The Euro 2012 Championships  will be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine. The competition is the last one to be 16 teams as the subsequent one in 2016 will expand to twenty four teams. Poland and Ukraine defeated Italy and Croatia/Hungary for the right to have the tournament.
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The games will basically be split 50/50 between the two hosts. Polish cities to have matches will be Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan. The Ukrainian cities will be Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk.
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The final will take place in Kiev which will also have a semi-final. This will be at the Olimpiysky National Sports Complex which after construction will be one of the best stadia and sporting complexes across the globe. The new stadium in Warsaw is also being built and promises to be a state of the art arena.
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The draw for the competition has been done and qualifying games will get started just after the 2010 World Cup. Each of the nine group winners and the best runner-up will gain direct entry into the championships. Following that the other eight runner-up will be drawn into two-legged playoffs.
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From Group A you would have reason to believe Germany and Turkey would be too formidable with Austria and Belgium being the contenders.
Group B looks to be a 3 way battle involving Russia, Slovakia and Ireland.
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In Group C it looks like it will be comfortable for Italy and Serbia. France is the favorite from Group D with Romania looking at the one to take 2nd.
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There is a northern European feel to Group E where it ought to be Netherlands and Sweden.
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Croatia and Greece are the favorites in terms of Group F as are England and Switzerland for Group G.
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From Group H it looks like Portugal and Denmark and lastly from Group I it would appear to be Spain and the Czech Republic.
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Qualifying ends in October 2011 by which time passion and expectation for the Euro 2012 tournament will be well and truly underway.
Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, uefa euro 2012, Ukraine euro 2012