With the draw for Euro 2016 this evening, we assess the Republic of Ireland's potential opponents in France next summer. It's the big guns of Pot 1 today, where Spain, Germany and England could all await Martin O'Neill's side.
Ireland will be in Pot 4 for the draw, which takes place on Saturday in Paris. Darragh Moloney will be joined by Richie Sadlier and Brian Kerr, with Tony O'Donoghue in Paris, from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Ed Leahy will be live blogging the draw on RTÉ News Now from 5pm.
Pot 1:
Belgium
The number one ranked team in the world, Belgium perhaps took a bit longer to book their place in Euro 2016 that many would have expected.
A draw and a defeat against Wales in qualifying would give Ireland hope that they could claim something from Marc Wilmots' side were they to be grouped with them. Throughout their Group B campaign they struggled to break down organised defences.
Despite a host of attacking options throughout his squad - including the likes of Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke - Wilmots often opts to play just a lone striker up front. Much will depend on the form of Hazard who, like the rest of the Chelsea squad, is enduring a torrid time at the moment but if the Belgians can play to their full potential in France, they look certainties to at least make the semi-finals.
England
Like a big old bathroom spider, England may well be more frightened of us than we are of them and there’s a very strong case to be made that our near neighbours are the best side we could be drawn with out of Pot 1. They’ll be desperately hoping to avoid Ireland, Wales or Northern Ireland from Pot 4 and escape what would be in essence, an international derby.
Roy Hodgson’s side sauntered through a very kind qualifying group with a 100% record, but were scarcely tested and that could come back to haunt them in France where they will face much sterner challenges than San Marino, Lithuania and Estonia. Goals were easy to come by qualifying against those weaker sides but now with an out of form and tired looking Wayne Rooney and an injury-prone Daniel Sturridge, the England boss is being forced to look further down the ranks than he may have wanted.
Credit must be given to Hodgson in reforging a squad shorn of former stalwarts like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry and the England boss has shown more willingness to include in-form players from non top-six clubs.
Germany
Martin O’Neill has already proven that he has the tactical nous to get the better of Germany, shocking everyone as Ireland took four points from their clashes in Group D. A shaky qualifying campaign proved that the world champions are not invincible.
They remain joint favourites for the tournament, but the air of invincibility around them has faded after suffering defeats to Ireland and Poland in the qualifiers. Nevertheless, Joachim Loew’s side have proven time and again that they save their best for the big tournaments and having been finalists in 2008 and semi-finalists last time out, there’s no reason to believe they won’t be involved at the business end in France.
However, one place where Loew still has questions is up front. He’s muddled through much of his side’s qualifying campaign with midfielders playing striker roles and aside from Thomas Muller, no other front man has staked a major claim for a starting place in France.
Portugal
It’s almost a cliché at this stage, but Portugal’s Euro 2016 hopes again appear to rest on the broad shoulders of Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
After defeat to Albania in their first qualifying game led to the sacking of Paulo Bento, Fernando Santos came in to the steady the ship and steered his side through the qualification process in an efficient if unspectacular manner.
Goals remain an issue for the Portuguese, who scored just 11 times in their eight qualifying games and despite being their main threat, Ronaldo is often left feeding on scraps up front as, aside from Joao Moutinho, his side are short on genuine quality in midfield and can struggle to break down the kind of defence that a Martin O’Neill side would offer.
Spain
Vincent del Bosque’s men may not be the all-conquering side that won consecutive European Championships and the World Cup but they remain a formidable team and as defending champions, will go to France as one of the favourites for the tournament.
Spain will be eager to put the nightmare of the 2014 World Cup behind them but the spine of Del Bosque’s side is still made up of players from that disastrous tournament and the new faces that have come in haven’t been up to the standard of the likes of retirees like David Villa, Xavi and Xabi Alonso in their prime.
However, while this Spain side may not be as brilliant as teams from the past, they still cruised through qualifying, winning nine of their ten games, scoring 23 times and conceding just three goals. They may not be the mesmerising attacking force that they once were but there’s a new found steel to Del Bosque’s side which he has been able to couple to their creativity in midfield and in Paco Alcacer and Mario Gaspar, the Spanish boss appears to have unearthed two potential superstars.
France
Host nation France come into the tournament unified by coach Didier Deschamps. And although they qualified automatically as hosts, they did play the five teams in Group I home and away in friendly matches in preparation. They faced Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia, and Albania - winning seven times, drawing two and losing only one.
There is no shortage of talent on hand to Dechamps with the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Alexandre Lacazette, Karim Benzema, Anthony Martial and Oliver Giroud all providing attacking threats. However, Blaise Matuidi is one of the first names on the team sheet with the box-to-box midfielder responsible for winning possession, while he’s also added goals to his game this season.
France haven't missed a Euro finals since 1988 and have had a lot of joy as host nation at tournaments when winning in 1984, with Michel Platini in full flight, while they also won the 1998 World Cup on home soil. They also took victory at Euro 2000. And while they failed to get out of the group stage at Austria-Switzerland 2008 and the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, their pedigree surely won't allow that fate befall this squad.
Dream draw: England. It’s tempting to go for Germany here given our recent record, but unlike England, they’re a team that always seem to turn it on in major tournaments. England is a game that the Irish players will always find a little bit more for and unlike Ireland, they go into this tournament relatively untested after an easy qualifying group.
Nightmare draw: Spain. There’s enough talent in the Spanish midfield alone to tear Ireland apart and the memory of that 4-0 defeat at the last European Championship still lingers. Spain may not be as strong a side as they were then, but they remain one of the best side’s in the world and only the most optimistic supporter would expect Ireland to get anything against them.
