The Euro 2012 Finals  will be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine. The tournament is the last one to be sixteen teams as the next one in 2016 will expand to 24 teams. Poland and Ukraine defeated Italy and Croatia/Hungary for the right to hold the tournament.
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The games will basically be split 50/50 between the two hosts. Polish venues to have matches will be Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan. The Ukrainian venues will be Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk.
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The final will be held in Kiev which will also have a semi-final. This will be at the Olimpiysky National Sports Complex which after development will be one of the top stadia and sporting complexes on the planet. The new arena in Warsaw is also being built and promises to be a state of the art stadium.
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The draw for the tournament has already been made and qualifying matches will begin following the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Each of the 9 group winners and the best runner-up will get direct entry into the competition. Following that the remaining 8 runner-up will be drawn into two-legged playoffs.
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From Group A you would consider Germany and Turkey would be too resilient with Austria and Belgium being the contenders.
Group B looks to be a three way fight with Russia, Slovakia and Ireland.
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In Group C it looks like it will be fairly simple for Italy and Serbia. France is the most likely 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 should really be Netherlands and Sweden.
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Croatia and Greece are the likely challengers by way 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 then finally from Group I it would seem to be Spain and the Czech Republic.
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Qualifying ends in October 2011 by which time enthusiasm and expectancy for the UEFA Euro 2012 Championships will be well and truly underway.
Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, uefa euro 2012, Ukraine euro 2012