The draw has been set for next summer’s European Championships, with all 16 teams learning their opponents today.
Without further ado, here are the four groups, with each country followed by their FIFA world ranking.
Group A: Poland (66), Greece (14), Russia (12), Czech Republic (33).
Group B: Netherlands (3), Denmark (11), Germany (2), Portugal (7).
Group C: Spain (1), Italy (9), Croatia (8), Ireland (21).
Group D: Ukraine (55), Sweden (18), France (15), England (5).
Who’s Happy
Russia is grinning from ear to ear today. They are the highest seed in Group A, which is by far the weakest of the four groups. The Czech Republic and Greece will also feel fortunate with their lot, and Poland, as co-hosts, should have a realistic chance of advancing.
England and France will both feel like the draw was relatively kind to them; it certainly could have been worse. France and Sweden will try to take advantage of the absence of Wayne Rooney to slip past England, and Ukraine will be looking to cause a few upsets and book their ticket to the next round.
Who’s Not
Ronaldo and Portugal have a tough draw.
Denmark. Their Group B opponents reads like a list of Who You Don’t Want To Play In The First Round Of An International Soccer Tournament. You probably couldn’t have picked a tougher group if you tried. Portugal will be thinking back with regret on their disappointing qualifying campaign, where they squeaked into the tournament via the playoffs. If they had qualified directly, things would have been different for Cristiano Ronaldo and company. But they made their own bed, and it turned out to be a bit of a mess.
Ireland will not be smiling upon learning that their Group C opponents include the last two World Cup champions, and world #8 Croatia. Then again, they’re probably happy just to be in the tournament, considering the manner in which they were eliminated from World Cup 2010 qualifying (think the Hand of Henry).
Predictions
I’m not going to let the fact that the tournament doesn’t start for another six months stop me–here are my predictions of who will advance from each group:
Group A: Russia, Czech Republic. Russia will win the group, and the Czechs will beat Greece and co-hosts Poland to second place.
Group B: Netherlands, Portugal. The Dutch will prevail, and Portugal will get their act together and finish second. Germany is due for an off-tournament.
Group C: Spain, Italy. No interesting upsets here, I can’t see either Croatia or Ireland advancing out of this group.
Group D: France, Sweden. France looks to have put their World Cup debacle behind them and I think they’ll win the group. Sweden will shock Rooney-less England to advance in second.
The tournament will kick off June 8th, 2012 when Poland faces Greece in Warsaw. Every group should be a close-run race, and the draw has set up some great matches for us: Netherlands vs Germany, Spain vs Italy, Netherlands vs Portugal, England vs France, and the list goes on. Bring on the summer!