Russia seeded for Euro 2012 draw
MOSCOW. February 5. KAZINFORM. Russia is among the top nine seeds for Sunday's draw for the qualifying round of Euro 2012, UEFA confirmed on Friday; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
Despite failing to make this summer's World Cup in South Africa, Guus Hiddink's side are at number 13 in the latest FIFA rankings, meaning they just scrape into the top pot of seeds.
The nine winners and the best runner-up will qualify directly for the finals. The other eight runners-up will take part in home-and-away playoffs.
Ukraine and Poland automatically qualify for the finals as hosts.
Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia.
Pot 2: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania.
Pot 3: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Pot 4: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, Macedonia, Cyprus.
Pot 5: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.
Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino.
See www.en.rian.ru for full version.