Qualifying Draws for EURO 2016: Spain Pitched against Ukraine, Portugal to Grace France
The qualifying draw for the EURO 2016 competition was held at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis in Nice, France and saw current champion, Spain matched with
Slovakia, Belarus, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Luxembourg in Group C.
The draw which was conducted by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, EURO winners Ruud Gullit and Bixente Lizarazu and 13 of Europe’s goalkeeping greats: Vítor Baía (Portugal), Fabien Barthez (France), Rinat Dasaev (Russia), José Ángel Iribar (Spain), Pat Jennings (Northern Ireland), Andreas Köpke (Germany), Antonis Nikopolidis (Greece), Jean-Marie Pfaff (Belgium), Peter Schmeichel (Denmark), Jan Tomaszewski (Poland), Hans van Breukelen (Netherlands), Ivo Viktor (Czech Republic) and Dino Zoff (Italy) has Fifty-three nations involved.
2012 Runners-up, Italy are in Group H and will play two of the teams they met en route to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Bulgaria and Malta, plus Azerbaijan, Croatia and Norway. Germany are in Group D alongside the Republic of Ireland, Poland, Scotland, Georgia and Gibraltar, preparing to embark on their maiden qualifying campaign.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose first major tournament is the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, are pitched against Belgium, Israel, Wales, Cyprus, and Andorra.
The European Qualifiers kicks off on Sunday 7 September 2014 and are made up of eight groups of six teams and one of five, who contest home and away fixtures. Nine section winners, Nine runners-up and the best third-placed side will qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining third-placed countries will contest play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the 24-nation finals.
Qualifying takes place under the new Week of Football concept, in which games are played from Thursday to Tuesday. Host, France are assured of their place in the final tournament, but will play centralised friendlies in accordance with the Week of Football schedule against those in the five-team qualifying pool: Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia and Albania.
The Full lists of Competing Groups are below:
Group A
Netherlands, Czech Republic, Turkey, Latvia, Iceland, Kazakhstan
Group B
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Israel, Wales, Cyprus, Andorra
Group C
Spain, Ukraine, Slovakia, Belarus, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Luxembourg
Group D
Germany, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Scotland, Georgia, Gibraltar
Group E
England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, San Marino
Group F
Greece, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands
Group G
Russia, Sweden, Austria, Montenegro, Moldova, Liechtenstein
Group H
Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Malta
Group I
France, Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia, Albania