Czechs and Dutch handed rematch

Teams reunited
The Czechs pipped the Dutch to win their UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying section - and the two countries will also be in direct competition in the finals in Portugal. Joining them in World Cup qualifying Group 1 will be Romania, Finland, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra.

Turkey v Greece
Another tough-looking pool is Group 2, in which neighbours Turkey and Greece will go head to head for the first time in a major tournament. Turkey are the top seeds but, unlike group rivals Denmark and Greece, they did not qualify for Portugal. The group also features Kazakhstan, making their first competitive outing since joining UEFA, a Ukraine side who were also-rans behind Greece in EURO 2004™ qualifying, and Georgia and Albania.

Portugal and France's tasks
EURO 2004™ hosts Portugal will face Russia in the finals - and again in World Cup Group 3. Slovakia, surprise EURO 2004™ qualifiers Latvia, Estonia, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg complete the section. In Group 4, 1998 World Cup winners France take on Switzerland and the side that the latter beat in October to reach Portugal - the Republic of Ireland. Israel, Cyprus and the Faroe Islands are also involved.

British affair
Italy's bid to win a fourth World Cup will put them up against three of the teams beaten in EURO 2004™ qualifying play-offs - Slovenia, Scotland and Norway. Belarus and Moldova make up that group. Meanwhile, Group 6 is a half-British affair, with England, Wales and Northern Ireland all drawn together. England additionally confront Poland for the fourth time in five World Cup qualifying campaigns, taking the number of competitive fixtures between the countries since 1986 to 13. Austria and Azerbaijan figure.

No hiding place
Group 7 is yet another pool that will suffer a big-name casualty, with Spain, Belgium and Serbia and Montenegro vying for a place in Germany, along with two sides that surprised many in EURO 2004™ qualifying, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lithuania, plus San Marino. Three EURO 2004™ contenders are in Group 8: Sweden, Croatia and Bulgaria. Iceland and Hungary were not far away in their qualifying sections either, with Malta also included in what is sure to be another fiercely-contested group.

Home and away
Matches will be played in a league system on a home-and-away basis with the eight group winners and the two best runners-up advancing directly to the finals. The remaining six runners-up will be involved in three play-off matches staged on a home-and-away basis to determine Europe's last three representatives at the 32-team final tournament.

September start
The dates of qualification games are set by the co-ordinated international match calendar, and will be played between 4 September 2004 and 12 October 2005, with the play-off fixtures taking place in November 2005.

Result of the 2006 FIFA World Cup draw, European qualifying round