Euro 2012 qualifying draw

[Swanny]

Home nations await Euro 2012 draw


Euro 2012 qualifying draw
Venue: Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw Date: Sunday, 7 February Start: 1100 GMT Coverage: BBC 5 live & BBC Sport website
Three of the four home nations could face each other


England and Wales and either Scotland or Northern Ireland could be placed in the same group after Sunday's Euro 2012 qualifying draw in Warsaw at 1100 GMT. England are in pot one with the top seeds, Wales are in pot four, Scotland and Northern Ireland are in pot three.
Three groups will have a team from each of the first five pots. Six more groups will also have a team from pot six.
Holders Spain and Italy are also among the top seeds, as 51 teams battle to reach the finals in Poland and Ukraine.
There are 14 places available alongside co-hosts Poland and Ukraine for the tournament, which runs between 8 June to 1 July.
The road to the finals kicks off in September.
Each team in the qualifying groups will play one another on a home and away basis, with matches taking place up to October 2011.
The nine group winners will automatically qualify for the tournament together with the runner-up with the best overall record against the teams finishing first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth in their group.
The eight other runners-up will then face play-offs over two legs in November 2011.
606: DEBATE
Who do you want in the draw?
England find themselves in pot one alongside reigning European champions Spain, who won the title for the second time thanks to David Villa's sole strike in the 2008 final against Germany.
Fabio Capello has transformed English fortunes, guiding the team to this summer's World Cup finals with nine wins out of 10.
Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and France are also top seeds along with Russia and Croatia, who failed to book their places in South Africa.
After failing to qualify for a major tournament since France 98, Scotland will be hoping their luck will change under George Burley's successor Craig Levein.
Burley's reign came to an end following a 3-0 friendly defeat at the hands of potential group opponents Wales in Cardiff in November.
The Republic of Ireland are also in pot three and need their fortunes to change after suffering World Cup qualification heartbreak thanks to Thierry Henry's controversial 'handball' goal in the second leg of their play-off in Paris.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the former Soviet Union's triumph in the inaugural European Championship and this will be the main theme of the draw at Warsaw's Palace of Culture and Science.
While Poland's preparations are thought to be on schedule, there are doubts over Ukraine's ability to get their infrastructure properly in place, with less than two-and-a-half years to go.
Poland and Ukraine will be only the third co-hosts of the European Championship, following in the footsteps of Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000 and Austria and Switzerland in 2008.

Seeding pots
Pot one: Spain (holders), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia
Pot two: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania
Pot three: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Pot four: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus
Pot five: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein
Pot six: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino

BBC Sport - Football - Home nations await Euro 2012 draw

[Audere est Facere]

nooooooo!!!

Croatia cant be with england this time

[HeroesComesandGoes]

Pot Six is just a waste of time...they're goal difference matches...anyway, Serbia would be nice. Challenging, but, nice...

[BrumSpur]

It might be interesting for Croatia to draw Montenegro!

I heard today that Niko's dad (Zlatko) has been appointed manager of the Montenegro national team.

How about Kranjcar junior to score a few goals in qualifiers, against his dad's team??

[charlotterio]

Aaah, I hope that Estonia will get a good draw. Like England or Croatia or Russia wouldn't be bad.. Neither Sweden or Rep. of Ireland. Or Wales. I just hope that we will get awesome opponents cause we won't achieve anything any way... Like we haven't in past... 20 years?

[thfcire]

i wouldnt mind getting england out of the pot to be honest,their style of play is closest to ours,plus england havnt beaten us in years{puts the tin hat on and waits for the flak ha ha}

[steelktm]

i hope Ireland gets a decent pull. would love to see them at Euros since they were robbed completely for WC. different thread i know. however how great would it be if Ireland were to get France and win that group. i'm sure UEFA and FIFA would be like "sorry but actually 2nd place gets in not first in this group. sorry FIA maybe next time."

[thfcire]

i hope Ireland gets a decent pull. would love to see them at Euros since they were robbed completely for WC. different thread i know. however how great would it be if Ireland were to get France and win that group. i'm sure UEFA and FIFA would be like "sorry but actually 2nd place gets in not first in this group. sorry FIA maybe next time."

wouldnt be surprized with them french cnuts mate.

[tpucic]

it could be a group like : Croatia , Serbia , Bosnia , Slovenia , Montenegro and whatever ....Ex Yugoslavia Cup

[BrumSpur]

Pretty good draw all round, really.

England get Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales and Montenegro (managed by Niko's dad).

Croatia get Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia and Malta.

Is everybody happy?

[Sergio_CRO_KR]

I'm happy

[grga145]

England got tricky group,there´s no team for improving goal difference,like Croatia got with Malta,France with Luxemburg or Spain with Lichtenstein.But England is so good,there´s no hard group for them.
Croatia also got nice group,we recently played with all those teams in qualifications except Georgia.Greece was in the same group with us for WC ´98 in France,Israel was in last euro-qualies,Latvia & Malta also twice in our group,and we never had any problems with any of those teams-I think we won all matches against this teams,only 1 draw with Greece,so that sholud be sure win of this group for us.And we will be very motivated,since we missed this WC...

[Sergio_CRO_KR]

Croatia played 1:1 with Malta away few years ago... That was painful (eventhought Niko scored for Cro)

[jeremija444]

Don't tell me you forgot about the infamous draw in Malta a few years back

It didn't cost us though.

EDIT: Too slow

I'm delighted with the draw.

[HeroesComesandGoes]

Pretty good draw all round, really.

England get Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales and Montenegro (managed by Niko's dad).

Croatia get Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia and Malta.

Is everybody happy?

Yep, nice draw...can't wait for England -v- Wales - Bale against Lennon, possibly. Interesting.