Background	The 2016 UEFA European Championship qualifying draw took place in Nice on Sunday, 23 February 2014. Euro 2016, which is being hosted by France, will be made up of 24 nations, an increase from 16 previously.  Seedings have been decided by UEFA's coefficient system, which is different from FIFA's world ranking and takes into account results from the 2010 World Cup right through to qualification for the 2014 World Cup. France will also take part in qualifying, the first hosts to do so after a rule change, although no qualifying points will rest on their fixtures. They will play in the finals whatever the outcome of their games. Explaining the recent rule change, UEFA president Michel Platini said it was brought in because the hosts, who are normally exempt from qualifying, have found it hard to arrange friendlies in the past. He added that France will join the group that includes five teams. None of England, Germany, Italy, Spain or the Netherlands will be in that group for television rights reasons. The other eight groups will contain six teams. Gibraltar, taking part for the first time after being accepted as a UEFA member last year, will be kept apart from neighbours Spain in qualifying to avoid exacerbating political tensions. Azerbaijan and Armenia will also be kept apart for the same reason, but Russia and Georgia, who do not share diplomatic ties following conflict between the two former Soviet republics in 2008, have agreed to play each other if drawn in the same pot. There is also a change to the Euro 2016 fixture schedule, with qualifying matches spread over six days rather than being played on just Fridays and Tuesdays. To ensure a place at Euro 2016, nations must finish in the top two in their group. The best third-placed finisher also qualifies before the remaining eight third-placed teams go into the play-offs in November 2015. The qualification period runs from 7 September 2014 until 13 October 2015. The play-offs will be held over two legs in November, with the draw for the main tournament being held on 12 December 2015. It all gets under way in France on 10 June 2016.
Seeding	Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Pot 6: Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Gibraltar. Pot 5: Iceland, Northern Ireland, Albania, Lithuania, Moldova, FYR Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Cyprus. Pot 4: Montenegro, Armenia, Scotland, Finland, Latvia, Wales, Bulgaria, Estonia, Belarus. Pot 3: Serbia, Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Norway, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, Poland. Pot 2: Ukraine, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Ireland.
European Championship 2016 Preliminary Groups	Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E A1 - Netherlands B1 - Bosnia-Herzegovina C1 - Spain D1 - Germany E1 - England A2 - Turkey B2 - Israel C2 - Slovakia D2 - Poland E2 - Slovenia A3 - Iceland B3 - Cyprus C3 - FYR Macedonia D3 - Georgia E3 - Lithuania A4 - Czech Republic B4 - Belgium C4 - Ukraine D4 - Republic of Ireland E4 - Switzerland A5 - Latvia B5 - Wales C5 - Belarus D5 - Scotland E5 - Estonia A6 - Kazakhstan B6 - Andorra C6 - Luxembourg D6 - Gibraltar E6 - San Marino Group F Group G Group H Group I   F1 - Greece G1 - Russia H1 - Italy I1 - Portugal F2 - Romania G2 - Austria H2 - Norway I2 - Serbia F3 - Northern Ireland G3 - Moldova H3 - Azerbaijan I3 - Albania F4 - Hungary G4 - Sweden H4 - Croatia I4 - Denmark F5 - Finland G5 - Montenegro H5 - Bulgaria I5 - Armenia F6 - Faroe Islands G6 - Liechtenstein H6 - Malta I6 - France
Final Tournament Venues and Matches	Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, St-Etienne and Toulouse

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