Kosovo

Belarus

Andorra

 

Group J

Portugal

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Iceland

Luxembourg

Slovakia

Liechtenstein