UEFA European Championship qualifying
Founded1958
RegionEurope (UEFA)
Number of teams55 (currently)
56 (overall)
Qualifier forUEFA European Championship
Related competitionsUEFA Nations League
WebsiteOfficial website
UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

The UEFA European Championship qualifying, branded as the European Qualifiers, is the process that UEFA-affiliated national football teams go through in order to qualify for the UEFA European Championship.

In this article, the years represent the final tournaments of the European Championship, and are not meant to correspond to the actual dates when the qualification matches were played.

Format evolution

Number of teams entering qualification
France
1960
Spain
1964
Italy
1968
Belgium
1972
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
1976
Italy
1980
France
1984
West Germany
1988
Sweden
1992
England
1996
Belgium
Netherlands
2000
Portugal
2004
Austria
Switzerland
2008
Poland
Ukraine
2012
France
2016
Europe
2020
Germany
2024
United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
2028
Italy
Turkey
2032
Total valid entries[lower-alpha 1] 1729313232313232344749505051535553
Played at least one match[lower-alpha 1] 2833
Qualified through qualification 4444477771514151414232423
Qualified automatically 000001111121221012
Total finalists 444448888161616161624242424
  1. 1 2 Data is about qualifications only (automatic qualifiers are not counted).

Resume

Qualifying groups
YearGroupsTeams
1960
1964
196883–4
197284
197684
198074–5
198474–5
198874–5
199274–5
199685–6
200095–6
2004105
200877–8
201295–6
201695–6
2020105–6
2024105–6
2028124–5

The 1960 and 1964 qualifications were knock-out tournaments. The four quarter-final-winning teams qualified for the final stages, and one of them was chosen to host the competition.

From 1968 onwards, a group stage began to be used as the main, or sole, component of qualification. In 1968, 1972 and 1976, the winners of the eight groups advanced to a quarter-final stage, which was still part of the qualifying. The four quarter-final winners progressed to the finals. Again, the host nation was selected among the four finalists.

From 1980, the hosting rights would be assigned in advance, and the host teams would be guaranteed automatic qualification. The format of the finals was expanded to feature 8 teams. Winners of qualifying groups now proceeded to the finals directly. The 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992 qualifications included seven groups, the winners of which would join the hosts in the finals, although in 1992 one winner was eventually banned from appearing and was replaced by the runner-up of its group.[upper-alpha 1]

From 1996, a 16-team format was employed for the main tournament. Runners-up in qualifying groups now could also gain access to the finals. Play-off pairings were introduced as a second opportunity for teams that narrowly miss out direct qualification. The 1996 qualifying consisted of eight groups; the group winners as well as the six best runners-up qualified, and so did the winner of the play-off between the remaining two runners-up, joining the host country.

In 2000, the first-placed teams in the nine qualifying groups as well as the best runner-up progressed directly to the finals, while another four spots were taken by winners of play-offs contested by the remaining runners-up. For the first time there were two host countries; they both received automatic berths in the finals.

In 2004, along with the host team, the ten qualifying group winners advanced, as did the winners of the five play-off ties formed by the runners-up.

In 2008, the top two teams from each of the seven qualifying groups joined the two host teams to bring the number of finalists to 16. No play-off stage was held.

The 2012 qualification replicated the format of that of 2000: places were taken by nine group winners and the best runner-up, while the other runners-up determined four more finalists via play-offs, with the two host countries qualifying by default.

Starting from 2016, the finals format was expanded again, now featuring 24 teams. It became possible for third-placed teams in qualifying groups to get to the Euros too. The 2016 qualifying included nine groups; the winners, the runners-up, and the best third-placed team advanced directly, while play-offs played by the other third-placed teams determined the last four finalists. The host nation still qualified automatically. The 2016 qualification tournament was the first one to be branded as the European Qualifiers, a trademark used from that point on for both the European Championship qualifications and the FIFA World Cup qualification tournaments in Europe.

From 2020, qualification began to be linked with the newly created UEFA Nations League: participation in the qualifying play-offs was now determined based on the teams' performances in that competition and not in qualification itself. The play-offs themselves were restructured into four-team brackets consisting of semi-finals and a final. In the 2020 qualifying, the top two teams of the ten qualifying groups took twenty places in the main tournament. From each of the four divisions of the 2018–19 Nations League, the four best-ranked teams not already qualified for Euro 2020 filled in a play-off bracket for that division, and the winner of each bracket got a spot in the Euros too. There were no automatic berths for Euro 2020 as it was hosted by multiple cities across the continent. It was actually postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but retained its original branding.

