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Euro 2020 Draw: Seeding and Schedule of Dates for Group Fixtures

Gianni Verschueren

The draw for UEFA Euro 2020 took place on Saturday, headlined by a Group of Death featuring European giants Germany, France and Portugal.

They will be joined by the winner of Play-off A, a group of teams consisting of Iceland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The draw could need readjusting if host nation Romania qualify, however.

Elsewhere, Italy will face tricky challengers in Switzerland, Turkey and Wales, while Spain take on Poland and Sweden. England will again face 2018 FIFA World Cup foes Croatia and take on the Czech Republic, who beat them during qualifying.

Here is a look at the groups (seeding: 1-4):

Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales

Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland

Group C: Ukraine, Netherlands, Austria, Play-off winner D 

Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic, Play-off winner C

Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden, Play-off winner B

Group F: Germany, France, Portugal, Play-off winner A

The final group positions, include the play-off path winners:

The schedule for the group stages is as follows:

Friday 12 June

Saturday 13 June

Sunday 14 June

Monday 15 June

Tuesday 16 June

Wednesday 17 June

Thursday 18 June

Friday 19 June

Saturday 20 June

Sunday 21 June

Monday 22 June

Tuesday 23 June

Wednesday 24 June

   

All but 11 teams already knew which group they would be drawn into because of the new format with 12 host cities. Four more teams will qualify through the play-offs, which will look like this, per ESPN FC's Dale Johnson:

The play-offs will take place on March 26 and March 31, and Euro 2020 will run from June 12 to July 12. The semi-finals and final will be played at Wembley Stadium in London, while the tournament will open with the game between Italy and Turkey in Rome. 

The intrigue in this year's draw was limited, as a combination of host cities and prohibited clashes between certain nations meant a large portion of teams already knew which group they would be drawn into.

Group B was the most pronounced example, with Belgium, Russia and Denmark assured of a spot, with the only question remaining whether Finland or Wales would join them.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was far from happy with what he perceived as "competition distortion":

The Netherlands and Ukraine also knew they would both go in Group C ahead of the draw.

But while the draw didn't sit well with De Bruyne, his Belgium team will be the clear favourites in what appears a manageable Group B. The same can't be said for Group F.

Defending champions Portugal, world champions France and four-time world champions Germany set up an incredible group, and all three teams will like their chances of topping it. They could be joined by Euro 2016 revelations Iceland, who famously knocked out England in the round of 16. 

   
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