In the February 7 draw, Malta was drawn with Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia and Georgia.
In Athens, Malta will be represented by MFA President Dr Joe Mifsud, national coach John Buttigieg and national team manager Ivan Vella.
Following changes in the international calendar by FIFA, qualifying matches will no longer be played on Saturdays and Wednesdays. From now onwards, games will be played on Fridays or Saturdays and Tuesdays. The reason behind this change was to give players the chance to return to their clubs on Wednesdays rather than Thursdays.
The following 12 dates are reserved for group matches in qualifying:
a) 3/4 and 7 September 2010
b) 8/9 and 12 October 2010
c) 25/26 and 29 March 2011
d) 3/4 and 7 June 2011
e) 2/3 and 6 September 2011
f) 7/8 and 11 October 2011
However the 29 March and 7 June dates will probably be excluded, especially in case of no agreement between the six associations. Associations have up to March 16 to inform UEFA about the fixtures. If no decision is taken by then, UEFA would hold a draw to decide the fixtures.