In a similar fashion, the 2024 qualifying granted spots to the winners and runners-up of the ten qualifying groups, while this time only the top three divisions of the 2022–23 Nations League formed play-off brackets to determine three more finalists, and the host country got an automatic spot.

For 2028, the number of groups will be increased to twelve. The winners will advance to the finals, while the runners-up will either also advance directly or participate in play-offs. It is to be announced how many and which of the five host countries will qualify by default or will play qualification matches. For 2032, the number of groups will be increased to twelve. The winners will advance to the finals, while the runners-up will either also advance directly or participate in play-offs. Two co-host countries qualify automatically.

Participating teams

All national teams that are members of UEFA are eligible to enter the qualification for the European Championship. A total of 56 distinct entities have made attempts to qualify for the European Championship. Of those, 55 are still active in the competition. Due to political changes, a few of the entities have appeared under multiple incarnations (see the footnotes to the below table), and the East Germany team is now defunct.

Saarland, a former UEFA member, merged into West Germany in 1957 and therefore did not enter the qualifiers of any European Championships.

Year Debuting teams Successor teams Renamed teams
Teams No. CT
1960  Austria,  Bulgaria,  Czechoslovakia,[S 1]  Denmark,  East Germany,[P 1]  France,  Greece,  Hungary,  Norway,  Poland,  Portugal,  Republic of Ireland,  Romania,  Soviet Union,[S 2]  Spain,  Turkey,  Yugoslavia[S 3] 17 17
1964  Albania,  Belgium,  England,  Iceland,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  Netherlands,  Northern Ireland,  Sweden,   Switzerland,  Wales 12 29
1968  Cyprus,  Finland,  Scotland,  West Germany[S 4] 4 33
1972 0 33
1976 0 33
1980 0 33
1984 0 33
1988 0 33
1992  Faroe Islands,  San Marino 2 35  Germany[S 4]
1996  Armenia,[P 2]  Azerbaijan,[P 2]  Belarus,[P 2]  Croatia,[P 3]  Estonia,[P 2]  Georgia,[P 2]  Israel,  Latvia,[P 2]  Liechtenstein,  Lithuania,[P 2]  Macedonia,[P 3][R 1]  Moldova,[P 2]  Slovenia,[P 3]  Ukraine[P 2] 14 49  Czech Republic,[S 1]  Slovakia,[S 1]  Russia[S 2]
2000  Andorra,  Bosnia and Herzegovina[P 3] 2 51  Yugoslavia[S 3][R 2]
2004 0 51  Serbia and Montenegro[S 3][R 2]
2008  Kazakhstan[P 2] 1 52  Serbia[S 3]
2012  Montenegro[P 3] 1 53
2016  Gibraltar 1 54
2020  Kosovo[P 3] 1 55  North Macedonia[P 3][R 1]
2024 0 55
Successor teams inheriting the records of former teams (as considered by UEFA and FIFA)
  1. 1 2 3 Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia competed as part of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 1992. Czechoslovakia was succeeded by the Czech Republic and Slovakia from the 1996 qualification.
  2. 1 2 The Soviet Union was succeeded and replaced for the 1992 finals by the provisional Commonwealth of Independent States team, which in turn was succeeded by Russia from the 1996 qualification.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Yugoslavia was succeeded from the 2000 qualification by FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro, which in turn was succeeded by Serbia from the 2008 qualification.
  4. 1 2 West Germany was succeeded by the reunited nation of Germany from the 1992 qualification.
Teams competing as parts of other teams
  1. East Germany competes as part of the reunited nation of Germany since the 1992 qualification.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine competed as parts of the Soviet Union from 1960 to 1992. All of them except Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania also competed in the 1992 finals as parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovenia competed as parts of Yugoslavia from 1960 to 1992. Kosovo and Montenegro then competed as parts of FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro from 2000 to 2004. Kosovo then competed as part of Serbia in 2008, before unilaterally breaking off from it and eventually being admitted to UEFA.
Renamed teams
  1. 1 2 Macedonia was renamed as North Macedonia from the 2020 qualification.
  2. 1 2 FR Yugoslavia was renamed as Serbia and Montenegro during the 2004 qualification.

