England, but not Italy, seeded for Euro 2008 qualifers

Italy, Spain and Germany are among the countries which failed to achieve such a grading. The holders Greece, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Czech Republic and Sweden are the other top seeds. The draw is in Montreux on January 27. The finals will be held in Austria and Switzerland,

Scotland and the Republic of Ireland will each be disappointed to be placed in pot four; Wales are in pot five and Northern Ireland in pot six. The most dangerous floaters are Ukraine who are in pot 3.

In the play-off draw for Germany Slovakia avoided their neighbours, the Czech Republic, but must beat Spain to reach the championships for the first time. The Czechs will face Norway, while Turkey - a semi-finalist at the 2002 finals - will play Switzerland. The two-leg games will be played on 12 and 16 November. Spain, Switzerland and Norway will have home advantage in the first leg which may cause a problem for the Football Association.

The Swiss will play Turkey game in Berne the same day as England are due to play Argentina in a lucrative and unusually worthwhile friendly in Geneva on the same day. The FA are confident England's warm-up game will go ahead.

* Officials at Wembley Stadium have reported "interest to the value of £3m" in ticket sales since England qualified for the World Cup.