Russia is among the top nine seeds for Sunday's draw for the qualifying round of Euro 2012, UEFA confirmed on Friday.
Despite failing to make this summer's World Cup in South Africa, Guus Hiddink's side are at number 13 in the latest FIFA rankings, meaning they just scrape into the top pot of seeds.
Russia will avoid world champions Italy, European champions Spain, Holland, Portugal, Germany, France, England, and Croatia as they look to make the 2012 finals, to be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine.
They could still face tricky opponents, however, with pot two containing Euro 2004 champions Greece, as well as Serbia and Turkey, among others.
Slovenia, who defeated Russia in a play-off for the 2010 World Cup, are in pot 4. Qualifiers begin this September and run until November 2011.
The nine winners and the best runner-up will qualify directly for the finals. The other eight runners-up will take part in home-and-away playoffs.
Ukraine and Poland automatically qualify for the finals as hosts.
Hiddink, whose long-term future with Russia is in doubt, will attend the draw, which takes place at Warsaw's Palace of Culture and Sciences and will also mark the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union's triumph in the first ever European championships. No Soviet or Russian side has won the competition since.
Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia.
Pot 2: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania.
Pot 3: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Pot 4: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, Macedonia, Cyprus.
Pot 5: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.
Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino.
MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti)
