Euro 2008 seeding format - total farce

[dom9]

Compared to the likes of Italy, France and Germany, yes they're inferior.

I'm not sure about that.

They are probable winners of group A. Either France or Italy won't be.

[Craig_H]

I'm not sure about that.

They are probable winners of group A. Either France or Italy won't be.

Czech Republic have probably the best record of anyone, when it comes to qualifying rounds...

How many world cups or european championships have they won?

If you're not sure whether Croatia are inferior to Italy and France, then you're not altogether very clued up.

[dww]

I admit that having two host sin the top seeds (especially as they are poor teams wrecks it a bit), however are these not just top seeds? So basically having a week set of top seeds will leave a very strong set of second seeds and all the groups will work out much as we would have wanted?

Also an interesting take on the worth of being first seed this time from the guardian.

[Craig_H]

No, there are only 4 seeds, the rest is a free draw.

[dww]

No, there are only 4 seeds, the rest is a free draw.

Not what it says here.

[Craig_H]

Not what it says here.

Oh wikipedia...the thing anyone can write an article for...

THAT showed me!

There's one group of seeds.

In fact, even wiki itself says so:

The draw for the final tournament is scheduled for December 2, 2007. In a return to the format used at Euro 92 and Euro 96 the games in each group will be held at just two stadia, with the seeded team remaining in the same city for all three matches.

[Ritchi3]

It's either going to be the Netherlands and Germany as the other top seed. The other three area given, I still can't see the problem with it. If you want England to be the top seed, then host(or even more unlikely: win) the thing yourself.

[Craig_H]

It's either going to be the Netherlands and Germany as the other top seed. The other three area given, I still can't see the problem with it. If you want England to be the top seed, then host(or even more unlikely: win) the thing yourself.

I dunno why you mention england, i barely did.

The 4 seeded teams should be Germany, Italy, France and ok, i'll go with Greece as holders.

For the record, do Holland or Germany have the best qualification records for World Cup 2006 and Euro 2008? Germany didnt need to qualify in 2006, so i'm not sure if they would have the best combined record.

[dww]

Oh wikipedia...the thing anyone can write an article for...

THAT showed me!

There's one group of seeds.

In fact, even wiki itself says so:

I in no means wanted to 'show you anything'. I understand though that you are incapable of civil discussion.

So I will quote the UEFA site (one of the references in the wiki link):

Coefficients
The seeded teams will be the host associations, with the reigning European champions if they qualify, and one or two teams with the best coefficients on the basis of results achieved in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying competition and/or in the qualifying competition for the 2006/08 UEFA European Football Championship. The other finalists will be assigned to the four groups by means of a draw, according to their coefficients.

Also the guardian podcast talked of the teams being divided into pots - so to me it looks like the teams are divided into pots by coefficient and the groups defined by the 'seed' team. The pots seem a lot like a ranked seeding setup to me. I admit I am drawing inferences but otherwise the UEFA section quoted above seems a bit redundant.

I guess we will see soon enough when the draw is made.

[Ritchi3]

I dunno why you mention england, i barely did.

The 4 seeded teams should be Germany, Italy, France and ok, i'll go with Greece as holders.

For the record, do Holland or Germany have the best qualification records for World Cup 2006 and Euro 2008? Germany didnt need to qualify in 2006, so i'm not sure if they would have the best combined record.

UEFA don't take into account the World Cup, it's a seperate competition. Holland have the best coefficient, and will remain with it if they don't lose to Belarus. If they do, Germany will get it. There's talk that Holland may throw the game as it's a disadvantage to be one of the seeded teams.

The home teams will ALWAYS be seeded, for obvious reasons. I think the previous winners should be seeded too. So I can't the problem, it's just unfortunate that in this case there are two home nations, and that none of the three of the teams are considered powerful nations. But then it should be argued that the competition shouldn't be held in "middle tier" countries, which again, I think would be silly.

Anyway, thanks to the seeding system, I'll be putting a sneaky bet on Austria and Switzerland to make it the whole way.

[Rich]

It's not helped by having two host nations, which obviously take up two top seed spots, with both countries historically being poor - however, what can you do?

Perhaps, seeding should be changed to simply using the FIFA World Ranking system, with confirmed entries only going to the host(s) and holder.

Therefore, looking at the current standings the 8 seeded teams would be:

Italy
France
Germany
Spain
Netherlands
Portugal
Czech Republic
Croatia

The rest would be drawn out of a free draw, although keeping Austria and Switzerland apart would make sense. (Assuming those 8 qualify)

[dww]

It's not helped by having two host nations, which obviously take up two top seed spots, with both countries historically being poor - however, what can you do?

Perhaps, seeding should be changed to simply using the FIFA World Ranking system, with confirmed entries only going to the host(s) and holder.

Therefore, looking at the current standings the 8 seeded teams would be:

Italy
France
Germany
Spain
Netherlands
Portugal
Czech Republic
Croatia

The rest would be drawn out of a free draw, although keeping Austria and Switzerland apart would make sense. (Assuming those 8 qualify)

Seems fair enough to me.

