Neighbourly draw for Swiss

The draw for the first qualifying round of the 2003/04 UEFA European Under-17 Championship has taken place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon.

Forty-eight in draw
The 48 countries in today's draw were drawn into 12 four-team groups. The 2001/02 winners Switzerland were paired in a tough section with traditional youth power Republic of Ireland, neighbours and EURO 2008 co-hosts Austria and Belarus in Group Nine. Elsewhere, Group One is a particularly strong section, with Germany, Portugal, Sweden and Slovenia all set to vie for supremacy. Kazakhstan, UEFA's 52nd and most recent member association, were the last side out of the hat, and will face Ukraine, Moldova and Estonia in Group 12.

Top seeds await
The winners and runners-up of the first qualifying round groups as well as the best third-placed team will qualify for the second qualifying round where they will be divided into seven groups of four alongside the three top seeds - Spain, England and Poland. The winners of the seven second qualifying round groups will then qualify for the finals, joining automatic qualifiers and hosts France.

Boyce and Roxburgh conduct draw
The draw was conducted by Jim Boyce, chairman of the Youth and Amateur Football Committee, and Andy Roxburgh, UEFA's technical director, assisted by Niki Zimling, representing the 2001/02 U17 fair play winners Denmark.

2002/03 tournament
The 2002/03 U17 competition is currently approaching the second qualifying round with the finals to be held in Portugal next year.