After the dismal performance of Scotland in the World Cup qualifiers, things are going from bad to worse for Scotland as it has been revealed that the Scots will be drawn from Pot three for the 2012 European Championship qualifiers.

Scotland have plummeted down the FIFA rankings and are now ranked 26th in Europe. When the Qualifying section for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers were announced, Scotland were rated 12th in Europe and were 14th in the FIFA rankings. The huge drop in the rankings means that making the 2012 tournament in Ukraine and Poland – will be even more difficult than before.

There will be nine groups in the qualifying stage for the tournament, with the top team from each group going through automatically. Six groups will contain six teams, whilst the remaining three groups will consist of just five. Of the runners-up in each group, the team with the best record of all nine will also gain an automatic spot. The eight other second placed nations will contest a two legged play-off. Poland and Ukraine have already qualified on account of hosting the competition.

Euro 2004 winners Greece are in Pot two, which is full of formidable opponents for Scotland to fear, including Serbia, Turkey and the Czech Republic. While the likes of Euro 2008 winners Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy and England are in Pot one.

The draw for the qualifying round will be made on February 7 2010. Matches are scheduled to begin on the weekend of September 3 2010.

Pot One: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia.

Pot Two: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania.

Pot Three: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Pot Four: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus.

Pot Five: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.

Pot Six:Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino.

Tagged with: 2012, euro, pot 3, qualifiers, Scotland

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