The co-hosts Switzerland of the 2008 UEFA European Championships welcome in the Group A the UEFA Euro 2004 hosts Portugal, along with the Czech Republic and Turkey .

The first match of the group is scheduled to begin on 7 June and the group stage will be completed on 15 June.

All Group A matches will be at either St. Jakob-Park, in Basel or the Stade de Geneve, in Geneva.

At first glance, Group B seems like a walk in the woods for Germany and Croatia , having been drawn against the only Euro debutants Austria and Poland .

No introduction needed for Germany, a three time Euro winner, and always a protagonist in top competitions. Croatia proved in the qualifiers how tough they can be, especially in the last match when they beat England 2-3 in Wembley and knocked them out of the Euro 2008 tournament.

However, the so-called outsiders Austria and Poland should not be written off the next round qualification. For Austria, being an underdog and in the same time the Euro host, is really exciting, as the players will be playing under no pressure, plus the home advantage. Poland finished above Portugal in the qualifying stage and is considered a tough team to beat. Let's not forget that when Germany played against Poland in the 2006 World Cup supported by 80.000 fans, they only scored in the last minute.

Group C of Euro 2008 is also known "the group of death", as it is most testing one for all teams involved.

France and Italy are all-too familiar rivals having faced off the 2006 FIFA World Cup final, a match won by the Azzurri, and also in qualifying for these finals, with the Italian finishing on top.

Romania and Netherlands, also all-too familiar from the qualifying round, complete maybe the most promising group of the Euro'08.

Euro 2008 Group D, starting on June 19^th 2008 with matches in Salzburg and Innsbruck, brings together the current European Champions Greece along with Sweden , Spain and Russia in a group that promises to be competitive and tight.

Greece, Spain and Russia will all be reacquainting themselves after being drawn in the same group in Euro 2004, a group from which Greece and Portugal progressed leaving the Spanish and the Russians to rue lost opportunities.

All the teams in this year's Group D will enter the competition harboring hopes of qualifying in what has the look of a thrills a minute battle for the precious top two spots and qualification for the quarter finals.