Your pick for Portugal

England look to have a favourable draw in the Euro 2004 qualifiers but Scotland face Germany and Wales meet Italy.

How do you think your team will fare?

Click here for the full 2004 draw

The England contingent waited with baited breath to hear if they would face old foes such as Germany, but the hand of fate seemed to be with Eriksson's men.

Sven and co seem to have escaped fairly lightly with Slovakia, Macedonia, Liechtenstein and Turkey making up Group Seven.

Northern Ireland face a tough test with in-form Spain, while Scotland and Wales will do well to get past Germany and Italy.

The winners of each qualifying group earn a place in the finals. The 10 runners-up will contest home-and-away play-off matches to fill the remaining five places.

Who are you tipping to qualify for Portugal 2004?

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For once the highly illogical ranking system has provided England with a peach of a draw. I feel for the Welsh fans; they have been unlucky, again! The Scots group hinges on how well the German team rebuilds in the next few years...
Jonathan, England

Oh dear, poor, poor Scots fans! We English just can't win can we? Following the World Cup draw we were being labelled as excessively pessimistic and whinging (see this site) and following this draw we are being labelled as typically arrogant!

Make your minds up guys, and Ross, enjoy supporting other nation's teams this summer, I'm glad we English don't have to!
Alan, England

England should make it, but only thanks to a perfect home record. Away there is no need to be over-confident in Istanbul. Slovakia are a technically gifted side capable of getting a result at home, and ask the Republic of Ireland how tricky a spot Macedonia can be to visit!
Des, England

The worst thing about the draw is having to play in Turkey, not only for footballing reasons. The potential for trouble is obvious and England should ban supporters from going, for their own safety and also for England's future in the competition.

If there is trouble caused by hooligans from both sets of fans, which country would get all the blame? I wonder. Remember, the attitude towards England in Europe is not too positive and locals get away with a lot when English teams visit.

Those who think England's task will be easy should think again

Ziya Hakki, UK

When the Leeds fans were stabbed inTurkey, the Spanish media reported thet they "deserved what they got", and over here they still refer to all England supporters as "Los Hooligans". As for who will win Euro 2004? I don't know.
Conor, Spain

Surely Scotland can qualify from our section.The games against Germany will take care of themselves, and with Vogts in charge there won't be much about Germany that the new manager won't know.
Robert Clark, Scotland

Those who think England's task will be easy should think again. Turkey got further in Euro 2000 than England did, and have three players (as opposed to England's none)in Serie A. Turkey's three players in the Premiership have all been voted players of the month, and as Cup competitions have proved, Turkey are the most improved footballing nation in Europe.
Ziya Hakki, UK

I am a Scot and already I am worried. Since the draw was made all I have heard is what a good draw it has been for Scotland. Are you sure? Iceland have come on bundles and will be very difficult opponents. And Liechtenstein?

They are merely another potential banana skin - a big one. You see I still remember Iran and Peru from 1978! That was when we had an excellent side, unlike the shambolic one we have now. We'll probably beat Germany and gloriously fail to qualify. Some things never change.
Ronald McKenzie, London, England

Why on Earth were Turkey seeded above England? Are the Fifa rankings meaningless?

Neil, England

A typically arrogant English reaction to the draw and to the other teams in their group. While they probably will qualify, they don't show any respect to any of their opponents. I, along with the entire Scottish nation, can't wait for June when Henrik Larson buries their chances in Japan.
Ross, Scotland

What a draw for England - Turkey provide the only real stiff opposition because they are improving. Lets just say against the likes of Macedonia and Liechtenstein we should even see Emile Heskey score a few goals - now that will be something! Anyway, good look to all the home nations, because I think whatever rivalries we have when playing each other should be thrown out of the window when we are not. I'll cheer the rest on for sure!
Narinder Singh, Middlesbrough, England

Turkey are the jokers in the pack. We should beat them on paper, but they are the kind of team who are capable of grinding a result out on the day. The away match will be tough. But why on Earth were Turkey seeded above England? Are the Fifa rankings meaningless?
Neil, England

