Soccer players under the age of 21 will be in the second basket in the European Championship qualification draw on Thursday

The current twenty one is preparing for the European Championship in June. The next qualifying cycle, in which the newly formed team with players born in 2002 and younger, will start for the Czech team only in the fall, while some countries will already enter it at the end of March.

The lottery will divide the 52 participants into nine groups. Seven of them will have a cast of six, the remaining two will form five teams. The winners of the groups and the three teams with the best balance in second place will directly advance to the championship. The other six teams from the second positions will go to the play-off, in which they will compete for the remaining three free places in the tournament. As the organizer, Slovakia is certain to participate in the championship.

UEFA divided the teams into six draw baskets according to the coefficient between 2019 and 2023. The Czech team is in 13th position overall, which put them in the second basket together with eight other countries that they cannot face. In the first basket there are mainly giants, it consists of Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Netherlands, England, Denmark, Italy, Romania.

“When it comes to the first basket of the draw, it is similar to before the European Championship itself. It is about teams that will also be among the favorites in the next qualification. The fifth basket can be treacherous, where opponents are located in more complicated destinations such as Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan or Faroe Islands. In general, we would prefer opponents who are closer to us in terms of travel and overall logistics. I believe that the draw will be favorable for us overall,” said Czech coach Jan Suchopárek for the FAČR website.

“We would like such a group to fight for direct promotion until its end. It will depend on the current strength of us and our opponents. Now it is difficult to judge in what composition and form the individual teams will play in the new qualification. Basically, it doesn’t matter, against whom you will play. Although, of course, it can make a difference whether you get, for example, England or Romania from the first basket,” reflected the former Czech national team player.