UEFA Preliminary Draw

England just cannot catch a break. Less than one week after being eliminated by Croatia from Euro2008, the two foes are drawn against each other again. Denmark and Sweden are also drawn together again, giving the Danish fans a chance to redeem themselves as a civilized audience. The toughest groups appear to be Groups A, C, F, and G. A * denotes a Germany 2006 particapant and a # represents a Euro2008 qualifier.

Group A:
13 Portugal *#
22 Sweden *#
19 Denmark
69 Hungary
93 Albania
153 Malta

Group B: 16 Greece #
37 Israel
18 Switzerland *#
87 Moldova
91 Latvia
183 Luxembourg

Group C:
7 Czech Republic *#
26 Poland *#
67 Northern Ireland
49 Slovakia
77 Slovenia
195 San Marino

Group D:
7 Germany *#
24 Russia #
43 Finland
56 Wales
122 Azerbaijan
167 Liechtenstein

Group E:
5 Spain *#
17 Turkey #
52 Belgium
76 Bosnia and Herzegovina
104 Armenia
109 Estonia

Group F:
11 Croatia *#
9 England *
39 Ukraine *
73 Belarus
117 Kazakhstan
180 Andorra

Group G:
4 France *#
10 Romania #
35 Serbia *
65 Lithuania
60 Austria #
171 Faroe Islands

Group H:
2 Italy *#
25 Bulgaria
32 Ireland
79 Cyprus
78 Georgia
58 Montenegro

Group I:
6 Netherlands *#
33 Scotland
31 Norway
75 Macedonia
106 Iceland

My predictions for the group winners are Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, England, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. For the second positions, I foresee Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Scotland. Russia, Turkey, and Bulgaria will take advantage of easier groups to snag second-place finishes, whereas Denmark, Ukraine, and Serbia fall victim to tougher draws.

The top eight of nine second-place finishers will be decided by their point totals against the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th-place finishers in their respective groups.