Euro 2016 Draw: France Opens With Romania, Belgium Draws Italy

PARIS — Defending champion Spain has been drawn in a potentially tricky group with Croatia, Turkey and the Czech Republic for the European Championship next June.

France will like its chances of getting out of Group A. After the opening match against Romania, the host nation will play Albania — in the tournament for the first time — and finally Switzerland on June 19.

World champion Germany has Ukraine and Poland, the co-hosts of Euro 2012, in its Group C. Tournament first-timer Northern Ireland completes that group.

Group E has top-ranked team Belgium, Italy, Ireland and Sweden.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal opens against Iceland on June 14, with Austria and Hungary also making up that Group F.

In Group B, England will first play Russia in Marseille on June 11. Wales and Slovakia round out that group.

The opening match of the European Championships next year will see host nation France play Romania.

They will meet June 10 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the northern outskirts of Paris.

Wales’ first participation at the European Championships will see it play a familiar foe: England. The two home nations have been drawn together in Group B. They will play each other in Lens, France, on June 16.

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Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Images