UEFA European Championship qualifying

This page is a summary of the UEFA European Championship qualifying, the process that UEFA-affiliated national football teams go through in order to qualify for the UEFA European Championship.

UEFA European Championship qualifying

Founded	1958
Region	Europe (UEFA)
Number of teams	55 (currently) 56 (overall)
Qualifier for	UEFA European Championship
Related competitions	UEFA Nations League
Website	Official website

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

	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
Total entrants[lower-alpha 1]	17	29	31	32	32	31	32	32	34	47	49	50	50	51	53	55	54
Played at least one match[lower-alpha 1]		28							33
Qualified through qualification	4	4	4	4	4	7	7	7	7	15	14	15	14	14	23	24	23
Qualified automatically	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	0	1
Total finalists	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	16	16	16	16	16	24	24	24

1. Data is about qualifications only (automatic qualifiers are not counted).

Resume

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

The 1968, 1972, and 1976 qualifying tournaments included a group stage of eight groups. The eight group winners 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 chosen among the four finalists.

From 1980 onwards, the hosting rights would be assigned in advance, and the host teams would be guaranteed automatic spots in the finals. Also, the format was expanded to feature 8 teams. The 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992 qualifications included seven qualifying groups, and the seven group winners would progress to the finals joining the host team, although in 1992 one of the group winners was eventually banned from participating and was replaced by the runner-up of its group.^[note]

From 1996, a 16-team format was employed. The 1996 qualifying consisted of eight groups; the eight group winners and the six best runners-up qualified directly, while the two worst runners-up met in a play-off to determine the last team to earn a spot in the finals, joining the host country.

In 2000, the winners of the nine qualifying groups qualified for the finals, and so did the best runner-up. The remaining eight runners-up entered a play-off round, where they were paired off against each other; the winners of each pairing qualified too. 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 qualified, as did the winners of each of the five play-off ties which were contested by the ten 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.

The 2012 qualification used a format similar to that of 2000: spots were given to nine group winners and the best runner-up, and the remaining eight runners-up entered play-offs to determine the remaining four finalists, with automatic berths being guaranteed to the two host countries.

From 2016, the finals format was expanded again, now featuring 24 teams. The 2016 qualifying included nine groups; the winners, the runners-up, and the best third-placed team qualified directly, while the remaining eight third-placed teams formed four play-off pairings to determine the last four finalists. The host nation still qualified automatically.

For the 2020 finals, hosted by multiple cities across Europe, there were no automatic qualifying berths. Twenty qualifying places went to the winners and runners-up of the ten groups of the 2020 qualifying, while the remaining four were determined via play-offs, which were formed based on the teams' performances in the newly created UEFA Nations League and not in the qualifying itself. From each of the four divisions of the 2018–19 Nations League, the four best-placed teams not yet qualified for Euro 2020 (the group winners, unless already qualified) advanced to a play-off bracket for that division consisting of semi-finals and a final. The four final winners qualified for the Euro main tournament, which was actually postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe but retained its original branding.

The structure of the 2024 qualifying is yet to be announced. The host will receive a direct spot, and another 23 finalists will be determined via qualifiers.

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,[R 1][P 3]  Moldova,[P 2]  Slovakia,[P 4]  Slovenia,[P 3]  Ukraine[P 2]	15	50	Czech Republic,[S 1]  Russia[S 2]
2000	Andorra,  Bosnia and Herzegovina[P 3]	2	52	FR Yugoslavia[S 3][R 2]
2004		0	52		Serbia and Montenegro[R 2][S 3]
2008	Kazakhstan[P 2]	1	53	Serbia[S 3]
2012	Montenegro[P 3]	1	54
2016	Gibraltar	1	55
2020	Kosovo[P 3]	1	56		North Macedonia[R 1][P 3]

Successor teams inheriting the records of former teams (as considered by UEFA and FIFA)

1. Czechoslovakia dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia and was succeeded by the Czech Republic from the 1996 qualification onwards.
2. After completing the 1992 qualification, the Soviet Union dissolved into multiple countries and was succeeded and replaced by the provisional Commonwealth of Independent States team for the 1992 finals, which in turn was succeeded by Russia from the 1996 qualification onwards.
3. SFR Yugoslavia broke up into multiple countries and was succeeded from the 2000 qualification by FR Yugoslavia, later renamed as Serbia and Montenegro. It entered the 2008 qualification, but, before playing any matches, split into the independent countries of Serbia and Montenegro and was succeeded and replaced by Serbia.
4. West Germany entered the 1992 qualification, but, before playing any matches, reunified with East Germany and was succeeded and replaced by the reunited nation of Germany.

