Euro 2012: England and Ireland await finals draw

Final preparations are taking place in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, as 16 nations including England and the Republic of Ireland await the Euro 2012 draw.

The ceremony will take place from 1700 GMT on Friday, with countries due to be drawn into four groups of four teams.

World and European champions Spain are in Pot One alongside the Netherlands and co-host nations Poland and Ukraine.

Pot Two consists of England, Germany, Italy and Russia, with the Republic of Ireland in the bottom group.

Giovanni Trapattoni's side sit alongside Denmark, the Czech Republic and France, while Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Sweden, who were recently beaten 1-0 by England in a friendly, make up Pot Three.

ENGLAND
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BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, Greece, Czech Republic
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Portugal, France
It throws up the possibility that England and the Republic of Ireland could be drawn together in the same group, though Spain, Germany, Portugal and France are widely regarded to be the strongest teams of their respective pot seedings.

And with the tournament split across two countries, location will be a big consideration for teams when their names are drawn.

England have already chosen the Polish city of Krakow as their base for Euro 2012, so would welcome being drawn in Group A, in which all matches will be staged in either Warsaw or Wroclaw, both of which are approximately 150 miles from England's base.

The other Group based in Poland is C, where matches will be staged in either Poznan (200 miles from Krakow) or Gdansk (300 miles away).

REP OF IRELAND
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BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, England, Greece
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Germany, Portugal
The matches in Group B and D will involve longer journeys to Ukraine. The venues for Group B are Kharkiv (700 miles from Krakow) and Lviv (200 miles), while Group D is Kiev (540 miles) and Donetsk (930 miles).

The Republic of Ireland, having qualified through the play-offs, have yet to settle on a finals base.

Seedings for Euro 2012

Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Poland*, Ukraine*.

Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia.

Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden.

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

* As joint hosts, Poland and Ukraine have already been allocated to Groups A and D respectively.