The draw for the European Cup qualifiers was held in Montreux, Switzerland. As the 2008 European Cup, like 2004, has two hosts, occupying two places. The number of teams participating in the European Cup is only 16, which is half that of the World Cup. This means that the other 50 teams compete for only 14.
Fifty teams are divided into seven groups, and only the top two teams in each group are eligible to participate in the European Cup. European football experts gathered together. After the recent European Cup qualifiers, some dark horses will emerge, and of course, some traditional strong teams will fall.
Although the lottery has not yet started, we can predict how cruel the competition will be from the distribution of teams in seven grades. Needless to say, Germany, Italy and Spain are not among the seed teams. Needless to say, the third-level teams, including Ukraine and Serbia and Montenegro, are all teams in the World Cup finals. Just look at the fourth-grade team, who dares to look down on those traditional strong teams.
Belgium, the fourth team, is called the Red Devils. Belgium is one of the host countries of the 2000 European Cup. If the goalkeeper at that time had not made a fatal mistake, there should be no problem in qualifying for the group. After experiencing the glory of the 1980s, Belgian football has been going downhill. In the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, they did not perform well, and the group was only ranked fourth, 0/0 points behind the first place, Serbia and Montenegro/KLOC. But as the saying goes, a thin camel is bigger than a horse. Who wants to meet them in the top three teams?
Latvia, another team in the fourth level, is the biggest dark horse in the 2004 European Cup. At that time, they beat Sweden and Poland away in the qualifiers, and the group stage was only one point less than Sweden. When I interviewed the European Cup, they were the least noticed team, and almost no one attended the press conference, but just like that, the team drew the powerful German team. Although they didn't perform well in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and only finished fifth in the group, who can say whether they will become the dark horse of the European Cup again?
Scotland in the fourth grade should be the last opponent other teams want to meet. Scotland has been in the European Cup finals 10 times. Their performances in the European Cup from 65438 to 0996 left a deep impression on China fans. In 2000 and 2004, they both entered the qualifiers, but in the end they failed. In 2004, they were unlucky. They met the Dutch team in the play-offs. Although they beat their opponents at home with 1-0, they were beaten 6-0 away. Scotland's home court has always been strong. In 2006, we broadcasted their home game against Italy, and even a team like Italy barely got 1 point. I believe everyone will be impressed by that game.
In the fourth grade, Slovenia entered the 2004 European Cup qualifiers, Ireland is a traditional European powerhouse, and Bosnia and Herzegovina performed well in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. Perhaps only Israel is better at bullying the weak.
Don't! I remember, Israel also entered the play-offs in the Euro 2000 qualifier!