Ireland await EURO 2017 qualifying draw

The Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team will find out their fate for the upcoming UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 qualifying group stages on Monday.

As the girls in green prepare for their final friendly on May 10th versus World number two and World Cup hopefuls the United States ahead of kicking off the qualifiers. There will be eager eyes watching the draw where they have been placed as third seeds and it will be streamed live from the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland at 1pm (Irish time) on http://www.uefa.com.

Eight group winners and the six best runners-up will automatically join the hosts, the Netherlands, in the final tournament while the other two runners-up will play off in October 2016 for the remaining berth in the expanded 16-team finals to be held in the summer of 2017.

Ireland manager Sue Ronan will be part of the Irish delegation in Nyon and is hoping for a draw that will give Ireland its best shot at qualifying for their first senior women’s competition.

“So much will depend on the draw which is totally out of our control. But, regardless of who we get, and even though we are third seeds, we will be going all out to try and finish in the top two,” said Ronan.

The draw procedure is as follows:

- The 40 entrants consist of 38 nations given a bye to this round and the two preliminary round group winners: Georgia and debutants Moldova.

- Eight groups will be formed of five teams apiece.

- Each side is placed in one of five seedings pots depending on their coefficient ranking.

- A ball will first be drawn from Pot E to determine the team in the fifth position of Group 1. Then a second ball will be drawn from Pot E to decide the team in the fifth position of Group 2. A third ball will be drawn from Pot E to define the team in the fifth position of Group 3. The same procedure is repeated until the fifth position in Group 8 is filled.

- Then, the eight sides in Pot D are drawn into the fourth position of each group, starting with Group 1 and ending with Group 8 (in numerical order).

- The same procedure applies to Pots C to A, taking into consideration the respective positions within the respective groups.

- Matches will be played home and away from September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016.

Seedings

Pot A: Germany (holders)*, France*, Sweden*, Norway*, England*, Italy, Spain*, Iceland

Pot B: Russia, Denmark. Finland, Switzerland*, Scotland, Austria, Ukraine, Belgium

Pot C: Poland, Czech Republic, Wales, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Belarus

Pot D: Portugal, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Israel, Slovenia, Greece

Pot E: Estonia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Albania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Georgia, Moldova

*Competing at 2015 FIFA Women’s World

Road to the Netherlands

The UEFA EURO 2017 qualifiers kick off on September 14th, 2015. Below are the key dates of the qualifying campaign.

Qualifying group stage draw: April 20, 2015, in Nyon.

Qualifying group stage: September 14, 2015 – September 20, 2016.

Play-off draw: September 23, 2016, in Nyon.

Play-offs: October 17-25, 2016.

Finals draw: late 2016, Netherlands.

Finals: July/August 2017, Netherlands.