Euro 2016: England among top seeds with Germany and Spain. please log in to view this image England will avoid Germany and Spain in Euro 2016 qualifying after being named as one of the top seeds. Italy, Holland, Portugal, Greece, Russia and Bosnia-Hercegovina are the other top seeds in qualifying. The Republic of Ireland will be among the pot of second seeds, Scotland and Wales are among the fourth seeds and Northern Ireland are among the fifth. There will be eight groups of six and one group of five as teams aim to reach the 24-nation finals in France. The seedings are decided by Uefa's coefficient system, which is different to Fifa's world ranking, while the draw will take place in Nice on 23 February. All the home nations may be drawn against France, who have become the first hosts to take part in European Championship qualifying following a Uefa rule change. There will be no qualifying points resting on their fixtures, but Uefa President Michel Platini explained: "The hosts have problems to find friendlies, so they will play against the teams in the group of five." Gibraltar, taking part for the first time after being accepted as a Uefa member last year, will be kept apart in the qualifying draw from neighbours Spain. Azerbaijan and Armenia would also be kept apart, but Russia and Georgia could be drawn together after agreeing to the format. There is also a change to the Euro 2016 fixture schedule, with qualifying matches being spread over six days of the international weeks rather than just being played on Fridays and Tuesdays, as they have been previously. "Supporters will get the chance to attend and watch more national team matches than ever before," said Uefa secretary general Gianni Infantino. "Broadcasters will get more games and more appointments to view. "National associations will have a consistent schedule and stable revenue. National team football will get greater exposure than before - this is great news for football fans and for football." Uefa also revealed that every day of the international weeks would feature eight to 10 matches, rather than 20 to 30 fixtures on the same evening. Qualifying pots for Euro 2016 draw: Pot 1: Spain (holders), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Bosnia-Hercegovina Pot 2 : Ukraine, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Ireland Pot 3 : Serbia, Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Norway, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, Poland Pot 4: Montenegro, Armenia, Scotland, Finland, Latvia, Wales, Bulgaria, Estonia, Belarus Pot 5 : Iceland, Northern Ireland, Albania, Lithuania, Moldova, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Cyprus Pot 6 : Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Gibraltar http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25882613
Yeah you will finish in the playoffs, because we have let all you other nations have a go, but we are going out for it this time. Be like watching Brazil
bad group would be to get belgium and poland. pot 4 onwards are ****e teams so no worries there but belgium from pot 2 and poland from pot 3 would be tough games.
Surprised we are in Pot 1 but am equally surprised the ROI are in Pot2 when the likes of Turkey and Norway are in Pot 3
There are 24 teams in the finals this time around - France have qualified as hosts leaving 23 places. This means the TOP 2 from each group qualify automatically (leaving 7 places) The 3 best 3rd placed teams qualify (leaving 4 places) The remaining 3rd place teams and 3 4th placed teams then go into play-offs.
