© EuroFootball.com
Today in Montreux, Switzerland, the 2008 European Championship qualifying tournament draw took place, dividing 50 teams from the continent into 7 groups. The host countries Austria and Switzerland did not automatically qualify for the tournament.
Prior to the draw, the 50 national teams were divided into baskets based on their performances in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and the 2004 European Championships. After the draw, the teams were placed into groups - one with eight teams and the others with seven each.
The Lithuanian national team will compete in Group B, facing familiar opponents such as Scotland and the Faroe Islands from the 2004 European Championship qualifiers, as well as Italy, Georgia, Ukraine, and France.
Neighboring Latvia will be in Group F along with Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Iceland, Northern Ireland, and Liechtenstein, while Estonia's opponents will be England, Croatia, Russia, Israel, Macedonia, and Andorra.
The defending champions Greece will face Turkey once again, along with Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova, and Malta in their group.
The qualifying matches will be played from September 2006 to November 2007. The winners of each group and the seven runners-up will qualify for the final tournament of the European Championship in 2008.
All the 2008 European Championship qualifying groups:
Group A: Portugal Poland Serbia and Montenegro Belgium Finland Armenia Azerbaijan Kazakhstan
Group B: France Italy Ukraine Scotland Lithuania Georgia Faroe Islands
Group C: Greece Turkey Norway Bosnia and Herzegovina Hungary Moldova Malta
Group D: Czech Republic Germany Slovakia Ireland Wales Cyprus San Marino
Group E: England Croatia Russia Israel Estonia Macedonia Andorra
Group F: Sweden Spain Denmark Latvia Iceland Northern Ireland Liechtenstein
Group G: Netherlands Romania Bulgaria Slovenia Albania Belarus Luxembourg
