Pot luck for Europe's Under-21s
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Article summary
Europe's finest underage teams are awaiting Thursday's draw at 13.00CET in Switzerland for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs.
Article body
Draw format
With 16 sides in contention for the eight berths in next year's final tournament, which will take place between 25 May and 6 June and be hosted by one of the finalists, the winners of the eight qualifying groups will be paired with the runners-up from one of the other sections for the two-legged ties on 12 and 16 November.
Home advantage
The draw will be conducted by UEFA Executive Committee member Marios N Lefkaritis of Cyprus at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland at 13.00CET. The group winners will have the advantage of playing the second leg of their ties at home.
Qualifying teams
The eight group winners are: Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, France, holders Italy, Germany, Belgium and Croatia. The runners-up are: Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Switzerland, Slovenia, England, 2004 losing finalists Serbia and Montenegro, and Hungary.