On Saturday at 18:00 CET, the draw for the European Championship will begin, and by 7, Joachim Löw and his team will know who they face in the group stage.
Which 24 teams are involved?
Pot 1: France, Spain, Germany, England, Portugal, Belgium
Pot 2: Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine
Pot 3: Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary
Pot 4: Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Wales, Albania, Northern Ireland
Who are the EURO newcomers?
There are five teams in the draw who have never featured at the European Championships before: Slovakia, Albania, Iceland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Austria have only played in the competition once, but never qualified as they were granted automatic group stage entry as co-hosts with Switzerland in 2008. Austria and Northern Ireland topped their groups, while the other four newcomers finished second, all avoiding having to qualify through the play-offs.
Who is making the draw?
Ruud Gullit and Bixente Lizarazu will host the draw, while EURO legends Oliver Bierhoff, Angelos Charisteas, Vicente Del Bosque, Antonín Panenka and David Trezeguet will make it.
How will the draw be done exactly
The 23 qualified teams (excluding hosts France) are in four pots and will be divided into six groups of four teams (A to F), one from each pot. Pot 1 teams will be drawn first. France automatically go into the first group, so the rest of the teams in the pot will be picked one by one and will go into the groups individually (B to F). With one team in each group from pot 1, one team from pot 4 will then go into the groups, the first that is picked going into group A, the second into group B and so on. The same process will continue with pot 3 and then pot 2 until one team from each pot is in each group.
Potential difficult opponents for Germany
The best of pots 2, 3 and 4 are expected to be Italy, Czech Republic and Turkey respectively. Avoiding all other teams in pot 1, this could be Germany’s toughest potential group. "I really don’t mind who we get drawn against. The opposition is not important, it’s how we play that counts. It’s all down to us," said coach Löw on the upcoming draw for the group stage.
Group stage qualification
Group winners and second place teams will qualify for the round of 16, along with the six best third placed teams.
created by mmc/alc
On Saturday at 18:00 CET, the draw for the European Championship will begin, and by 7, Joachim Löw and his team will know who they face in the group stage.
Which 24 teams are involved?
Pot 1: France, Spain, Germany, England, Portugal, Belgium
Pot 2: Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine
Pot 3: Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary
Pot 4: Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Wales, Albania, Northern Ireland
Who are the EURO newcomers?
There are five teams in the draw who have never featured at the European Championships before: Slovakia, Albania, Iceland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Austria have only played in the competition once, but never qualified as they were granted automatic group stage entry as co-hosts with Switzerland in 2008. Austria and Northern Ireland topped their groups, while the other four newcomers finished second, all avoiding having to qualify through the play-offs.
Who is making the draw?
Ruud Gullit and Bixente Lizarazu will host the draw, while EURO legends Oliver Bierhoff, Angelos Charisteas, Vicente Del Bosque, Antonín Panenka and David Trezeguet will make it.
How will the draw be done exactly
The 23 qualified teams (excluding hosts France) are in four pots and will be divided into six groups of four teams (A to F), one from each pot. Pot 1 teams will be drawn first. France automatically go into the first group, so the rest of the teams in the pot will be picked one by one and will go into the groups individually (B to F). With one team in each group from pot 1, one team from pot 4 will then go into the groups, the first that is picked going into group A, the second into group B and so on. The same process will continue with pot 3 and then pot 2 until one team from each pot is in each group.
Potential difficult opponents for Germany
The best of pots 2, 3 and 4 are expected to be Italy, Czech Republic and Turkey respectively. Avoiding all other teams in pot 1, this could be Germany’s toughest potential group. "I really don’t mind who we get drawn against. The opposition is not important, it’s how we play that counts. It’s all down to us," said coach Löw on the upcoming draw for the group stage.
Group stage qualification
Group winners and second place teams will qualify for the round of 16, along with the six best third placed teams.
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