Reigning world and European champions Spain have been joined by the Netherlands and co-hosts Poland and Ukraine in the top group of seeds for the UEFA EURO 2012 finals draw, UEFA confirmed today.

Poland and Ukraine have already been assigned to groups A and D respectively. The second tier is made up of England, EURO 2008 runners-up Germany, 2006 world champions Italy and Russia.

Portugal, who thrashed Bosnia 6-2 last night to seal their place in the finals, are in the third group along with Croatia, Greece and Sweden.

The Republic of Ireland, whose qualification for the finals was also confirmed yesterday, are in the fourth group of seeds alongside Denmark, the Czech Republic and France. That means they cannot face the French, who knocked them out in a FIFA World Cup™ qualification play-off two years ago. However, one potential outcome from the seedings is a group made up of Spain, Italy, Greece and the Republic.

The draw for the finals will be made in Kyiv on 2 December. The pots have been decided on the countries' UEFA coefficient rankings, except for the co-hosts.

Seedings for UEFA EURO 2012
Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland