Euro 2012 draw live

By Chris Murphy, CNN

December 2, 2011 -- Updated 1734 GMT (0134 HKT)

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Follow all the action from the Euro 2012 draw live with CNN World Sport
• All 16 qualified teams set to learn their group fate and potential route to final
• Spain are the current holders having beaten Germany at Euro 2008
• '"Group of Death" involving Spain, Germany, Portugal and France possible

Editor's note: Follow live coverage of the draw for Euro 2012 from Kiev, with CNN World Sport. Just refresh the page to get the latest updates.

(CNN) -- The great and good of European football are assembling in the Ukrainian capital Kiev to learn the fate of the 16 nations involved. Poland and Ukraine will host the tournament, that kicks off on June 8, and with CNN World Sport's live commentary, you won't miss a thing.

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1733 GMT -- UEFA's president Michel Platini, who is also the leading scorer in European Championships history, has just been invited on stage in Kiev, clutching the all-important trophy the 16 teams will be playing for.
1731 GMT -- Pedro Pinto is preparing to go live on air in Kiev for CNN World Sport. Here he is preparing for the show.

1728 GMT -- Legendary Ukrainian pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka, who won a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, has just brought the official tournament match ball onto the stage in Kiev.
1726 GMT -- There are four stadiums in each country that will host games. Poland's newly built National Stadium in Warsaw will stage the opening game, while the PGE Arena in Gdansk and the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw have also been constructed specially for the tournament. Poznan's Municipal Stadium will also host games. In Ukraine, Kiev's Olympic Stadium has the honor of the final, while the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv and the brand new Lviv Arena will also stage games.
1724 GMT -- Apparently, in the rehearsal for the draw Fabio Capello's England drew Poland, Sweden and France. I think England would be happy with that if it comes out in the draw proper in a few minutes.

Euro 2012 groups

Group A




Poland



Group B



Group C



Group D



Ukraine

1722 GMT -- In Kiev a series of legends past from European Championships history are being introduced to the crowd including Dutch striker Marco Van Basten, who scored one of the most memorable goals in the tournament's history during his team's win in 1988, Oliver Bierhoff who scored the winner for Germany against the Czech Republic in 1996 and now Zinedine Zidane, part of the French team that won Euro 2000.

1718 GMT -- Twitter: @sneijder101010 Netherlands and Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder: Watching the final draw for the Euro 2012. #EURO2012
1716 GMT -- If you want to get involved on Twitter you can follow the CNN family on the following links @WorldSportCNN. Our anchors are here: @pedrocnn -- @donriddellCNN -- @alexthomascnn. For any questions or comments for yours truly, follow your Tweets with #cnneuro2012

1712 GMT -- Twitter: @cesc4official Spain and Barcelona player Cesc Fabregas: "In front of the TV ready to watch the draw for the European Championship 2012. Some groups r going to be very tough. Lets c who Spain gets!"
1710 GMT -- There is huge potential for a so-called group of death - a nickname for a group that consists of strong teams. Due to the way the draw is seeded there could be a group that consists of Spain, Germany, Portugal and France. If that were to be pulled out of the hat, it would qualify as one of the meatiest groups of death in the tournament's history.
1706 GMT -- Twitter: @LaurensJulien from Le Parisien newspaper: "Lets get ready for the draw!! France are in danger to be in a massive group of death!"

1703 GMT -- And so it is off to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, where the gathered delegates are being entertained by the Pavlo Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble. A very jaunty affair full of color and pirouettes.
1701 GMT -- One team from each pot will be drawn into each group. We already know that Poland are in Group A, and Ukraine are in Group D. They are drawn early so their fixtures can be organized ahead of time.

1659 GMT -- Finally, France are the biggest fish in the lowest pot, such is their current world ranking. None of the teams in the first three pots will want to come up against Laurent Blanc's side, who won the European Championships in 1984 and 2000. They are joined by the Republic of Ireland, who have made it for only the second time in their history. Denmark and the Czech Republic make up the final four.
1654 GMT -- Pot Three consists of Croatia and Portugal, both of whom had to come through the playoffs to book their place, Greece, who famously upset the odds to win in 2004, and Sweden.
1650 GMT -- Lurking in Pot Two are Germany, who have won the European Championships three times, Italy, who won in 1968, England, who are yet to win the competition in their history, and Russia, who lifted the trophy in 1960 as the Soviet Union.
1645 GMT -- Let's start with nuts and bolts, the 16 teams who have qualified and which of the four 'pots' they will be drawn from. Pot One consists of our co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, as well as Spain, the world champions, and Netherlands, the team that Spain beat in the 2010 World Cup final.
1630 GMT -- Good afternoon all, Chris Murphy here to guide you through the ins and outs of the Euro 2012 draw, the day when we'll get answers to a number of questions, most pertinently, will we see a group of death to end all groups of death?