Croatia shouldn't have any trouble winning Euro 2004, because after winning the World Cup in Japan and Korea, they'll have the confidence to win it all and be the best soccer team in the world!
Marko, Croatia

Once again the English are getting ahead of themselves. Turkey continues to be underestimated and the Slovaks continue to improve. The test will be tougher than most English fans would like to believe.
Chris T, Canada

Holland to win, after the disaster of not qualifying for World Cup 2002 the Dutch will be out to prove they really are not chokers.
Bob Rogers, Australia

Wales and Northern Ireland will find it hard, but good luck to them both

Mark, England

The Scottish draw could have been worse! If we can be as lucky as England were and catch the Germans on an off-night we could qualify as winners of the group.
Michael, Scotland

What a draw for England! We are already there! Scots have it hard but they will come through with their new manager I'm sure. Ireland will have gained confidence and hopefully gain some experience from the World Cup! Wales and Northern Ireland will find it hard, but good luck to them both. England have to be one of the favourites, after their recent performances against Germany and Greece! Come on ENGLAND!
Mark, England

A good draw for Scotland. Apart from Germany there shouldn't be too many problems, and a play-off place should be virtually guaranteed. That's the theory anyway....England will get through too.
Mark, Scotland

The draw has certainly favoured England. On face value we could and possibly should win every game, qualifying with full points and sending out a real warning to the other qualifiers! C'mon England.
Cliff, Blackpool, England

Everybody here speaks about an easy qualifying group, and I agree that I will be very surprised if England do not go top of the group. But, I would like to point out that it will not be Sven's boys that will be playing.

England have been lucky this time but the ranking system needs to be changed.

Angus Barrry, UK

The overconfidence that the English team currently has will reflect on them very badly during this summer's World Cup and I expect England to be out of the competition before the quarter-finals, perhaps even during the first round. And the papers will be calling "God Sven" as "Svennables" or something like that, he will be sacked and so it is another coach that will be guiding England towards qualification next September...
Roy Papatheodorou, Cyprus

I think the real outside bet of the championship is the Republic of Ireland, through hard graft and teamwork they can see off any challenge.
Colm Maloney, England

England were ranked 17th due to some UEFA contrived coefficient. France were only ranked 10th equal under this method, even as European and World Champions. England have been lucky this time but the ranking system needs to be changed.
Angus Barrry, UK

Come on the mighty Liechtenstein.
John McVey, Scotland

This is going to be tricky. What are England going to complain about if they fail to qualify? I suppose they could always rely on the old standbys of bad pitches and biased referees.
Andrew Smith, US, ex-UK

Unless it is at minus twelve or fifteen degrees, even the Moscow game ought not frighten the Irish team. Wales: some day they will upset the Azzurri. England: should qualify as winners of this group.
Thomas McCarthy, Italy

In terms of individual quality, Iceland has the biggest star, and probably the best player as well

Hrafn Valgardsson, Iceland

Excellent draw! I'm Scots and wife is Icelandic! On our first date many years ago I asked her, in fun, if it was true Iceland had a national holiday every time they scored an international goal? The relationship almost ended there. Today the reverse could be true. Iceland are at their strongest ever and Scotland at their weakest.
George Taylor, Scotland

Not a bad draw for Northern Ireland in terms of testing ourselves against quality opposition. It's never going to be about qualification for us but about putting up a good fight against quality sides such as Spain, Greece and the Ukraine. England would have been nice!
David Archibald, Northern Ireland

As an Icelander, I'm quite happy with the draw. We could easily beat anyone in our group, except maybe Germany away, and they are not as strong as they used to be. And in terms of individual quality, Iceland has the biggest star, and probably the best player as well. Who am I talking about? Well, suffice to say that he plays for Chelsea!
Hrafn Valgardsson, Iceland

I can't believe that people aren't more excited about this draw! It's the easiest group to qualify from that England have been blessed with for over a decade! Turkey aren't a walkover team, but they're not exactly a football superpower like Germany, Italy or Holland, all teams we had to face in the last four qualifying competitions. And given that we had to face one of the top ten seeded teams, we definitely got the easiest of the bunch. It could have Germany again, Spain, Italy, (or even France...)

As for the other teams in the group, what can you say? They're all rubbish. Slovakia will be easy to beat, and Macedonia and Liechtenstein are dead certs. If we don't get near maximum points and qualify with two games to spare I will be very surprised, let alone disappointed. Here's looking forward to not having to qualify with a 90th minute David Beckham free-kick! Euro 2004 here we come!
James, England, UK

My Ukraine have got a tricky group - Northern Ireland will be a potential banana skin

Alex, UK

English press seem not to take Turkey seriously but England has no chance in Istanbul at all. Slovakia has a young and very technical team. Qualification is not "a piece of cake" as some of you'd think.
Josh Carter, UK

My Ukraine have got a tricky group. Northern Ireland will be a potential banana skin and Spain always do well in the qualifiers and we all saw what Greece were capable of. This time however I hope our new coach manages to correct the mental ineptitude of our gifted boys and go all the way to Portugal.
Alex, UK

The Republic of Ireland should make it through to the finals, thus consolidating their position as one of the better teams in Europe. Most people will laugh at that - as they tend to ignore the fact that Eire proved during the World Cup qualifiers that they have nothing to fear from teams with the stature of Portugal and the Netherlands.
Eoin, England

No offence to the other countries, counting no chickens, but other than maybe a draw in Turkey, anything less than full points would almost be embarrassing.
Nick, England

The English fans seem to be a little overconfident, and not for the first time. Turkey won't be the pushover they expect, while Slovakia are no slouches. England should qualify, but it might be through the play off.

Scotland on the other hand have it hard. We could beat Germany at home, but it all depends on the new coach. I'll settle for a play off place and qualification that way!
Rob Littlejohn, UK

An outside bet would be Scotland to beat Germany

Lisa Mills, England

I've booked my flights to Portugal already!!
Gareth Mason, England

The draw has been very kind to England and I expect them to qualify comfortably from Group Seven. The only tricky tie should be the away game in Turkey, but I would expect Sven's men to win all their home games.

Scotland will struggle to get past Germany, despite the fact that Berti Vogts' inside knowledge could come in handy. The Germans were outclassed by England in Munich, but that does not make them a bad team and they will be strong again. Italy will win Wales' group easily, while Northern Ireland's task in Spain will probably be to avoid a large defeat.
Conrad Marks, UK

England have definitely been lucky for a change. However, I'm concerned about the match in Turkey, especially if England win. A growing number of Turkish fans seem to have been extremely volatile over the last few years, and I fear trouble of the sort that other visiting teams have experienced. Should this occur, no doubt Uefa will adopt (regardless of blame) its traditional anti-English stance and heavily punish England.
Damien, England

We have been given a very good draw for us this time around. We should definitely qualify along with Spain, France and Italy. An outside bet would be Scotland to beat Germany especially with their new coach. I think they will all have a difficult time beating Portugal in the final though.
Lisa Mills, England

Wales seem to play better against the better known teams

Gareth Morgan, Wales

Group 10 is clearly the group of death in this draw. Owing to the eccentric nature of Uefa and Fifa international seedings, I wonder if England win the World Cup and all their Euro 2004 qualifying games, they will then be seeded for this tournament; probably not.

Regardless though, Euro 2004 will be the ideal preparation for England to seriously go for glory in Germany 2006 by which time Sven's babies will have grown into the World's most feared national team.
John Parrott, England

Wales and Scotland should forget the whole tournament and contemplate on other tournaments. For Northern Ireland, they could be runners-up in their group and probably in the play-offs make it to Portugal 2004.
Joel Maina, Kenya

The truly class sides such as France, Spain and Italy will qualify with ease and, along with Portugal, will make up the four main contenders in the Finals. Watch out for Russia and Croatia as the dark horses.
Jim, U.K.

At last Wales can visit some easier countries to get to and enjoy some better playing surfaces than we have in recent years. OK our chances of qualifying for only a second time are as slim as usual, but you never know, we seem to play better against the better known teams.
Gareth Morgan, Wales