Overview

Team 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
 Albania r16 3/3 4/4 5/5 4/4 5/5 6/6 5/6 4/5 5/7 5/6 2/5 4/6 1/5
 Andorra 6/6 5/5 7/7 6/6 6/6 5/6 6/6
 Armenia 6/6 5/6 4/5 7/8 3/6 5/5 5/6 4/5
 Austria QF r16 3/4 2/4 3/4 2/5 3/5 3/4 4/5 4/6 3/5 3/5 Qhost 4/6 1/6 2/6 2/5
 Azerbaijan 6/6 5/6 5/5 8/8 5/6 5/6 5/5 4/5
 Belarus 4/6 5/5 5/5 4/7 4/6 4/6 4/5+p 4/6
 Belgium pr 2/4 1/4QW 1/4QF 1/5 1/4 3/5 3/4 3/6 Qhost 3/5 5/8 3/6 1/6 1/6 1/5
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3/6 4/5 4/7 2/6+p 3/6+p 4/6+p
 Bulgaria r16 r16 1/4QF 2/4 3/4 4/5 3/4 2/5 4/5 2/6 4/5 1/5 3/7 5/5 4/6 4/5+p 5/5
 Croatia 1/6 3/5 2/5+p 1/7 2/6+p 2/6 1/5 2/5
 Cyprus 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/6 4/5 4/5 6/7 5/5 5/6 4/6 5/5
 Czech Republic (1996—)
 Czechoslovakia (1960–1992)
QW pr 2/4 2/4 1/4QW 1/4 3/5 2/4 2/5 1/6 1/6 1/5 1/7 2/5+p 1/6 2/5 2/5
 Denmark r16 QW 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 1/5 1/4 2/5inv 2/6 2/5+p 1/5 4/7 1/5 3/5+p 2/5 1/5
 East Germany r16 r16 2/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 3/4 2/5 w
 England pr 1/4QW 1/4QF 2/4 1/5 2/5 1/4 1/4 Qhost 2/5+p 1/5 3/7 1/5 1/6 1/5 1/5
 Estonia 6/6 5/6 4/5 6/7 2/6+p 4/6 5/5
 Faroe Islands 5/5 5/6 6/6 5/5 7/7 6/6 5/6 5/6 5/5
 Finland 4/4 4/4 4/4 3/4 4/4 4/4 4/5 4/6 3/5 4/5 4/8 4/6 4/6 2/6
 France QW QF 1/4QF 3/4 3/4 2/4 Qhost 3/5 1/5 2/6 1/6 1/5 2/7 1/6 Qhost 1/6 1/5
 Georgia 3/6 6/6 5/5 6/7 5/6 5/6 4/5+p
 Germany (1992—)
 West Germany (1960–1988)
2/3 1/4QW 1/4QW 1/4 1/5 Qhost 1/4 1/6 1/5 1/5 2/7 1/6 1/6 1/5 Qhost
 Gibraltar 6/6 5/5 5/5
 Greece r16 w 2/4 3/4 2/4 1/4 3/5 2/5 3/5 3/6 3/6 1/5 1/7 1/6 6/6 3/6
 Hungary r16 QW 1/4QF 1/4QW 2/4 2/4 4/5 3/5 4/5 4/5 4/6 4/5 6/7 3/6 3/6+p 4/5+p 1/5
 Iceland pr 4/4 5/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 5/5 4/6 3/5 6/7 4/5 2/6 3/6+p
 Israel 5/6 2/5+p 3/5 4/7 3/6 4/6 5/6+p
 Italy r16 1/4QW 1/4QF 3/4 Qhost 4/5 1/5 2/5 2/6 1/5 1/5 1/7 1/6 1/6 1/6 2/5
 Kazakhstan 6/8 6/6 5/6 5/6
 Kosovo 3/5+p 5/6
 Latvia 5/6 4/6 2/5+p 5/7 4/6 6/6 6/6 5/5
 Liechtenstein 6/6 6/6 5/5 7/7 5/5 5/6 6/6 6/6
 Lithuania 3/6 4/6 4/5 5/7 4/5 5/6 5/5 4/5
 Luxembourg QF 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 5/5 4/4 5/6 5/5 5/5 7/7 6/6 5/6 4/5
 Malta pr 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 5/5 5/5 6/6 5/5 5/5 7/7 6/6 6/6 6/6 5/5
 Moldova 4/6 5/5 4/5 5/7 5/6 6/6 6/6 4/5
 Montenegro 2/5+p 4/6 5/5 3/5
 Netherlands r16 3/4 2/4 1/4QW 1/5 2/5 1/5 1/5 2/6+p Qhost 2/5+p 2/7 1/6 4/6 2/5 2/5
 North Macedonia (2020—)
 Macedonia (1996–2016)
4/6 4/5 4/5 5/7 5/6 6/6 3/6+p 4/5
 Northern Ireland r16 4/4 3/4 2/4 2/5 2/5 3/4 3/5 3/6 4/5 5/5 3/7 5/6 1/6 3/5+p 5/6
 Norway r16 pr 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 4/4 5/5 3/5 3/6 1/6 2/5+p 3/7 3/5 3/6+p 3/6+p 3/5
 Poland r16 pr 3/4 2/4 2/4 2/5 3/4 4/5 3/4 4/6 3/5 3/5 1/8 Qhost 2/6 1/6
 Portugal QF pr 2/4 2/4 3/4 3/5 1/4 3/5 2/5 1/6 2/6 Qhost 2/8 2/5+p 1/5 2/5 1/6
 Republic of Ireland pr QF 3/4 4/4 2/4 3/5 3/5 1/5 2/4 2/6+p 2/5+p 3/5 3/7 2/6+p 3/6+p 3/5+p 4/5
 Romania QF pr 2/4 1/4QF 2/4 3/4 1/5 2/4 3/5 1/6 1/6 3/5 1/7 3/6 2/6 4/6+p 1/6
 Russia (1996—) Soviet Union (1960–1992) QW QW 1/4QW 1/4QW 1/4QF 4/4 2/4 1/5 1/5 1/6 3/6 2/5+p 2/7 1/6 2/6 2/6 s
 San Marino 5/5 6/6 5/5 5/5 7/7 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6
 Scotland 2/4 3/4 3/4 4/5 4/4 4/5 1/5 2/6 2/6+p 2/5+p 3/7 3/5 4/6 3/6+p 2/5
 Serbia (2008—)
 Serbia and Montenegro (2004)
 FR Yugoslavia (1996–2004)
 Yugoslavia (1960–1992)
QW r16 1/3QW 1/4QF 1/4QW 2/4 1/4 2/4 1/5dsq s 1/5 3/5 3/8 3/6 4/5 3/5+p 2/5
 Slovakia (1996—)
 Czechoslovakia (1960–1992)
QW pr 2/4 2/4 1/4QW 1/4 3/5 2/4 2/5 3/6 3/6 3/5 4/7 4/6 2/6 3/5+p 2/5
 Slovenia 5/6 2/6+p 2/5+p 6/7 4/6 3/6+p 4/6 2/5
 Spain QF QW 1/4QF 2/4 1/4QF 1/4 1/5 1/4 3/5 1/6 1/5 2/5+p 1/7 1/5 1/6 1/6 1/5
 Sweden QF 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 2/5 2/5 Qhost 3/5 1/5 1/5 2/7 2/6 3/6+p 2/6 3/5
  Switzerland pr 3/4 2/4 4/4 4/5 2/4 4/5 2/5 1/5 3/5 1/5 Qhost 3/5 2/6 1/5 2/5
 Turkey r16 pr 4/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 4/5 4/4 4/4 2/5 2/5+p 2/5+p 2/7 2/6+p 3/6 2/6 1/5
 Ukraine 4/6 2/6+p 3/5 4/7 Qhost 3/6+p 1/5
 Wales pr 3/4 3/4 1/4QF 3/4 2/4 3/4 2/4 5/6 4/5 2/5+p 5/7 4/5 2/6 2/5
Team 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Key

