When is the 2020 European Championship qualifying draw?
Follow the draw live on Sky Sports News or via Skysports.com from 11am on Sunday
Last Updated: 03/12/18 2:13pm
The draw for the 2020 European championship qualifying campaign takes place in Dublin on Sunday and here we explain all you need to know about the process and how to follow it.
How can you follow the draw?
The draw gets underway in Dublin at 11am on Sunday December 2. You can follow the actual draw by various means, either on Sky Sports News, our live blog on www.skysports.com/football, or via a live stream.
How does it all work?
There will be 55 teams drawn into five groups of five (Groups A-E) and five groups of six (Groups F-J), with the six seeding pots having already been confirmed after the recent UEFA Nations League phase.
Meanwhile, there will be 12 host nations, although there will be no exceptions from the qualifiers for any of those countries.
The qualifiers will take place between March and November 2019, with the top two in each of the 10 groups progressing to the finals in June and July 2020.
Meanwhile, the remaining four berths for the competition will be decided by play-offs in March 2020 and entry to that will be based on the Nations League campaign.
Who are the co-hosts?
Azerbaijan, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Scotland and Spain.
What pot are the Home Nations in?
The four Nations League finalists - England, Portugal, Switzerland and Netherlands - will be placed in a special pot to ensure they are in a five-team group, meaning they will be free to play in the finals in June 2019.
England are among the top seeds, with Wales in pot two and Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic all in pot three.
However, three-time European champions Germany are only in pot two after their shock relegation from the Nations League.
4:09 Who is seeded in what pot?
UEFA Nations League pot (4): Switzerland*, Portugal*, Netherlands*, England*
Pot 1 (6): Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Poland
Pot 2 (10): Germany, Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina*, Ukraine*, Denmark*, Sweden*, Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Republic
Pot 3 (10): Slovakia, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland*, Norway*, Serbia*, Finland*, Bulgaria, Israel
Pot 4 (10): Hungary, Romania, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Georgia*
Pot 5 (10): Macedonia*, Kosovo*, Belarus*, Luxembourg, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Gibraltar, Faroe Islands
Pot 6 (5): Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Malta, San Marino
*indicates team who have already secured Euro 2020 play-off spot at least
Are there any restrictions?
In order to allow all 12 Euro 2020 hosts the opportunity to qualify as a group winner or runner-up, a maximum of two such teams can be drawn into one group.
Meanwhile, for political reasons, Gibraltar and Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo and Serbia and Kosovo cannot be paired together in the same group.
There is also a winter venue restriction meaning some countries cannot be drawn in the same section so as to avoid games being called off due to adverse conditions.
So, only two of the following nations can be in the same qualifying group - Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia and Ukraine.
And there is also a restriction over excess travelling whereby the likes of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Iceland can only be placed in a group with one other listed country to avoid having to undertake long journeys for matches.
What are the key dates?
The first round of qualifiers takes place between March 21-23, 2019, while the final matches are on November 17-19, 2019.
However, the four Nations League finalists will not be in action on either matchday two or three as they will be competing in the finals of that tournament in Portugal.
What about the play-offs?
Each country that won their Nations League group make it automatically into the play-offs, unless they progress to the tournament itself by finishing in the top two of their qualifying group.
In that situation, the next best nation in the respective league will take their play-off place, with this decided by the following criteria: position in the group, points and goal difference.
The draw for the play-offs takes place on November 22, 2019, with the play-off semi-finals and finals being played between March 26 and 31, 2020.
How can you follow the draw?
The draw gets underway at 11am. You can follow the actual draw by various means, either on Sky Sports News, our live blog on www.skysports.com/football, or via a live stream.
When is the tournament?
The tournament itself takes place between June 12 and July 12, 2020.