Teams competing as parts of other teams

1. East Germany entered the 1992 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches, joined West Germany, and since then competes as part of the reunited nation of Germany.
2. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine previously competed as parts of the Soviet Union (1960–1992). All of them except Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania also competed in the Euro 1992 finals as parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia (later renamed as North Macedonia), Montenegro, and Slovenia previously competed as parts of SFR Yugoslavia (1960–1992). Kosovo and Montenegro then competed as parts of FR Yugoslavia, later renamed as Serbia and Montenegro (2000–2004). Kosovo then competed as part of Serbia (2008), before unilaterally breaking off from it and eventually being admitted to UEFA.
4. Slovakia previously competed as part of Czechoslovakia (1960–1992).

Renamed teams

1. Macedonia was renamed as North Macedonia from the 2020 qualification onwards.
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
Andorra											6/6	5/5	7/7	6/6	6/6	5/6
Armenia										6/6	5/6	4/5	7/8	3/6	5/5	5/6
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
Azerbaijan										6/6	5/6	5/5	8/8	5/6	5/6	5/5
Belarus										4/6	5/5	5/5	4/7	4/6	4/6	4/5+p
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
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
Croatia										1/6	3/5	2/5+p	1/7	2/6+p	2/6	1/5
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Kazakhstan													6/8	6/6	5/6	5/6
Kosovo																3/5+p
Latvia										5/6	4/6	2/5+p	5/7	4/6	6/6	6/6
Liechtenstein						—	—	—	—	6/6	6/6	5/5	7/7	5/5	5/6	6/6
Lithuania										3/6	4/6	4/5	5/7	4/5	5/6	5/5
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
Moldova										4/6	5/5	4/5	5/7	5/6	6/6	6/6
Montenegro														2/5+p	4/6	5/5
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
North Macedonia (2020—)  Macedonia (1996–2016)										4/6	4/5	4/5	5/7	5/6	6/6	3/6+p
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
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
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
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
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
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
San Marino									5/5	6/6	5/5	5/5	7/7	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
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
Slovakia										3/6	3/6	3/5	4/7	4/6	2/6	3/5+p
Slovenia										5/6	2/6+p	2/5+p	6/7	4/6	3/6+p	4/6
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
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
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
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
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)^[note]
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)^[note]
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
s	Was suspended from taking part (Yugoslavia in 1996)^[note]
—	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.

The table is accurate as of UEFA Euro 2020.

Legend
Team has won the European Championship
Team has qualified for the main tournament
Team hasn't qualified for the main tournament
Team is defunct (and never qualified for the main tournament)

Notes on the table:

• The 1992 qualifying attempt is treated as successful for Yugoslavia and unsuccessful for Denmark, even though Yugoslavia did not appear in the 1992 finals while Denmark did.^[note]
• The Austria vs Greece match (1968 qualifying), which was declared void,[1] is not taken into account.
• For matches that were annulled and then replayed, only the replays are counted. These include Netherlands vs Cyprus (1988 qualifying) and Georgia vs Russia (2004 qualifying).
• For matches where the scorelines were awarded, the awarded scorelines, rather than the original ones, are taken into account. These include Denmark vs Sweden (2008 qualifying), Italy vs Serbia (2012 qualifying), Serbia vs Albania (2016 qualifying), and Montenegro vs Russia (2016 qualifying).
• In the 2016 qualifying, Serbia was deducted 3 points and Croatia was deducted 1 point, which is reflected in the table.

