 |
| Play poker at 888poker! |
Its been 13 long months with plenty of goals, twists-and-turns, boos, surprises, rants as well as media out-roars, but at last the 12 nations who will be partaking in next summer’s Euros have been finalized, and the eight teams who will vie for four more spots via the play-offs is now known.
There have admittedly been little surprises with all the major nations (bar perhaps Portugal) having navigated their way past tricky groups and into next summer’s finals.
Germany and Spain – perhaps the standout teams in European football at present did so with impressive 100% records, with the likes of the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark all weighing in with solid group performances (the latter overcoming Portugal to seal top spot in Group H).
England, Russia, Sweden, France and 2004 winners Greece also secured their places – less convincingly, but still there nevertheless, whereas the likes of Portugal, Croatia, Turkey and the Republic of Ireland await their play-off fates. Ukraine and Poland qualify automatically for the competition as hosts.
Here are the list of group winners who have secured an automatic spot for Euro 2012:
Germany (Winners of Group A)
Russia (Winners of Group B)
Italy (Winners of Group C)
France (Winners of Group D)
The Netherlands (Winners of Group E)
Greece (Winners of Group F)
England (Winners of Group G)
Denmark (Winners of Group H)
Spain (Holders & Winners of Group I)
Sweden (Best Runner-up)
The eight teams who will battle for a place via the play-offs include:
Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Estonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Portugal and the Czech Republic.
The runners-up from eight of these nine groups will contest a two legged play-off. The four winning teams will qualify for the finals with the draw for the play-offs being made on Thursday October 13.
The first leg will be played on November 11 and 12 and the second leg on November 15.
Related posts:
