Qualification
The EURO 2010 qualifications, starting from October 2008, will be played by 36 national teams of Europe in a completely reformed competition structure.
A total number of 16 teams will participate in the final tournament. Directly Qualified for the 2010 EHF Euro in Austria:
DEN: Defending Champion and AUT: Organiser
Apart from DEN and AUT, a total of 36 National Federations have registered for the qualification matches to the 2010 EHF Euro. These 36 teams have been drawn into a total of 7 groups on 18 April 2008. There will be 1 group with 6 teams and 6 groups with 5 teams. The teams ranked 1st and 2nd from each group are directly qualified for the 2010 EHF Euro in Austria.
Qualification groups:
Group 1
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Group 2
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Group 3
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Group 4
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Group 5
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Group 6
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Group 7
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POL
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RUS
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ISL
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CRO
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GER
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FRA
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ESP
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SWE
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SRB
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NOR
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HUN
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SLO
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CZE
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UKR
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ROU
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SUI
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MKD
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SVK
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BLR
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POR
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LTU
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MNE
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BIH
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EST
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GRE
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ISR
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LAT
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NED
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TUR
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ITA
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BEL
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FIN
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BUL
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LUX
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CYP
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FAR
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Here are the 36 participating teams in alphabetical order:
Belgium (BEL), Bosnia Herzegovina (BIH), Belarus (BLR), Bulgaria (BUL), Croatia (CRO), Cyprus (CYP), Czech Republic (CZE), Spain (ESP), Estonia (EST), Faroe Islands (FAR), Finland (FIN), France (FRA), Germany (GER), Greece (GRE), Hungary (HUN), Iceland (ISL), Israel (ISR), Italy (ITA), Latvia (LAT), Lithuania (LTU), Luxembourg (LUX), FYR Macedonia (MKD), Montenegro (MNE), Netherlands (NED), Norway (NOR), Poland (POL), Portugal (POR), Rumania (ROU), Russia (RUS), Slovenia (SLO), Serbia (SRB), Switzerland (SUI), Slovakia (SVK), Sweden (SWE), Turkey (TUR), Ukraine (UKR)
The original pots for the draw, according to the National Team Ranking:
Pot 1: FRA, GER, CRO, ESP, POL, RUS, ISL
Pot 2: SLO, NOR, HUN, SWE, SRB, CZE, UKR
Pot 3: SVK, SUI, POR, BLR, ROU, LTU,MKD
Pot 4: GRE, BIH, LAT, NED, ISR, MNE, EST
Pot 5: FIN, BUL, ITA, TUR, BEL, CYP, LUX
Pot 6: GEO**, MDA*, FAR
*Moldova originally registered for the draw and were drawn into Group 3, but later withdrew from the qualifications for organisational difficulties.
**Georgia were originally drawn to Group 1, but they withdrew later and the playing schedule has been adapted accordingly.
The teams ranked 1-4 (FRA, GER, CRO, ESP) were drawn to those groups with 5 teams.
