Hosts France, who won the eight-team Euros on home soil in 1984, will launch the championship against Group A rivals Romania in Paris on June 10.
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The Euro 2016 opening match (France Romania) will take place on June 10.
The toughest pool appears to be in Group E, where Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Italy will be battling it out in France next summer for a spot in the knockout phase.
Conducted by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, with assistance from a number of leading football stars like France’s David Trezeguet, the draw was undergoing without Michel Platini, the European soccer governing body’s president who has been barred from all football activities for 90 days due to allegations of corruption alongside with current FIFA boss Sepp Blatter.
Infantino made no reference to Federation Internationale de Football Association matters but he did talk about the attacks on the French capital by Islamic State on November 13 that killed 130 people. “I think the players for both countries will be delighted with that draw”.
Spain’s other opponents in Group D are Turkey and Croatia, while coach Didier Deschamps’ France also takes on newcomer Albania and Switzerland in Group A.
“But I think it is achievable to get out of the group – we won our qualifying group to get here so that should give us a lot of self-belief”.
How they qualified for Euro 2016: They finished third in Group G, just missing out to Russian Federation for the second automatic qualifying spot. That should leave the usual suspects ready to start the tournament proper when the round of 16 gets under way in the last week of June.
All the focus may be on Wales being drawn in the same group as England, but the opportunity to get one over on Russian Federation will also inspire Coleman to seek revenge for the controversial and agonising Euro 2004 play-off defeat. It will be the fifth meeting between the two teams, who have previously faced off in competitive qualifying groups.
Key player: Boasts both the experience of Buffon and the flair of El Shaarawy, but it’s their defensive solidity they’ll be relying upon.
“It’s going to be very hard for us”, he said. “We’re favorites in the group and we want to win it”.
The first appearance for Wales in an global tournament for 58 years will certainly centre around the match against England, which will cause a dilemna for employers across the United Kingdom – the match will kick off at 14:00 UK time.
Wales will face Slovakia in Bordeaux on 11 June, England in Lens on 16 June and then Russian Federation in Toulouse on 20 June.
Belgium are ahead of Ireland on quality of player by a distance but if Ireland can sit back and frustrate Belgium, they may struggle to open Martin O’Neill’s men up.
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The other sides in Group A are Albania, taking part in their first major tournament finals, and Switzerland. Despite a subsequent 2-1 win over Bulgaria, Italy were left third in Group C and on their way home as Sweden and Denmark, who drew their final game 2-2, advanced due to a better head-to-head record.
