OK, this really BAD article on bbc.co.uk which CANNOT be true says seedings for Euro 2004 are based on World Cup 2002 performance and the Euro 2004 qualifying round and then goes on about how that’s bad for England. Only we reached the last 8 (5 of that 8 are not at Euro 2004) and we qualified top of our group with the third best record in any group! Given that their application of the premise is so bad I have to wonder about the reliability of their information that it is, “likely to be based on qualifying for Euro 2004 and the 2002 World Cup”.
However, assuming they are right and that is what it is based on then the possibilites are:
MUST be seeded above us:
France (holders, 24, 1R),
Portugal (hosts, 1R)
MIGHT be seeded above us (better in 1 of 2 categories):
Czech Rep. (22, X),
Germany (18, F)
Our record:
England (20, QF)
MUST be seeded below us (worse in both categories):
Sweden (17, 2R),
Spain (17p, QF),
Italy (17, 2R),
Denmark (15, 2R),
Croatia (16p, 1R),
Holland (19p, X),
Russia (14p, 1R),
Greece (18, X),
Bulgaria (17, X)
Switzerland (15, X),
Latvia (16p, X)
Any fair application of the WC2002 + qual rule puts us in the top seed bracket with France, Portugal and probably Germany or maybe Czech Rep. (depending on which of the two qualifying aspects gets accented). Of course this is the final clinching proof that this isn’t the way it will be done by UEFA.