  • golden background = successful qualifying campaign
  • grey background = did not take part in qualifying
  • bold red typeface = participated in the final tournament
X/Y Came Xth in a group of Y teams
X/Y+p Came Xth in a group of Y teams, then qualified through a play-off round
QW Qualified as quarter-final winner
X/YQW Came Xth in a group of Y teams, then qualified as quarter-final winner
X/Ydsq Qualified as Xth in a group of Y teams, but was banned from participating in the finals (Yugoslavia in 1992)[upper-alpha 1]
X/Y Came Xth in a group of Y teams
X/Y+p Came Xth in a group of Y teams, then was eliminated in a play-off round
X/Yinv Failed to qualify coming Xth in a group of Y teams, but was invited to the finals as a replacement (Denmark in 1992)[upper-alpha 1]
QF Was eliminated in the quarter-finals
X/YQF Came Xth in a group of Y teams, then was eliminated in the quarter-finals
r16 Was eliminated in the round of 16
pr Was eliminated in the preliminary round
Qhost Qualified automatically as host
w Entered but withdrew before playing any matches (Greece in 1964 and East Germany in 1992)
s Was suspended from taking part (Yugoslavia in 1996 and Russia in 2024)
Did not enter despite being a UEFA member
Was not a UEFA member

Team records

The below table compares the overall records of all teams that have participated in qualification. Teams are ordered by points using the three points for a win system, then by goal difference, and then by goals scored. Note that this order does not represent any official rankings, and qualification tournaments are not direct competitions between all teams.

