All-Ireland draw: Mayo and Cork in tough-looking Group 1

The draw for the inaugural All-Ireland SFC group stages took place this afternoon in Croke Park, with Groups 1 and 2 looking the toughest, provided the provincial finals go to form.

The 16 teams were drawn today ahead of the provincial finals over the next two weekends, so the identities of half the teams are yet to be determined.

Group 1 sees Mayo and Cork pitted against the winners of the Kerry-Clare Munster SFC final and the losers of the Dublin-Louth Leinster SFC final.

Group 2 sets the winners of the Galway-Sligo Connacht SFC final against the losers of the Derry-Armagh Ulster SFC decider, along with Tyrone and 2022 Tailteann Cup winners Westmeath.

Group 3 has the Leinster winners and beaten Connacht finalists alongside Roscommon and Kildare, while Group 4 will contain the Ulster winners, beaten Munster finalists, Monaghan and Donegal.

The group winners will advance straight to the quarter-finals, which will subject to the avoidance of repeat provincial final pairings and group stage pairings where possible.

The second-placed teams will host a third-placed team from another group in preliminary quarter-finals.

The draw for the Tailteann Cup also took place, with favourites Cavan up against Offaly, Laois and London in Group 1.

Group 2 contains Meath, Down, Tipperary and Waterford, while Group 3 houses Limerick, Wicklow, Longford, Carlow.

Finally Group 4 is made up of Fermanagh, Antrim, Wexford and Leitrim.

The Tailteann Cup games begin the weekend of 13/14 May. The teams that top the group advance directly to the quarter-finals, the four second-placed teams will play one of the three best third-placed teams or New York in preliminary quarter-finals.

The Sam Maguire matches will be played on weekends of 27-28 May, 3-4 June and