Euro 2016 Qualifying Thread

[Beefy]

Walk in the park for England. Just about the toughest draw that Scotland or Ireland could have got though.

A: Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Latvia, Turkey, Czech Republic

B: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Andorra, Cyprus, Wales, Israel, Belgium

C: Spain, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Belarus, Slovakia, Ukraine

D: Germany, Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland, Poland, Republic of Ireland

E: England, San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Switzerland

F: Greece, Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Finland, Romania, Hungary

G: Russia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Austria, Sweden

H: Italy, Malta, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Norway, Croatia

I: Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Serbia, Denmark

[MikeHunt]

I love our group. Can't wait to play Ireland and Germany.

[JP]

For the first time in ages we could have a few of the home nations in the same tournament.

[Jaymz]

Everyone seems to be writing off Poland in that group. Are they really worse than Scotland now?

Fancy England,Northern Ireland and Wales to make it, with an outside chance of the Republic.

[JP]

Remember how Scotland finished their campaign, they improved tremendously under Strachan.

[Prototype16]

That isn't a bad draw at all for Scotland given that they only need to finish 2nd - you wouldn't fancy them against any of the top seeds so drawing Germany is a bit irrelevant, they've avoided the strongest sides from pots 2 and 3.

England's group looks dull - I was hoping we'd get another home nation to add a bit of interest

[MikeHunt]

Everyone seems to be writing off Poland in that group. Are they really worse than Scotland now?

Fancy England,Northern Ireland and Wales to make it, with an outside chance of the Republic.

Haha! If n. Ireland qualify I'll suck you off. They are absolutely fucking shit.

[Rip]

We should get through no problem, Wales might have half a chance as well, and the Irish/Scottish pairing might get one through from there as well, Northern Ireland couldn't have got a much better draw either.

Looking forward to Gibraltar holding the Germans to a draw :D

[MikeHunt]

Have any of you actually watched n.i recently? Seriously fucking shit.

[Darkoke]

You'd like to think Scotland are better than Gibraltar and Georgia and probably about the same level as Ireland and Poland so I fancy their chances.

[connorboy]

Don't forget its top 3 either qualify or make the playoffs. Talking to people in our Poland office, they think they are woeful, they have Lewandowski and the other Dortmund bloke and Lewa doesn't turn up a lot according to them. Every chance for Ireland to qualify outright and Scotland to nick a playoff spot

[Simon]

I need it explained to me why the UEFA accepted Spain's refusal to play against Gibraltar. I understand why they refused to play, but it's hardly the first issue of this kind, and is unlikely to cause as many problems as the various former Yugoslavian countries have had, without ever needing to be separated.

Nice easy group for England, not that it makes much difference - we'll perform indifferently and qualify with a game to spare as usual.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Should be some interesting games against Scotland. With the new management team in charge hopefully there will be a bit more spirit and backbone about the Ireland side. There are enough good players there to do ok. Scotland looked to be improving towards the end of their last campaign, but I wonder how much of that was because the heat was off and because of how shite Croatia became under Stimac. They will be ties to look forward to. I would expect Poland to have enough to win most of their home games and will be massively up for playing Germany, as they always are, so 3rd place could be riding on the Ireland/Scotland games.

[son_of_foley]

I'm planning on going to Hungary for the away game. Really think we can put on a decent showing this time around.

[MikeHunt]

Stupidly excited to play Ireland. Think it will be a real test of our improvement under strachan. I always always fancy us at home and continue to do so for this qualifying campaign.