Today the excitement kicks off for Euro 2012 as we’ll learn which teams will face each other in next summer’s tournament to be held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw will begin at approximately 12:30pm ET and, for viewers in the United States, will be shown live on ESPN3.com and ESPN Deportes.
The sixteen teams who will be in the different pots are:
- Poland (co-hosts)
- Ukraine (co-hosts)
- Spain (holders)
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- England
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Republic of Ireland
- Russia
- Sweden
At EPL Talk, we’ll be bringing the draw to you live. Plus, we’ll have a special offer for you. We’ll be announcing a competition today where we’ll be giving you a chance to win some precious Euro 2012 memorabilia. Stay tuned to this blog for more details coming today.
GROUP A
- Poland
- Czech Republic
- Greece
- Russia
GROUP B
- Holland
- Denmark
- Portugal
- Germany
GROUP C
- Spain
- Ireland
- Croatia
- Italy
GROUP D
- Ukraine
- France
- Sweden
- England
The teams have been seeded and placed in different pots, as follows:
Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Ireland
12:55pm: And my wish came true. England will be in Group D with Ukraine, France and Sweden — definitely beatable opponents. Most importantly, England avoid Spain. Italy get them instead in Group C along with Ireland and Croatia.
12:54pm: England has to hope for Group D. Please!
12:53pm: Germany will be in Group B. What a difficult group that’ll be for all involved. Whew!
12:52pm: Russia will be in Group A. Bad news for England.
12:50pm: Tension is building to find out which groups England, Germany, Italy and Russia will end up in. Group A would be England’s best one, if they had a choice (which they obviously don’t)!
12:49pm: Croatia and Sweden still to be drawn. Croatia will play Spain and Ireland in Group C.
12:48pm: Portugal will join Holland and Denmark in Group B.
12:47pm: Greece will join Poland and Czech Republic in Group A. Poland will play Greece in the opening match of Euro 2012.
12:46pm: And France gets picked for Group D with Ukraine.
12:44pm: Ooof! Ireland is picked in the same group as Spain.
12:43pm: Who will be in Netherlands group? It’s neighbors Denmark.
12:42pm: Czech Republic will play in Group A.
12:42pm: Spain and Holland are named in Groups C and B.
12:39pm: The draw is starting now. Late, but better late than never.
12:25pm: It’d be nice to see at least a peak inside the hall where the draw is taking place. Definitely would add to the excitement and build-up. As it is, we’ll probably get dropped right in to the draw as it’s about to happen.
12:24pm: Touching Gary Speed tribute by ESPN. Classy.
12:16pm: One of the EPL Talk readers, Dools, asks whether the tournament is diluted by having two hosts. I agree with him. There would have been no guarantee that Poland or Ukraine would have qualified for this tournament if it was hosted elsewhere, so stronger teams could have taken the spots of Poland and/or Ukraine. But what countries could those have been? Belgium, Turkey or Norway?
12:14pm: The ESPN3.com coverage has begun with Bob Ley hosting. Sitting alongside him are Alexi Lalas, Robbie Mustoe and Fernando Palomo. No surprises so far. Just a lot of background about the different groups and the cities where the games will be hosted. Nice to see Bob Ley once again.
Feel free to share your questions, comments and feedback below.
What are your thoughts about where England ended up? Give us your opinion and predictions. And which group is the “group of death”? Share your thoughts!
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18 Comments
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nepal
December 3, 2011 at 10:39 am
Group of death could be B : German, Dutch and Portuguese play beautiful and also Danish better team. Hope this year English make that feat.
dinamo_y
December 3, 2011 at 10:36 am
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Cody
December 3, 2011 at 2:30 am
Portugal just cannot escape their nightmare that is Denmark.
Ben
December 2, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Group B is the group of death, everyone agree?
jtm371
December 2, 2011 at 7:18 pm
group B is by far the strongest group,England got a pretty sweet draw,and the land of my ancestors not so lucky tough road for the Irish.can not wait for 2012.
Jason
December 2, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Will ESPN be showing the Euros in the US?
patrick starr
December 2, 2011 at 2:46 pm
yes
patrick starr
December 2, 2011 at 2:38 pm
What times will the games be on for the West Coast/East Coast?
MUFC77
December 2, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Im not 100% sure but probably something along the lines of the Champions league games. 2:45pm EST kick off with maybe a earlier game thrown in as well.
The Gaffer
December 2, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Most of the Euro 2012 games will be shown at 9am PT/Noon ET and 11:45am PT/2:45pm ET times.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
patrick starr
December 2, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Thanks!
Now i know i will have to watch all the weekday games at work on espn3…..
CTBlues
December 2, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Thanks Gaffer you made this a lot easy to find than ESPN did since they used some livechat program to see the draw and comment on it instead of an article.
Group B is the group of death (Netherlands, Germay, Portugal, and Denmark).
Hope to see Sweden and Ireland finish at least second in their groups.
Josh
December 2, 2011 at 1:26 pm
This draw could lead to some “smaller” soccer nations to advanced beyond the group stage which always leads to excitement and fun. With the groups set, I can now officially get excited for the 2012 Euros!
MUFC77
December 2, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Tough group for Ireland. The one good thing is we always seem to perform better against the big teams. If we get a result against Croatia in the first match then anything is possible.
MUFC77
December 2, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Its just a pity Ireland cant be drawn in the same group as both England and Italy. Id love to see us go up against England again in the Euros.
The Gaffer
December 2, 2011 at 12:38 pm
England, Italy and Ireland reminds me of World Cup 1990. Good memories.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Dools
December 2, 2011 at 11:31 am
Just a (late) thought – doesn’t having co-hosts dilute the quality of the whole tournament?
Andrei
December 2, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Doesn’t seeding mediocre teams like England or Ireland so they can qualify dilute the quality of the whole tournament?