A strong delegation of Whites and Reds in Frankfurt
– As a federation, we have the right to send, in accordance with UEFA guidelines, five representatives to the draw ceremony: president, general secretary, coach, national team manager and spokesperson for the union, said Jakub Kwiatkowski, who plays two of the last mentioned functions.
Thanks to this, PZPN will send one more person to Frankfurt – Łukasz Gawrjołek, responsible for logistics.
The Polish delegation will arrive in Germany on Saturday and each of its members will have a task. For example, Kwiatkowski will take part in a media meeting (the so-called media forum), and the PZPN authorities – Kulesza and Wachowski – have scheduled meetings with their counterparts from other federations.
On Saturday evening there will be an official dinner – at the new headquarters of the German Football Federation (DFB) in Frankfurt.
Most of the Polish delegation will travel to Germany directly from Warsaw, but not all.
Coach Michniewicz recently flew to Qatar, where he oversaw, among other things, the final preparations at the Ezdan Palace hotel – the white and red base during the World Cup. Then the coach went to Saudi Arabia to meet Grzegorz Krychowiak, who plays in the local championship, and it is from this country that he will fly to Germany.
Poland in the first basket
Thanks to September’s 1-0 victory over Wales in the Nations League and favorable results in other First Division groups, Poland will be drawn from the first basket.
In addition to whites and reds, it includes: Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary and Switzerland.
The standings were determined by standings based on the results of the Nations League group stage. Thus, the second basket included, among others, France and England (the latter fell from the first division).
Everything will depend on your luck in the draw. In the second basket, in addition to the powers mentioned above, there are teams theoretically weaker than them, such as Israel or Finland. From the third, you can go to Norway with the great Erling Haaland, or to Armenia or Albania. From the fourth – for example, Turkey or the Faroe Islands, and from the fifth – Slovakia (beat Poland 2: 1 in the last Euro) or, for example, Gibraltar and Malta ranked much lower.
The Faroe Islands, drawn from the fourth basket, occupy the 122nd place in the world ranking, and Slovakia, which is only in the fifth basket – 55th.
A group of dreams or death? “It can be different”
– We haven’t talked about our dream group yet. Of course, we know that you can hit very differently, but we are just waiting for what fate will bring – admitted Kwiatkowski.
The European Championship qualifiers will feature 53 teams, which will be divided into ten groups – seven with five teams and three with six. Germany, as the host of the final tournament, will not participate in the qualifying rounds. Russia will not play either, excluded from all UEFA tournaments due to the invasion of Ukraine.
– First, the teams from the first basket will be drawn, so we will wait for our rivals to be drawn – stressed the team, the team manager and spokesperson for the Polish Football Association .
The top two teams from each of the 10 groups will advance to the final tournament (June 14 – July 14, 2024), and the other three finalists will be selected from the top Nations League teams that did not make the promotion.
UEFA have indicated that certain restrictions will apply during the draw. Nations League Final Four participants – Croatia, Spain, Netherlands and Italy will be the first to be drawn in groups AD (five teams), so as not to play qualifying matches in the final tournament (June 14-18).
For political reasons, they cannot belong to a single group: Armenia with Azerbaijan, Ukraine with Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina with Kosovo, Serbia with Kosovo and Gibraltar with Spain.
Consideration will also be given to climate-related factors (a maximum of two teams in a group coming from “winter” countries where matches can be played in difficult conditions) and the minimization of long journeys.
– The schedule of individual groups, as in recent years, will be selected by computer after a draw. All qualifying matches for Euro 2024 will take place next year. The so-called Windows for international meetings are March, June, September, October and November – admitted the manager of the Polish national team.
When will the Euro 2024 qualifying group draw take place?
The draw will take place at the Festhalle exhibition center in Frankfurt – from Sunday, October 9 at 12:00 p.m..
After the draw, the attention of Polish fans will turn to the world championships which will begin on November 20 in Qatar.
By October 21, all participating federations must register a top World Cup squad with FIFA – the list is expected to contain 55 names, including four goalkeepers. The latest, consisting of 26 players, including a minimum of three goalkeepers, is to be announced by November 14.
In the case of the Polish national team, as confirmed by Kwiatkowski, the wide list will be officially announced on October 20 in Zakopane during the European Sport and Tourism Congress (starts two days earlier). The PZPN authorities and the white and red coach will be there.
Distribution of baskets before the ME 2024 playoff group draw:
basket 1: Croatia, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, Switzerland, Poland
basket 2: France, Austria, Czech Republic, England, Wales, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Scotland, Finland
basket 3: Ukraine, Iceland, Norway, Slovenia, Ireland, Albania, Montenegro, Romania, Sweden, Armenia
basket 4: Georgia, Greece, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, North Macedonia
basket 5: Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Belarus, Lithuania, Gibraltar, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Malta
basket 6: Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino.
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red / PAP
