Republic of Ireland are likely to be seeded sixth in the UEFA rankings announced today ahead of the qualifiers for the 2004 European Championship.
France are the top ranked country as reigning champions while Portugal qualify automatically as hosts.
The draw procedure is yet to be finalised, but it is expected teams will be seeded into five pots of 10 at the draw, depending on their position in the rankings.
The 50 teams will be drawn into 10 groups of five on January 25th in Porto. The 10 group winners qualify automatically and the 10 runners-up play off-for the remaining five places.
For Belgium and the Netherlands, co-hosts of Euro 2000, only results from the 2002 World Cup qualifying matches are considered.
1. France 2.100
2. Sweden 2.667
3. Spain 2.563
4. Czech Republic 2.500
5. Germany 2.250
6. Ireland 2.222
7. Romania 2.222
8. Italy 2.188
9. Belgium 2.125
10. Turkey 2.111
11. Russia 2.100
12. Croatia 2.063
13. Denmark 2.000
14. Netherlands 2.000
15. Yugoslavia 2.000
16. Poland 1.889
17. England 1.875
18. Slovenia 1.850
19. Ukraine 1.850
20. Scotland 1.833