Forty-eight countries in the hat

The draw for the first qualifying round for the 2003/04 UEFA European Under-17 Championship will take place at 13.00CET this afternoon at UEFA headquarters in Nyon.

Boyce and Roxburgh to preside

In the hat
Due to the admission of Kazakhstan as UEFA's 52nd member association and a full 52 registrations for the 2003/04 Under-17 competition, there are 48 countries in the draw today. Spain, England and Poland, as the highest-ranked associations, will join the tournament in the second qualifying round.

Pot procedure
The 48 countries in today's draw will be divided into two pots of 24. The 24 sides in Pot A comprise associations ranked from four to 27, and the 24 sides in Pot B contain are ranked 28 to 51. Each first qualifying round group will consist of two sides from each Pot to eventually form 12 groups of four. The winners and the runners-up in each group as well as the best third-ranked team of all 12 groups will join Spain, England and Poland in the second qualifying round.

France to hosts finals
The seven group winners in the second round will eventually join hosts France in the finals in 2004.