The "Qualifying attempts" column only counts qualifying campaigns where the team played at least one match, while the "Appearances in the finals" also include automatic qualifiers.

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Legend
Team has qualified for the main tournament
Team has not qualified for the main tournament
Team is defunct (and never qualified for the main tournament)

Notes on the table:

Teams highlighted in bold are currently participating in the 2024 qualifying. The table is updated to the matches played in November 2023.

11

Rank Team Qualifying attempts Appearances
in the finals
Overall qualification record Points
Total Successful Pld W D L GF GA GD Total Avg
1  Spain 17121213396181933996+2433062.301
2  Czech Republic
 Czechoslovakia
171111132852423263108+1552792.114
3  Russia
 Soviet Union
16121213081292026894+1742722.092
4  Italy 15101112678321624085+1552662.111
5  Netherlands 15101112583162629199+1922652.120
6  England 15101111679261128068+2122632.267
7  Portugal 1689125762623252109+1432542.032
8  France 1591112074281826094+1662502.083
9  Germany
 West Germany
13121410676201026768+1992482.340
10  Romania 1766136694126242123+1192481.824
11  Slovakia
 Czechoslovakia
1766136712639233145+882391.757
12  Belgium 1567122652829232119+1132231.828
13  Denmark 17910133643138227155+722231.677
14  Sweden 1567122642731211123+882191.795
15  Serbia
 Serbia and Montenegro
 FR Yugoslavia
 Yugoslavia
1676122643028221137+842191.795
16  Hungary 1755139632947226181+452181.568
17  Scotland 1544130623038200147+532161.662
18  Republic of Ireland 1733138554142199151+482061.493
19  Greece 1644127602542184144+402051.614
20  Turkey 1766128563141166159+71991.555
21  Poland 1634118553033192125+671951.653
22  Austria 1634117571842219162+571891.615
23  Bulgaria 1722130503347171154+171831.408
24  Norway 1711133502756181183−21771.331
25   Switzerland 1556110482933194133+611731.573
26  Wales 1622120482646145149−41701.417
27  Northern Ireland 1611130472756140167−271681.292
28  Croatia 8777850171114850+981662.128
29  Finland 1511124392461143182−391411.137
30  Slovenia 82286361733119100+191251.453
31  Iceland 1411118341965115176−611211.025
32  Ukraine 7237033191810165+361181.686
33  Israel 80081321732123107+161131.395
34  Bosnia and Herzegovina 70075291234104114−10991.320
35  Albania 1422109242659100177−77980.899
36  Latvia 8118022134575135−60790.988
37  Georgia 8007821124583119−36750.962
38  North Macedonia
 Macedonia
8117819184184124−40750.962
39  Lithuania 8007421124163122−59751.014
40  East Germany 800462012147657+19721.565
41  Cyprus 1500122191588101316−215720.590
42  Belarus 8007718164362118−56700.909
43  Armenia 8007617154474121−47660.868
44  Moldova 8007614134962150−88550.724
45  Estonia 8007815105351151−100550.705
46  Luxembourg 1600127131310164338−274520.409
47  Kazakhstan 50054138335392−39470.870
48  Montenegro 40036910172956−27371.028
49  Azerbaijan 800768115748182−134350.461
50  Faroe Islands 90086787146225−179290.337
51  Malta 150012041410254335−281260.217
52  Liechtenstein 80078596422235−213240.308
53  Kosovo 200195772428−4221.158
54  Andorra 70070136617189−17260.086
55  San Marino 90086018511371−36010.012
56  Gibraltar 3002600265128−12300.000

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 As group winner, Yugoslavia qualified for Euro 1992 (where it was going to compete as FR Yugoslavia), but was banned from participating as the country was placed under international sanctions because of the Yugoslav Wars.[1] The spot was offered to Denmark, which as group runner-up had originally failed to qualify. In this article the 1992 campaign is treated as successful for Yugoslavia and unsuccessful for Denmark.

References

  1. "United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 (Implementing Trade Embargo on Yugoslavia)". University of Minnesota Human Rights Center. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  2. "European Championship 1968". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 May 2016.

See also

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