8 Feb 2010

England to face old enemy Wales in Euro 2012 qualifiers

9:31 am on 8 February 2010

Fabio Capello's England football side will face old rivals Wales in their Euro 2012 qualification campaign after the draw was made for the tournament which will be held in the Ukraine and Poland.

England will battle John Toshack's Wales side in Group G as well as Montenegro, Bulgaria and Switzerland for a place at Euro 2012 with the qualifiers set to begin this September and conclude in November next year.

Euro 2008 winners Spain, who beat Germany 1-nil to claim the Henri Delauney trophy in 2008, face arguably their biggest test against the Czech Republic as well as Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein in Group I.

Germany have drawn 1980 European Championships finalists Belgium as well as neighbours Austria, plus Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in Group A.

Current World Cup holders Italy, who had a poor Euro 2008 campaign by their own standards, have drawn World Cup qualifiers Serbia, as well as Slovenia, Estonia, the Faroe Islands and Northern Ireland in Group C.

World Cup runners-up France, are up against Romania, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group D.

The Republic of Ireland, who missed out on a place at this year's World Cup after losing to France in a qualifier last November despite a clear handball from Thierry Henry, have drawn Russia, Armenia, Andorra, FYR Macedonia and Slovenia in Group B.

Holland, who won the European Championships in 1988, have arguably the toughest group in the competition and will face Sweden, Hungary, Finland, Moldova and minnows San Marino in Group E.

Euro 2008 quarter-finalists Croatia will have Euro 2004 winners Greece to overcome in Group F, where they have also drawn Malta, Georgia, Latvia and Israel.

Denmark, who were crowned champions of Europe in 1992, face Portugal in Group H along with Iceland, Cyprus and Norway.

The Euro 2012 finals will take place from June the 8th to July the 1st 2012 in eight host cities - four in each of the two countries - with the final set to be held in Kiev.

The winners of the nine groups and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament.

The eight remaining runners-up will have to battle it out in play-off matches to decide which teams grab the remaining four tickets.