Euro 2016 thread

[TightEnd]

this is early i know but we can cover the play offs and onwards

shaping up to be a corker isn't it? all the better for having northern ireland and wales in it

Pelle top scored in qualification for italy



belgium won their group



a golden generation, apprently

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meanwhile

oh dear

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oh dear

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[TightEnd]

 The eight teams finishing third will contest four two-legged play-off ties.

They are:

Bosnia (Group B)

Ukraine (Group C)

Republic of Ireland (Group D)

Slovenia (Group E)

Hungary (Group F)

Sweden (Group G)

Norway (Group H)

Denmark (Group I)


The draw for the play-offs will take place on 18 October.

[TightEnd]

through

Czech
Iceland
Turkey
Belgium
Wales
Spain
Slovakia
Germany
Poland
England
Switzerland
Northern Ireland
Romaina
Austria
Russia
Italy
Croatia
Portugal
Albania

and the hosts, France

[TightEnd]

The draw for next summer's Euro 2016 finals will take place on Saturday December 12 in Paris at 1700 GMT.

The teams will be drawn into six groups of four from four pots of seeds.


Both the hosts, France, and the defending champions, Spain, are automatically among the top seeds with France having already been placed in Group A. The four teams joining Spain in pot one will being determined by the UEFA national team coefficient ranking which will be published once November's play-offs have taken place (see above). Were the current rankings to be used, the four other top seeds would be Germany, England, Portugal and Belgium, who edged ahead of Italy after the final round of qualifiers.

The make-up of the other pots will also be determined by the rankings with the next six best-ranked teams in pot two and so on.

It is worth noting the UEFA ranking is considerably different to the FIFA world rankings. For example, while Wales are ranked eighth by FIFA, they are currently only 28th on UEFA's list. That means they, like Northern Ireland, are likely to be in the fourth pot on draw day.

Key dates

Oct 18 - Play-off draw
Nov 12-17 Play-offs
Dec 12 - Finals draw
May 31 - Squad deadline
Jun 10 - Finals begin
Jul 10 - Euro 2016 final

[TightEnd]

The finals themselves take place in France from Friday June 10 to Sunday July 10 next year. With the tournament having been expanded to 24 teams, it will now last as long as a World Cup, stretching over a four-week period, as opposed to three as has been the case with the previous 16-team events.

Only eight of the 24 nations will be eliminated in the group phase with the top two in each group plus the four best third-placed teams progressing to the last-16 knockout stage - for those old enough to remember, the format is reminiscent of the one used at the Italia 90 World Cup.

Which third-placed team slots in where in the last-16 draw is already set but is subject to a pretty complicated explanation - details can be found in the official tournament regulations.

The final will take place in the Stade de France in Paris, venue for the 1998 World Cup final. It is the largest of the 10 venues with a capacity of 80,000.

The semi-finals will take place in Lyon and Marseille which, along with Lille, are the other stadia which hold more than 50,000.

The capital will also stage matches at Paris Saint-Germain's Parc des Princes ground, while Bordeaux, Lens, Nice, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse are the other cities chosen to host games.

[TightEnd]

World champions Germany are currently the 3/1 favourites for Euro 2016

Hosts France can be backed at 7/2, with holders Spain only third favourites at 13/2.

England are fifth in the outright market at 11/1, behind 9/1 shots Belgium, while traditional continental powerhouses Italy are out at 16/1.


Sky Bet also currently bet on who will start England's first game of the tournament. Twelve players are odds-on but the shortest prices suggest this will be the XI: Hart, Clyne, Smalling, Cahill, Baines, Henderson, Milner, Walcott, Sturridge, Rooney, Sterling.

John Stones is the other player currently odds-on. Ross Barkley, who has impressed in recent games, is out at 9/4.

There's also a market for players to make the England squad with 25 players currently odds-on - only 23 will make the trip.

Taking out the longest-odds player from the defence, midfield and forward options and adding a third keeper (only two are odds-on) you get the following squad:

Hart, Butland, Forster, Cahill, Smalling, Stones, Baines, Jagielka, Clyne, Jones, Bertrand, Henderson, Milner, Barkley, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Delph, Wilshere, Rooney, Sterling, Kane, Walcott, Sturridge.

When the book was opened in May, the expected squad had a different look to it:

Hart, Foster, Forster, Cahill, Baines, Smalling, Jones, Clyne, Stones, Shaw, Jagielka, Henderson, Sterling, Milner, Lallana, Walcott, Delph, Wilshere, Carrick, Rooney, Sturridge, Kane, Welbeck.

[kp24]

Was just talking about this at work today don't think there are really good sides apart from Germany and Spain but even they have holes in their sides otherwise I think it's up for grabs,the Belgium side are very disappointing to me with the amount of talent at their disposal and play some very uninspiring football.

[Marky147]

Looking forward to this, and hopefully it won't be like the last WC out in Vegas

[Teacake]

I'm going over for the first week of this and really looking forward to it as I've never done a major finals.
We have tickets for 3 games in Bordeaux and Toulouse, flights and accommodation sorted as well as my mate has property there.

[rinswun]

I'd never applied for tickets to a major summer football tourn before and me and 3 mates thought it might be like the olympics/rwc. Ended up with 4x tickets to 17 games! Will wait to see what we got once the draw is made but will definitely be selling a few back. If anyone wants some, happy to sell at face for those games we decide not to go to.

[Marky147]

Couple mates of mine went travelling in 1998, which ended up with them doing Le Mans, and the whole WC. So long ago, I can't remember what games they went to, but they said it was incred, and obv makes for some lifelong memories.

Definitely more exciting than watching them with a hangover and a fruit plate, at the Nugget

[hhyftrftdr]

24 nations seems way too many. Basically almost everyone gets in apart from San Marino, Andorra and Scotland?

[The Camel]

24 nations seems way too many. Basically almost everyone gets in apart from San Marino, Andorra and Scotland?

This. 100% this

[Ironside]

can we make it 32 nations next time please


oh wait scotland still wont get in

[TightEnd]

play off draw

Ukraine v Slovenia;
Sweden v Denmark;
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Republic of Ireland;
Norway v Hungary

the four winners are?