[Craig_H]

UEFA don't take into account the World Cup, it's a seperate competition. Holland have the best coefficient, and will remain with it if they don't lose to Belarus. If they do, Germany will get it. There's talk that Holland may throw the game as it's a disadvantage to be one of the seeded teams.

The home teams will ALWAYS be seeded, for obvious reasons. I think the previous winners should be seeded too. So I can't the problem, it's just unfortunate that in this case there are two home nations, and that none of the three of the teams are considered powerful nations. But then it should be argued that the competition shouldn't be held in "middle tier" countries, which again, I think would be silly.

Anyway, thanks to the seeding system, I'll be putting a sneaky bet on Austria and Switzerland to make it the whole way.

Sky Sports News think otherwise.

[Craig_H]

It's not helped by having two host nations, which obviously take up two top seed spots, with both countries historically being poor - however, what can you do?

Perhaps, seeding should be changed to simply using the FIFA World Ranking system, with confirmed entries only going to the host(s) and holder.

Therefore, looking at the current standings the 8 seeded teams would be:

Italy
France
Germany
Spain
Netherlands
Portugal
Czech Republic
Croatia

The rest would be drawn out of a free draw, although keeping Austria and Switzerland apart would make sense. (Assuming those 8 qualify)

Apparently there IS no free draw. EVERYONE is apparently seeded now, and you'll have 1st seeds, 2nd seeds, 3rd and 4th etc...

[Konstro]

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/news/kind=1/newsid=623231.html?cid=rssfeed&att=competitions/euro/index

The Netherlands will join holders Greece and co-hosts Switzerland and Austria in Pot 1 for the UEFA EURO 2008™ final-round draw to be held in Lucerne on 2 December.

Coefficient order
With the two co-host nations already occupying positions A1 and B1 in the draw, European champions Greece join the side with the highest coefficient from 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying, the Netherlands, in Pot 1. The remaining pots have been filled in order of coefficient. The teams in Pot 2 will be Croatia, world champions Italy, the Czech Republic and Sweden, with Romania, Germany, Portugal and Spain in Pot 3. The final pot contains UEFA European Championship finals newcomers Poland, France, Turkey and Russia.

Competition cycle
"The system is based on the results of the qualifying competitions – a cycle of two competitions, that is to say one EURO qualifying competition and one FIFA World Cup qualifying competition," explained UEFA's professional football director Giorgio Marchetti. "The coefficients are drawn up by dividing the total number of points earned by each team during the two qualifying competitions by the number of matches played. From this point of view, the system is simple, transparent and objective, there is no interference.

Same coefficient
"In the case that teams have the same coefficient over the two qualifying competitions – which is the case for Romania and Germany, and Turkey and Russia – we apply the coefficient over the last competition [EURO], the average goal difference of the last competition, the average number of goals scored, average number of away goals scored and finally, if everything is still equal, we would draw lots.

Four top seeds
"The UEFA ranking has been constantly and consistently applied in this way over the past few editions of the European Championship," Marchetti said. "The hosts and the reigning champions are always seeded, and this is the case for 2008 – the hosts are Switzerland and Austria, Greece is the third top seed as 2004 European champions, and the top team in the ranking is the fourth top seed." With constant improvement in mind, a UEFA review of its coefficient ranking system is underway for future EURO competitions.

Draw procedure
Under the draw procedure, host associations Switzerland and Austria will be allocated into positions A1 and B1 respectively.
The draw will start with Pot 1 in order to fill the first position in each group. A first ball will be drawn from Pot 1 and the drawn team placed into the first position in Group C. Thereafter, the second ball from Pot 1 will be drawn and the respective team will be placed into the first position of Group D.

Draw continues
The draw will then continue with Pot 4 and ends with Pot 2. A ball will be drawn from Pot 4 and placed into Group A. In order to determine the position of the team within the group and the fixtures order, a ball will be drawn from Pot a (either A2, A3 or A4). Moving to Group B, another team will be drawn from Pot 4. Once again, to determine the position of the team within the group, a ball will be drawn from Pot b (either B2, B3 or B4). The same procedure will be repeated for Groups C and D (in consecutive order) until all balls from Pot 4 have been drawn and positioned in each group. The same procedures will be followed for Pot 3 and Pot 2.

UEFA EURO 2008™ draw seedings
Pot Team Coefficient
Switzerland (hosts) 1.800
Austria (hosts) 1.500
1 Greece (holders) 2.167
1 Netherlands 2.417
2 Croatia 2.409
2 Italy 2.364
2 Czech Republic 2.333
2 Sweden 2.273
3 Romania 2.250
3 Germany 2.250
3 Portugal 2.192
3 Spain 2.182
4 Poland 2.167
4 France 2.091
4 Turkey 1.958
4 Russia 1.958