Seeding pots:
Pot 1: Poland (Gp A), Spain, Netherlands, Ukraine (Gp D)
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland
* Poland already allocated to Group A, Ukraine already allocated to Group D.
Fabio Capello's men are alongside Euro 2008 runners-up Germany, 2006 world champions Italy and Russia in the second pot.
Reigning world and European champions Spain are in the top group of seeds, alongside 2010 World Cup finalists Holland plus co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, who have already been allocated to groups A and D respectively.
The Republic of Ireland are in the fourth group of seeds alongside Denmark, the Czech Republic and France. That means they cannot face the French, who knocked them out in a controversial World Cup qualification play-off two years ago.
The draw for the finals will be made in Kiev on December 2.
The worst case scenario for Capello's men would be a group containing Spain, Portugal and France.
As well as that potential 'Group of Death' , there is also the possibility of a 'Group of Debt' made up of ailing Eurozone members Spain, Italy, Greece and the Republic.
A more palatable group for Capello's team might be to be drawn against Poland - with England having already confirmed they will be based in Krakow - Greece and the Czechs.
The pots have been decided on the countries' UEFA coefficient rankings, except for the co-hosts.
England could face the Republic of Ireland when the draw is made for the Euro 2012 finals.
The draw, which takes place in Kiev at 1700 GMT on December 2, will see the 16 qualifiers placed into four pots of four.
The host nations, Poland, to be placed in Group A, and Ukraine, in Group D, are among the top seeds. As defending champions, Spain will also be seeded, while the final place in the top pot goes to the Netherlands as they are the next highest in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system.
The remaining teams have been divided into pots using November's coefficient ranking which can be found by clicking here.
England are among the second pot, with Ireland in the fourth.
With one team from each pot making up a group, the English and Irish could meet in the group stage - just as they diid at Euro 88 when Ireland pulled off a shock 1-0 win.
On December 2, the draw will start with pot one to decide which groups Spain and the Netherlands will go in (B or C).
Proceedings will continue with the drawing of teams from pot four, from which a team will be allocated to each group consecutively, from Group A to Group D. This procedure will then be repeated for pot three and finally pot two.
The position of each team within its group (2, 3 or 4) will also be determined during the draw, thus deciding the order of the group fixtures. The match schedule, as it stands, can be found by clicking here.
The teams finishing in the top two places in each group will progress to the quarter-finals.
The tournament gets under way on June 8 next year with the final on July 1. Matches at the event will kick-off at 1700 and 1945 BST.
Tickets have been on sale for some time, but UEFA promise more will be released once December's draw has taken place. More details can be found by clicking here.
Source: FOOTYMAD
