The Republic of Ireland will play Azerbaijan in the preliminary qualifying round for the 2007 European under-21 championships.

Don Givens’s side are currently one of the lowest ranked sides in Europe and, accordingly, were placed alongside 15 other teams for the preliminary draw conducted this morning in Montreux, Switzerland.

Ireland will play Azerbaijan on a home-and-away basis with the winners advancing to qualifying Group 4 alongside Belgium and Greece.

The 14 group winners then progress to a play-off series from which seven countries will join tournament hosts Holland in the finals.

"We have never played them before and we don’t know much about them. However we will get over the geographical and logistical hurdles and concentrate on the game in hand.

"If we are successful and progress to the group stages we will meet Greece and Belgium which is not the worst and thankfully we have avoided the big guns."

Matches in the preliminary round must be played before July 15th.  Group games are scheduled for August 16th, September 2nd/3rd/5th and 6th .

Preliminary round

1 - Estonia v Wales
2 - Malta v Georgia
3 - San Marino v Armenia
4 - Liechtenstein v Northern Ireland
5 - Kazakhstan v Moldova
6 - Luxembourg v F.Y.R. Macedonia
7 - Andorra v Iceland
8 - Azerbaijan v Republic of Ireland
 
Group stage

Group 1
Norway
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Winners 3
 
Group 2
Spain
Slovakia
Albania

Group 3
Serbia & Montenegro
Lithuania
Winners 2

Group 4
Belgium
Greece
Winners 8

Group 5
Italy
Austria
Winners 7

Group 6
Russia
Hungary
Finland

Group 7
Portugal
Poland
Latvia

Group 8
Switzerland
England
Winners 5

Group 9
Czech Republic
Belarus
Cyprus

Group 10
Germany
Romania
Winners 4

Group 11
Denmark
Sweden
Winners 6

Group 12
Croatia
Ukraine
Bulgaria

Group 13
Turkey
Israel
Winners 1

Group 14
France
Slovenia
Scotland