Bosnia stand in Portugal's way for Euro 2012 qualification

Estonia, the surprise package to reach the Euro 2012 play-off draw with face Ireland over two legs for a place in next year's tournament.

KRAKOW, POLAND // Portugal, the losing finalists in 2004, will face Bosnia in their Euro 2012 play-offs while Estonia, the surprise qualifiers for the draw, face the Republic of Ireland following today's draw in Krakow.

In the other ties, the 1996 runners-up the Czech Republic will take on Montenegro and Turkey play Croatia.

The first legs will be played on November 11 and 12 with the returns matches all played on November 15.

The Bosnians, who have Edin Dzeko, the Manchester City striker, in their ranks, will enjoy home advantage for the home leg and then have to negotiate a tough trip to Lisbon to face Cristiano Ronaldo and company as the eastern Europeans attempt to reach the finals for the first time.

Portugal edged out the same play-off opposition two years ago as they won both games 1-0 to advance to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

Former Polish international Zbigniew Boniek drew the names out of the hat.

The four play-off winners will join the 10 nations who went through automatically from the qualifying groups — Germany, Russia, Italy, Holland, Sweden (as best runners-up), Greece, England, Denmark, holders Spain and France, as well as Poland and Ukraine who are the joint hosts for the June 8 to July 1 tournament.

The draw for the finals will be held on December 2 in Kiev.

The 2012 finals will be the last to comprise 16 teams with the format extending to to 24 for the 2016 edition in France.

Draw

Turkey v Croatia
Estonia v Republic of Ireland
Czech Republic v Montenegro
Bosnia v Portugal