Euro 2020

[nogomet]

Slovenia is going to the EUROs.

[Lorric]

I am very pleased with this draw. The Czechs seem to have been in a bit of a slump for some time now, and were the lowest ranked in pot 2. Bulgaria again were a team in my desired draw list and the second lowest ranked in pot 3. Montenegro are an upper middle draw from pot 4, they've always given us tough games, we only have one win in 4. They're strong enough to fight for a place at Euro 2020. Kosovo are an X factor I'd rather have avoided over everyone else in that pot, but with such draws from pots 2 and 3, and no group hosts, I really can't complain.

[Witkop1983]

group A: England should qualify, open fight between the other 4 teams
group B: a three way fight between Portugal, Ukraine and Serbia?
group C: Netherlands and Germany should be able to secure their spot.
group D: pretty open between Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland and Georgia. Switzerland will probably qualify but their games wont be easy
group E: no real strong team in here and also no real weak team...... all teams will fancy their chances
group F: Spain and Sweden have a clear edge over the other teams
group G: no real strong team and also no real weak team. Latvia will probably finish last but will take away points from one or two of the other teams
group H: Easy ride for France. Iceland, Turkey, Albania and maybe also Moldova fighting for 2nd place
group I: a three way fight between Belgium, Russia and Scotland. Belgium will probably win it.
group J: Italy and Bosnia should have no problems with this group

[Michael S Collins]

Snap shot: England have a decent draw, Wales and the R Ireland a winnable one (in qualifying terms), and Scotland and more so N Ireland have lousy draws.

The French and the Polish appear to have really good draws, and tbh, so do the Turks.

[Dragonite]

Luckometer (excluding pot 6 teams):

Macedonia 18,11
Austria 16,28
Slovenia 16,28
Israel 15,13
Poland 15,13
Kosovo 14,90
Romania 14,87
Switzerland 14,66
England 14,49
Ireland 14,39
Montenegro 14,18
Hungary 14,11
Slovakia 14,11
Denmark 13,82
Norway 13,75
Sweden 13,75
Spain 13,27
Azerbaijan 12,81
Bosnia 12,73
Greece 12,73
Portugal 12,73
Belgium 12,61
Scotland 12,61
Luxembourg 12,25
Ukraine 12,25
Cyprus 12,17
Armenia 12,08
Bulgaria 12,04
Gibraltar 11,62
Kazakhstan 11,62
Russia 11,62
Czech Republic 11,22
Faroe Islands 11,18
Iceland 10,95
Turkey 10,95
Croatia 10,91
Wales 10,91
Serbia 10,82
Georgia 10,77
Albania 10,39
Finland 10,34
Italy 10,34
France 9,38
Lithuania 9,22
Germany 9,11
Belarus 8,66
Netherlands 8,66
Northern Ireland 8,25
Moldova 7,75
Estonia 5,92

[matt]

Not the easiest group, but Italy should qualify.

Poland, Austria, Israel, Slovenia, Macedonia: Porto's style group

Seriously, it's an interesting group, even Slovenia or Macedonia could end in the top 2.

Netherlands and Germany should qualify without problems and their group could be quite boring.

[nogomet]

We got the top seeded teams from key pots - Pot 3 and Pot 4, but I don't mind. Slovakia and Hungary should be manageable. We avoided everyone I wanted to avoid. We have a winning H2H with all the teams in our group, except Slovakia where we have a tie.

vs Wales: 3-1-0, goal difference 7-2
vs Slovakia: 2-2-2, goal difference 8-8 (but both losses in friendlies back in the 1990s)
vs Hungary: 3-4-0, goal difference 13-5
vs Azerbaijan: 1-1-0, goal difference 6-0
---------------------------------------------------
TOTAL: 9-8-2, goal difference 34-15

Winning the group is imperative, that would secure us at least Pot 2 in the final tournament.

I wonder who we'll play with in our bye weeks, probably with someone from Groups A to D who have a bye in the same round as we do.

[Ricardo]

So what was the use of Netherlands winning over France? They did that in the first place to be a group-head in this draw. And now look what you have got......
And Belarus was also a team we would have liked to avoid. Northern Island was on the wishlist.
I guess Germany and Netherlands should easily be the top 2 here. But if one beats the other twice, the other matches really get important. No place for failures. Dutch should learn from their female counterpart, where 1 draw in Ireland made them play play-offs.
Actually a pity for Northern Ireland, their chance is most of all ruined with this draw. With Czech, Ukraine, Wales, Austria, Iceland they would have gotten a much bigger chance.

[Lorric]

I see Ireland avoided Germany and Netherlands because of the need for it to be possible for all hosts to qualify. And instead, the other Ireland got dumped in there. Ouch!

[nogomet]

I see Ireland avoided Germany and Netherlands because of the need for it to be possible for all hosts to qualify. And instead, the other Ireland got dumped in there. Ouch!

The reaction in the crowd when Republic of Ireland was drawn was priceless. Everybody thought they are in the group with Germany and Netherlands. And then laughter of joy when they realized they are transferred to another group. And then another round of laughter when it was Northern Ireland who got put into Germany-Netherlands group.

[Lorric]

So what was the use of Netherlands winning over France? They did that in the first place to be a group-head in this draw. And now look what you have got......
And Belarus was also a team we would have liked to avoid. Northern Island was on the wishlist.
I guess Germany and Netherlands should easily be the top 2 here. But if one beats the other twice, the other matches really get important. No place for failures. Dutch should learn from their female counterpart, where 1 draw in Ireland made them play play-offs.
Actually a pity for Northern Ireland, their chance is most of all ruined with this draw. With Czech, Ukraine, Wales, Austria, Iceland they would have gotten a much bigger chance.

Well if you don't qualify, you all but guaranteed yourself a playoff semi at home. Only Belgium and Switzerland both failing as well would prevent that.

[Lorric]

I see Ireland avoided Germany and Netherlands because of the need for it to be possible for all hosts to qualify. And instead, the other Ireland got dumped in there. Ouch!

The reaction in the crowd when Republic of Ireland was drawn was priceless. Everybody thought they are in the group with Germany and Netherlands. And then laughter of joy when they realized they are transferred to another group. And then another round of laughter when it was Northern Ireland who got put into Germany-Netherlands group.

Ah yes, the draw was in ROI wasn't it! Insult to injury.

[Ricardo]

@Dragonite, I don’t know how your luckometer works, but is clearly working per group, as all countries of group G is on top, while all of group C are at the bottom. Why not convert this in an ‘easy’ to ‘hard’ group ranking?

[Vickzq]

The reaction in the crowd when Republic of Ireland was drawn was priceless. Everybody thought they are in the group with Germany and Netherlands. And then laughter of joy when they realized they are transferred to another group. And then another round of laughter when it was Northern Ireland who got put into Germany-Netherlands group.

Understandable they prefer to avoid both Netherlands and Germany... but it's not like they seem to get much in their current group either. That one should be clearly dominated by nations with white crosses on red.

[Dragonite]

@Dragonite, I don’t know how your luckometer works, but is clearly working per group, as all countries of group G is on top, while all of group C are at the bottom. Why not convert this in an ‘easy’ to ‘hard’ group ranking?

So NOW you like it?!

It works exactly with the same principle than the one I used for the CL, and there you hated the outcome.