Group A: Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Latvia, Turkey, Czech Republic Group B: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Andorra, Cyprus, Wales, Israel, Belgium Group C: Spain, Luxembourg, FYR Macedonia, Belarus, Slovakia, Ukraine Group D: Germany, Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland, Poland, Republic of Ireland Group E: England, San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Switzerland Group F: Greece, Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Finland, Romania, Hungary Group G: Russia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Austria, Sweden Group H: Italy, Malta, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Norway, Croatia Group I: Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Serbia, Denmark The qualifying matches will start in September 2014.[1] With the expansion to 24 teams, middle-ranked countries have a much greater chance of qualifying for the finals than previously. A total of 53 teams will chase 23 finals places to join hosts France. The seeding pots would be formed on the basis of the UEFA national team coefficients, with the Euro 2012 champions Spain and hosts France automatically top seeded. The 53 teams will be drawn into eight groups of six teams and 1 group of 5 teams. The group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team (with the results against the sixth-placed team discarded) directly qualify to the finals. The eight remaining third-placed teams will contest two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.
France is in Group I with Portugal. Those matches will not count in the standings but give the French games during the qualifiers.
We didn't get a group as easy as England, but with 8 more teams making the finals in 2016, Italy should qualify for the rest of our lifetimes. Top two automatically get in, and the third place squad goes to a playoff (though the best third place team also gets in directly). Every big soccer nation would have to stumble monumentally to miss out. The new system does help second tier teams like Serbia, Ireland, and Denmark consistently compete for a spot.
will these set of qualifiers be the time we finally beat croatia??? i sure hope so..i have a few croatian friends and they cant stop talking about how weve never beaten them! although both times weve been in the group stage with them in a major tournament it was us advancing and not them (2002, 2012)
Hello Italia! New Chinese fan here from the U.S These groups draw are official? I agree, Croatia gonna be a tough one to crack. Those Germans got the easiest group draw. Go go Italy! The Euro Cups 2012 was amazing. Got to love Balotelli 2 goals against the German in the Semi-final. Then I was surprised how Italy perform in the final match with Spain. As Germany NEVER able to defeat Italy in any major tournament matches including Euro and World Cup. Let's see if those aggrorant Germany can find the key to unlock the omen "Italy is their kryptonite" in this Euro Cup 2016, or else it going to be so embarrass to be name as the current World Cup champion yet don't do well in Euro Cup. Is Balotelli still playing for the national Italy team? The coach need to work on this boy attitude, even though he is a great fotballer, but I find it hard to love him as a person. GOOD LUCK to you Italy, God bless you and your country.