LUCERNE, Switzerland, Dec 1 (Reuters) - France and the Netherlands are likely to face the stiffest challenges when the draw for the 2008 European championship takes place on Sunday (1100 GMT).
France, World Cup runners-up in Germany last year, have been placed in the lowest of the four pots for the 16-team draw and could therefore find themselves in the same group as the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
The Dutch are among the top seeds, having finished the competition's qualifying stage with the highest points average, but their position is not as advantageous as it might seem.
Title holders Greece and tournament co-hosts Austria and Switzerland are the other top seeds, meaning the Dutch cannot face any of those three and will instead be pitted against stronger-looking opposition from the lower pots.
World champions Italy are in the second pot and Germany in the third.
'At least it is clear that nobody here has been doing France any favours,' UEFA president and former French international Michel Platini joked on Friday when asked about a seeding system which only considers qualifying results and not those from final tournaments.
'Wherever the teams are placed it will be an interesting draw because it is certainly the world's most difficult international competition.'
Eight title winners will be taking part in Sunday's draw with Denmark the only previous champions not to have qualified for next year's finals.
Poland and Austria are the only two countries taking part in the tournament for the first time.
The draw is due to take place at the end of a 52-minute televised show broadcast to 138 countries.
Spanish opera singer Jose Carreras will provide the draw's musical entertainment along with host nation performers including the Vienna Boys Choir and Swiss alphorn player Eliana Burki.
Euro 2008 takes place from June 7 to 29 with matches in Geneva, Berne, Basel, Zurich, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Vienna.
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France, World Cup runners-up in Germany last year, have been placed in the lowest of the four pots for the 16-team draw and could therefore find themselves in the same group as the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
The Dutch are among the top seeds, having finished the competition's qualifying stage with the highest points average, but their position is not as advantageous as it might seem.
Title holders Greece and tournament co-hosts Austria and Switzerland are the other top seeds, meaning the Dutch cannot face any of those three and will instead be pitted against stronger-looking opposition from the lower pots.
World champions Italy are in the second pot and Germany in the third.
'At least it is clear that nobody here has been doing France any favours,' UEFA president and former French international Michel Platini joked on Friday when asked about a seeding system which only considers qualifying results and not those from final tournaments.
'Wherever the teams are placed it will be an interesting draw because it is certainly the world's most difficult international competition.'
Eight title winners will be taking part in Sunday's draw with Denmark the only previous champions not to have qualified for next year's finals.
Poland and Austria are the only two countries taking part in the tournament for the first time.
The draw is due to take place at the end of a 52-minute televised show broadcast to 138 countries.
Spanish opera singer Jose Carreras will provide the draw's musical entertainment along with host nation performers including the Vienna Boys Choir and Swiss alphorn player Eliana Burki.
Euro 2008 takes place from June 7 to 29 with matches in Geneva, Berne, Basel, Zurich, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Vienna.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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