England and Wales have drawn each other at Euro 2016 in Group B along with Russia and Slovakia. Meanwhile the Republic of Ireland are up against Belgium, Italy and Sweden in the “Group of Death” and Euro Debutants Northern Ireland face tough matches against World Champions Germany, Poland and Ukraine in Group C.
The home-nations clash will take place on Thursday 16th June in Lens and England manager Roy Hodgson admitted he can’t wait for it.
“I feel good about it. There was always a very good chance we would meet one of the home nations. Wales are very organised, they have a strong spirit and a good spine” he told the BBC.
Euro 2016 Draw – England draw Wales
Wales boss Chris Coleman, who feared before the draw that if England and Wales met it would perhaps become a ‘Battle of Britain’, said “well, we’ve got them, it will be a great game. We would have wanted to avoid it, but we look forward to it. We deserve to be here and I think the tournament will be a fantastic one.”
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill talked of how his and the Republic of Ireland’s team could share information in the build-up to the Euro’s, and his country managed to get the two teams who automatically qualified from Ireland’s qualification group in Poland and Germany.
“The most important thing is to try and take something from your first game. The fixtures maybe work in our favour, playing Poland and Ukraine before Germany, which might be the most demanding physically.”
Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland again picked out the short straw after being placed in the same group as World Number One’s Belgium, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden and Euro 2012 finalists Italy.
Only eight countries will be eliminated at the group stages though, as the four best third-placed teams will join the top two of each group in the last 16.
European Championship 2016 Groups:
Group A- France, Romania, Albania, Switzerland
Group B- England, Russia, Wales, Slovakia
Group C- Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Northern Ireland
Group D- Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey,Croatia
Group E- Belgium, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Sweden
Group F- Portugal, Iceland, Austria, Hungary
