Football European Championships 2016

[boatbuilder]

With the final 'play-offs' taking place this evening to determine the last two qualifiers (Sweden & Ukraine) here are the final 24 teams who will compete in France next year (10th June to 10th July). Let's hope it is a peaceful tournament.

The draw takes place in Paris on Saturday 12th December and there will be six groups (A to F) of four teams.

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales.

The four pots for the draw are as follows:

• Pot 1: Spain (holders), Germany, England, Portugal, Belgium

• Pot 2: Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine

• Pot 3: Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary

• Pot 4: Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Wales, Albania, Northern Ireland

• Hosts France take position one in Group A so will not be involved in the draw, meaning Pot 1 will have five teams allocated to the remaining groups. The other three pots have six teams each, with one side from each pot allotted to all six groups.

[boatbuilder]

Here is the draw for the finals in France that has just been made in Paris.

The six groups are as follows:

Group A
France
Romania
Albania
Switzerland

Group B
England
Russia
Wales
Slovakia

Group C
Germany
Ukraine
Poland
Northern Ireland

Group D
Spain
Czech Republic
Turkey
Croatia

Group E
Belgium
Italy
Republic of Ireland
Sweden

Group F
Portugal
Iceland
Austria
Hungary

[Mel]

Not a bad group for England and we kept out of the way of Italy and Poland for the time being.

[Aussie K]

Who feel sick in the stomach to see English so called suporters rioting at the European championships. It maybe only a few but I suspect it's more like a few hundred, but what a humiliation it would be if our team were dissqulified & sent home.
It would be totally justified if it happens again.

[funkychick]

Unfortunately a lot has to fall on the French police they have a different way of policing, whereas at home they try to stop the trouble before it sparks off, the French leave it to fester, then wade in with tear gas etc I think the security is VERY lacking too how could flares and fun bombs be allowed into the stadium It is totally disgusting behaviour by both UK and Russia and if we are banned it's understandable. There was a time when known troublemakers were unable to travel to these big events and rightly so what's happened to that practice

[kerch]

Maybe cancelling the remaining matches is a good idea,hard on the serious fans I know .

These "wreckers" do n't have much between their ears that's clear.Some sort of travel ban is called for.

[morty1753]

According to news reports, Russia have been given a hefty fine and a suspended ban.

We will see if that has any effect, I seriously doubt it.

[kerch]

It did'nt more trouble last night.

[morty1753]

I was reading in one of the reports that they will only get banned if there is trouble INSIDE the stadium.

Unfortunately that leaves scope for an awful lot of trouble in the streets

[Mel]

With Slovakia beating Russia 2-1 this afternoon it means England could be heading the group tomorrow with a win over Wales. Fingers crossed Gareth Bale has a dodgy curry tonight for his dinner

[boatbuilder]

Let's hope the result doesn't follow the form of the past matches then. England drawing with Russia, Wales beating Slovakia then Slovakia beating Russia. We could only draw with a team that Slovakia beat, who in turn were beat by Wales. I hope that makes sense.

[Mel]

It is never easy viewing watching England play in these tournaments and they certainly left it late to win the game this afternoon. Over the ninety minutes they deserved the three points. A positive decision of the manager to bring on two new strikers after 45minutes certainly changed the course of the game. That man Gareth Bale scored from another direct free kick for Wales; although it was a good strike the England goalkeeper Joe Hart should have saved it...definitely a goalkeeping error.

Hopefully both home countries will make it through to the next round

PS I should say all three as Northern Ireland had a great win against the Ukraine in the second televised game today.

[boatbuilder]

although it was a good strike the England goalkeeper Joe Hart should have saved it...definitely a goalkeeping error.

A bit like the Russia game, Mel. He must have changed into his lead boots. Fortunately it didn't affect the required result - in the end.

[Mel]

At least England have qualified for the next round of the tournament although not very convincingly. I think the team played well enough but with all the possession we had we should have beaten Slovakia. Against the stronger teams we will certainly be punished if we can't grab a couple of goals when we are on top in a game.

Weren't keen on all the changes the manager made, a couple of changes yes but not six...especially when we hadn't even qualified.

Well done to Wales and fingers crossed for Northern Ireland against the Germans

[boatbuilder]

Yes, it was a disappointing result Mel, despite the outcome of qualifying for the knock-outs. I think Slovakia were content to defend as they did with four or five across the back making it like a brick wall, and were just hoping for a breakaway situation for them that would produce the one goal they needed themselves to qualify. Thankfully it never succeeded.