Euro 2016 Draw: Schedule Info, Seedings and Pots Before Saturday's Groups Reveal

The 24 nations who have qualified for UEFA Euro 2016 will finally know their group-stage opponents on Saturday, as the draw for all six groups will take place in Paris.

Hosts France already know they'll end up in Group A, which should present one of the easier paths to the final rounds of the knockout stages, as we'll explain later.

The new format, with 24 teams, has changed the draw and schedule slightly, and unlike most major tournaments, group-stage opponents won't be the only important factor of the draw.

First, let's have a look at the full draw information:

Date: Saturday, December, 12

Time: 6 p.m. CET, 5 p.m. GMT

Live Stream: UEFA website

Here's a look at the pots and seedings:

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
France (Hosts)	Italy	Czech Republic	Turkey
Spain	Russia	Sweden	Republic of Ireland
Germany	Switzerland	Poland	Iceland
England	Austria	Romania	Wales
Portugal	Croatia	Slovakia	Albania
Belgium	Ukraine	Hungary	Northern Ireland

The format of the draw for Euro 2016 has come under fire recently for handing an unfair advantage to hosts France, who are guaranteed a spot in Group A and would have an easier path to the latter stages of the tournament should they win the group.

As explained by Andy McGeady of the Irish Times, the winners of Groups A, B, C and D are guaranteed to face third-placed teams in the second round, while the winners of Groups E and F will play against runners-up, with no guarantee those runners-up will be among the lowest seeded.

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

While not wholly fair, it does add yet another layer of drama to the draw. Teams won't just be desperate to avoid certain nations, they'll also be eyeing certain groups, and real nightmare scenarios are a possibility for most of the top-seeded teams.

Ed Malyon of the Daily Mirror's shared his picks for the easiest and hardest groups possible:

Hosts France are joined in Pot 1 by world champions Germany, European champions Spain, England, Portugal and Belgium, who stole the final spot in Pot 1 from Italy toward the end of the qualifying campaign.

Per the Guardian's Simon Burnton, the difference between the two nations was minimal:

"

Unlike Fifa, Uefa includes in their calculations not just results but goals, so it would not be enough for Italy simply to win their remaining fixtures – they had to win them at least as handsomely as Belgium did theirs. In the end they won 3-1 in Azerbaijan and 2-1 at home to Norway, and had they only kept two clean sheets they would be in Pot 1. As it was Belgium won 4-1 in Andorra and 3-1 against Israel and took the final Pot 1 spot by a margin of 97 points.

"

Italy will be one of the teams to avoid from Pot 2. While Antonio Conte's men didn't always look convincing in qualifying and were easily beaten by Belgium in a recent friendly, the Azzurri have a tendency to play their best football when it matters the most. In big tournaments, they always represent a tricky draw.

Austria may look like the weakest team in Pot 2, but they were absolutely fantastic during the qualifying campaign, winning an incredible nine of their 10 matches. Along with Croatia and Ukraine, they look most likely to finish ahead of a top-seeded team if the draw is kind to them.

Pot 3 and 4 both feature a handful of teams with little experience in major tournaments, as well as dangerous squads including Poland, Czech Republic and Turkey.

Bleacher Report's Will Tidey tried his luck with a random draw simulator, and it looks as if some tasty options are a real possibility:

The top two of each group will advance to the round of 16 along with the four best third-placed finishers. From that point onward, the tournament will adopt the same format as the FIFA World Cup.

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