MINSK, 31 May (BelTA) – The Belarusian national football team launched its preparations for the UEFA Nations League group stage of the new season on 31 May, BelTA has learned.
The team will be preparing for the June fixtures under the tutelage of head coach Georgy Kondratiev.
The team gathered at the technical center of the Belarusian Football Federation and will be training in Vesnyanka. The team is scheduled to fly to Novi Sad, Serbia on 1 June where the Belarusian players will play their home games. In League C Belarus will open against Slovakia on 3 June, face Azerbaijan on 6 June and take on Kazakhstan on 10 June. The games will be played at the 15,000-seat Karadorde Stadium, but all will be played with empty seats. By decision of the Union of European Football Associations, fans are not allowed to attend matches played on neutral fields. The schedule of the rest of Belarus' fixtures is as follows: against Azerbaijan on 13 June, Kazakhstan on 22 September, Slovakia on 25 September.
The other quarters in League C are:
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Faroe Islands, Turkey;
Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo;
Georgia, Gibraltar, North Macedonia, Bulgaria.
The winners of the four groups will get the right to play in League B next season. The teams finishing last will play each other, with two losers relegating to League D.
This season of the UEFA Nations League will be the third one. Portugal was the winner of the first edition in 2019. France won the tournament in 2021. The Belarusian national team started in League D and, taking the first place in Group 2, went up to League C. Last season, Belarus finished second in Group 4, losing the first position to Albania.
