Euro Qualifying

[noddy102]

When is the draw?

[jo84]

The draw is February 7.

More than Spain and England will cause us trouble from Pot 1, wouldnt fancy getting Holland especially, but the rest of the pots are grand. With a favourable draw we could qualify as the best second-placed team. Maybe even get France and top the group.

[tetsujin1979]

The second pot is surprisingly weak, none of Czech Republic, Sweden, Turkey or Romania qualified for the World Cup.
Cyprus's improvement is shown in their promotion to Pot 4 (have they ever been higher?) while Montenegro are the obvious strongest side in the bottom two pots.

Dream:
Croatia
Sweden
Belarus
Liechtenstein
Andorra

Nightmare:
Spain
Greece/Turkey
Slovenia
Montenegro
Faroe Islands

(note: I don't think Faroe Islands are the worst team we could face, but the build up to facing the former manager would overshadow the game itself)

[Greenbod]

I'd hate to get the Faroes.........want to see Kerr doing well.

[Riddickcule]

Seedings is a complete farce

[Rossi]

Hopefully FIFA will see our injustice in not qualifying and will therefore rig the draw so we get an easy group!

[shakermaker1982]

England
Slovakia
Us
Wales
Liechtenstein
Andorra

[bennocelt]

Seeding pots
Pot 1: Spain (holders), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia

Pot 2: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania

Pot 3: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Pot 4: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus

Pot 5: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein

Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino


worst>
SPAIN
SERBIA
US
SLOVENIA
KAZAKHSTAN
AZERBAIJAN

best>
PORTUGAL
SLOVAKIA
US
WALES
LIECHIENSTIEN
SAN MARINO

[DonnyG]

Hopefully FIFA will see our injustice in not qualifying and will therefore rig the draw so we get an easy group!

They would never do such an underhand thing

[DonnyG]

So it's still 16 countries in the Euro 2012 finals? And with Poland and Ukraine there as hosts that leaves 14 spots. So another play-off for 2nd placed teams?

EDIT:
There will be total of nine groups. Six of this groups will have six teams drawn into them (one each from pots 1 to 6 below); the remaining three groups will consist of five teams. At the conclusion of qualifying, the team at the top of each group will qualify automatically. The second placed teams will have their records adjusted (to account for teams from groups with five or six teams); the team with the best resultant record will also qualify by right, with the remaining eight contesting two-legged playoffs for the right to join them.

Gonna be tough again - lets hope we keep most of the team together.

[geysir]

Cyprus's improvement is shown in their promotion to Pot 4 (have they ever been higher?) while Montenegro are the obvious strongest side in the bottom two pots.

Afair Cyprus were in the 4th pot for the WC draw.
I remember there was a 50% chance of us getting Iceland from the 5th pot but we got Georgia instead.

[jo84]

The FAI have to demand from UEFA in advance that there will be no rule-changing regarding seedings for play-offs this time.

UEFA need to be put under pressure to state their position clearly before a ball is kicked.

[tetsujin1979]

The FAI have to demand from UEFA in advance that there will be no rule-changing regarding seedings for play-offs this time.

UEFA need to be put under pressure to state their position clearly before a ball is kicked.

Agreed, the farce of the play off draw cannot be repeated if these qualifiers are to be taken seriously.