Just now the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualification Draw took place in Dublin.
The draw was presented by Pedro Pinto and Rachel Wyse.
The draw was led by UEFA Deputy General Secretary, Giorgio Marchetti and, he was assisted by a few legendary footballers: Ronnie Whelan, Robbie Keane, Nuno Gomes and, Vitor Baia.
The first team to be drawn was England
The top two teams of each group will qualify for the UEFA 2020 final tournament, which will be hosted in twelve host cities in twelve different countries. Host nations are not automatically qualified, as was the case in previous events.
Here is the complete draw.
Group A
In Group A, England seems to stand out from the rest of the field. I would be very surprised if they would not make it into one of the two top spots in this group. The battle for second place, however, is more interesting. Most likely that battle will be fought between the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, but both Montenegro and Kosovo have proven during the UEFA Nations League that they can produce an upset. Potentially all four teams have a chance to reach the second spot in this group.
Group B
This group contains three group winners of the UEFA Nations League. Defending European Champions Portugal topped their group and qualified for the Final Four. Both Ukraine and Serbia promoted to a higher division after winning their groups too. The battle between these three teams will be on. Serbia who was active at the FIFA World Cup 2018 will absolutely be able to fight for the two top spots. Portugal and Ukraine are warned. I don't see Lithuania and Luxembourg do much in this group, but I do feel that Luxembourg would be able to challenge Lithuania and not finish bottom of the group.
Group C
Could it be any different? Probably not! Due to the poor run of results Germany was not among the ten seeded teams for this draw. They mainly ended up in that position due to losing and drawing against the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League. Now, these two teams will face each other again in the aim to reach the top position in the league. Northern Ireland, Estonia and, Belarus, normally don't stand a single chance in this group. All countries can cause an upset from time to time, but this will not be enough to scare the Dutch and the Germans.
Group D
This group sees Switzerland on top, together with Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. Will Switzerland remain as dominant as they have been lately, then there is no doubt that they will qualify from this group. Denmark and the Republic of Ireland will be able to challenge for second, with Denmark being the favorite. These two teams faced each other in the same group of the Nations League as well, Denmark came out on top. Georgia won their lowest division Nations League group and could be causing a surprise, but I don't see them qualifying from this group. Gibraltar is there for filling up the group.
Group E
Croatia must be secure of qualification before the competition even starts. Being the runner-up of the World Cup, there should be no doubt that they would qualify from this group right? Well, the Netherlands was third of the world four years ago and failed in that aspect. Nothing is for granted and everything needs to be played for. Wales, Slovakia, and Hungary should all fight for the second place in the group and are capable of doing so if they have a good campaign. Azerbaijan may win a game or two, ending the dream of one of the other nations in the group, but that would be it for them.
Group F
Sweden and Norway in one group fighting for the second spot in the group. Spain seems to be too strong to drop too many points here. Romania might be up to challenge the Nordic countries, whereas the Faroe Islands and Malta will not be able to do anything. It would be nice to see Norway back on an international tournament again, but I feel they will need their Nations League opportunity for that (they won their group and can still qualify through that) rather than being able to beat Spain and Sweden, but who knows?
Group G
Probably the most open group of all is Group G. Simply because Poland tops the group as a host, but has not been dominant at all since they qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. They did not qualify out of that World Cup group facing Senegal, Japan and Colombia. They then relegated from their Nations League group with Portugal and Italy. That said, nations like Austria and Israel should absolutely be able to beat Poland in a direct clash. Slovenia and Macedonia will have that chance too, even though they would probably not be consistent enough to end up in the top two positions. Latvia, once present at the 2004 European Championship has seen a massive decline in football ever since and are not going to surprise anyone here.
Group H
Despite not qualifying for the Final Four of the UEFA Nations League, France should not have any problem to qualify from this group. Iceland, Turkey, and Albania will have more or less equal chances of finishing second. All three countries could use that boost as their results have become a bit weak recently. Turkey's been in a bad period for years now, Iceland's drop in performances started at the FIFA World Cup and Albania qualified for Euro 2016 but was struggling in the World Cup qualification, as well as in the Nations League. Moldova and Andorra seem too weak to cause any upsets.
Group I
An interesting group with Belgium, Russia, and Scotland. It may be no surprise that Belgium is the favorite to win this group, but could this be the time that we see Scotland back at a big football tournament? The odds are certainly there, but they would need to get a hold of Russia. Russia has had a good year, but that also had to do with the home advantage during the World Cup. I can see the Scottish team to surprise the Russians here. Cyprus, Kazakhstan and San Marino will be battling out a league on their own.
Group J
A good draw for Italy sees them almost secure of qualifying after they missed out of the 2018 World Cup. In this group, they should not have any difficulties. It could be the second time that we will see Bosnia & Herzegovina at a big tournament, or will it be Finland who topped their Nations League group, which also included Greece? Can Greece, the 2004 European Champions stop their fall in the rankings and performances and get back to qualifying for a tournament? All odds are open in this open group. Armenia and Liechtenstein will have a tough job to win a few points in this group.
What do you think of the draw? Any upsets you expect to happen?
Please let me know! Thanks for reading.
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