UEFA Euro 2016: How Saturday's Finals draw in Paris will work

Thursday 10 Dec 2015
The Henri Delaunay trophy

On Saturday evening England will find out who they will be facing at next summer's UEFA Euro 2016 Finals, when the draw takes place in Paris.

The Three Lions qualified in style for the tournament after winning all ten of their qualifying fixtures.

Euro 2016 Finals draw

5pm (6pm CET), Saturday 12 December
Paris
Live on BBC Two or follow via Twitter @England

And not only will Roy Hodgson and his players be looking forward to seeing who and where they will be playing, but England fans will also be eagerly anticipating the outcome of the ceremony in the French capital.

So, how will the draw work? Well, here's our guide to what will happen on Saturday

The Process

There will be four pots for the draw, with seedings based on the UEFA national team coefficient rankings. 

England are one of the top seeds thanks to their record in qualifying and will not be drawn in the same group as any of the other nations in Pot One - Spain, Germany, Portugal and Belgium. Meanwhile, hosts France automatically take position one in Group A. 

Those six countries will be drawn alongside one team each from Pots Two, Three and Four. 

France qualify as hosts, while Germany, Spain, England, Portugal and Belgium are top seeds in Euro 2016 draw

The hosts and the top seeds

The Pots and the Nations

Position One, Group A: France (hosts)
Pot One: Spain (holders), Germany, England, Portugal, Belgium
Pot Two: Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine
Pot Three: Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary
Pot Four: Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Wales, Albania, Northern Ireland

The Finals

The draw will reveal the six four-nation groups for next year's Finals, which will start on Friday 10 June at the Stade de France when France meet the team drawn into position two in Group A. 

There will be 36 games played across the six groups between 10 and 22 June.

The top two in each of the groups will progress into the round of 16 knockout stage and will be joined by the four best third-placed sides. 

The knockout competition continues with the eight last-16 winners moving into the quarter-finals, and so on.

The Final - the 51st game of the month-long competition - will take place back where it all began at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday 10 July 2016. Click here for the full match schedule.

England Supporters Club

Become a member for a chance to get tickets

The Venues

The matches at France 2016 will be played at ten venues – Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.  

All stadiums will host four matches or more, including at least one game in the knockouts. The Stade de France will stage the most games - seven - including the first and last fixtures of the tournament.

How to watch England at Euro 2016

England fans’ best chance of being at matches at France 2016 is by becoming an England Supporters Travel Club member, and applying for tickets through The FA.

For full FAQs detailing how you can get to watch the Three Lions next summer, click here.

England's next home game is against Holland at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday 29 March 2016. Tickets are available to buy online, visit www.TheFA.com/tickets.

By FA Staff