EURO 2012 qualifying draw in full

European champions Spain must negotiate a tough section including the Czech Republic to defend their title in Poland and Ukraine after Sunday's UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw in Warsaw.

Vicente del Bosque's team must also overcome Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein in Group I if they are to reach the 2012 finals and retain a trophy they claimed in Vienna 18 months ago. Runners-up Germany, the three-time winners, are in Group A alongside neighbours Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and the side they dramatically beat in the UEFA EURO 2008 semi-finals, Turkey.

Italy will defend the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this summer alongside 12 other European nations and their task beyond that is Group C and a section including Serbia and Slovenia. England, the surprise absentees from UEFA EURO 2008, will aim to put that right in Group G against Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales and Montenegro. One of three sections of five teams, it is the only group in the draw that does not feature a former UEFA European Championship winner.

Qualifying explained
Fifty-one countries participated in the draw, which was conducted by four famous names from Polish and Ukrainian football: Andriy Shevchenko, Andrzej Szarmach, Oleg Blokhin and Zbigniew Boniek. The groups will be contested in a league system on a home-and-away basis, with games scheduled between September 2010 and October 2011.

The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record against the top five in their pool qualify directly for the final tournament, the last before the expansion to 24 teams. The eight remaining runners-up contest play-off matches in November 2011 to decide the final four names to join co-hosts Poland and Ukraine.




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