This article was Published at: 08-02-2010 and has been viewed 804 times

The qualifying draw for Euro 2012 was made in Warsaw, Poland with Group C arguably the toughest where Italy, Serbia and Slovenia were placed together.

Group A is also intriguing as Germany, Turkey and Austria were all drawn in the same pool while Portugal once again tackle Denmark in Group H.

Holders Spain have a relatively easy-looking group, although they will have to watch out for the Czech Republic and Scotland. England have an interesting British derby against Wales in Group G:

Group A Germany Turkey Austria Belgium Kazakhstan Azerbaijan	Group B Russia Slovakia Republic of Ireland FYR Macedonia Armenia Andorra
Group C Italy Serbia Northern Ireland Slovenia Estonia Faroe Islands	Group D France Romania Bosnia-Herzegovina Belarus Albania Luxembourg
Group E Netherlands Sweden Finland Hungary Moldova San Marino	Group F Croatia Greece Israel Latvia Georgia Malta
Group G England Switzerland Bulgaria Wales Montenegro	Group H Portugal Denmark Norway Cyprus Iceland
Group I Spain Czech Republic Scotland Lithuania Liechtenstein

Fifty-one of the 53 UEFA member associations will take part in qualifying, with hosts Poland and Ukraine qualifying automatically for the tournament.

Poland legend Zbigniew Boniek and Ukrainian heroes Andriy Shevchenko and Oleg Blokhin were some of the luminaries who helped conduct the draw.

The 51 teams were divided into six groups of six teams and three groups of five teams.

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 for Poland/Ukraine.