No.	Team	Qualifying attempts		Appearances in the finals	Overall qualification record							Points
		Total	Successful		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Total	Avg
1	Spain	16	11	11	125	89	18	18	314	91	+223	285	2.280
2	Russia  Soviet Union	16	12	12	130	81	29	20	268	94	+174	272	2.092
3	Czech Republic  Czechoslovakia	16	10	10	124	81	21	22	251	102	+149	264	2.129
4	Italy	14	9	10	118	74	30	14	224	76	+148	252	2.136
5	Germany  West Germany	13	12	13	106	76	20	10	267	68	+199	248	2.340
6	Netherlands	14	9	10	117	77	16	24	274	92	+182	247	2.111
7	England	14	9	10	108	73	24	11	258	64	+194	243	2.250
8	France	14	8	10	112	67	27	18	231	91	+140	228	2.036
9	Romania	16	5	5	126	63	37	26	226	118	+108	226	1.794
10	Portugal	15	7	8	115	66	26	23	216	107	+109	224	1.948
11	Sweden	14	6	7	114	61	26	27	197	111	+86	209	1.833
12	Serbia  Serbia and Montenegro  FR Yugoslavia  Yugoslavia	15	6	5	114	60	28	26	206	128	+78	205	1.798
13	Belgium	14	5	6	114	59	26	29	210	115	+95	203	1.781
14	Denmark	16	8	9	123	57	30	36	208	145	+63	201	1.634
15	Republic of Ireland	16	3	3	130	53	41	36	190	141	+49	200	1.538
16	Hungary	16	4	4	131	58	26	47	210	174	+36	200	1.527
17	Scotland	14	3	3	122	57	28	37	183	139	+44	199	1.631
18	Greece	15	4	4	119	56	24	39	170	136	+34	192	1.613
19	Poland	15	3	4	110	52	28	30	182	115	+67	184	1.673
20	Turkey	16	5	5	120	51	29	40	152	152	0	182	1.517
21	Bulgaria	16	2	2	122	50	29	43	164	140	+24	179	1.467
22	Austria	15	2	3	109	51	17	41	202	155	+47	170	1.560
23	Norway	16	1	1	125	47	25	53	167	171	−4	166	1.328
24	Northern Ireland	15	1	1	120	44	27	49	131	154	−23	159	1.325
25	Wales	15	2	2	112	45	23	44	135	139	−4	158	1.411
26	Switzerland	14	4	5	100	44	24	32	172	122	+50	156	1.560
27	Croatia	7	6	6	70	45	16	9	135	46	+89	150	2.143
28	Finland	14	1	1	114	33	24	57	125	172	−47	123	1.079
29	Slovakia	7	2	2	70	33	12	25	109	89	+20	111	1.586
30	Iceland	13	1	1	108	31	18	59	98	160	−62	111	1.028
31	Ukraine	6	2	3	62	29	17	16	90	57	+33	104	1.677
32	Slovenia	7	1	1	76	29	16	31	99	91	+8	103	1.355
33	Israel	7	0	0	71	28	14	29	112	96	+16	98	1.380
34	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6	0	0	65	26	12	27	95	94	+1	90	1.385
35	Albania	13	1	1	101	20	23	58	88	173	−85	83	0.822
36	Latvia	7	1	1	72	21	13	38	70	116	−46	76	1.056
37	East Germany	8	0	0	46	20	12	14	76	57	+19	72	1.565
38	Cyprus	14	0	0	114	19	15	80	98	288	−190	72	0.632
39	Lithuania	7	0	0	66	20	9	37	55	108	−53	69	1.045
40	North Macedonia  Macedonia	7	1	1	70	17	16	37	74	104	−30	67	0.957
41	Georgia	7	0	0	70	19	10	41	71	101	−30	67	0.957
42	Armenia	7	0	0	68	15	13	40	65	110	−45	58	0.853
43	Belarus	7	0	0	67	15	13	39	53	104	−51	58	0.866
44	Estonia	7	0	0	70	15	9	46	49	129	−80	54	0.771
45	Moldova	7	0	0	68	12	9	47	55	140	−85	45	0.662
46	Luxembourg	15	0	0	117	8	11	98	51	319	−268	35	0.299
47	Kazakhstan	4	0	0	44	7	8	29	37	80	−43	29	0.659
48	Azerbaijan	7	0	0	68	6	10	52	41	165	−124	28	0.412
49	Faroe Islands	8	0	0	78	7	6	65	44	212	−168	27	0.346
50	Montenegro	3	0	0	28	6	8	14	20	45	−25	26	0.929
51	Malta	14	0	0	112	4	14	94	52	315	−263	26	0.232
52	Liechtenstein	7	0	0	68	5	9	54	21	207	−186	24	0.353
53	Kosovo	1	0	0	9	3	2	4	14	18	−4	11	1.222
54	Andorra	6	0	0	60	1	1	58	14	169	−155	4	0.067
55	San Marino	8	0	0	76	0	1	75	8	340	−332	1	0.013
56	Gibraltar	2	0	0	18	0	0	18	5	87	−82	0	0.000

Notes

1. Note: Yugoslavia won their 1992 qualifying group and were due to compete at UEFA Euro 1992 (as FR Yugoslavia), but were banned from participating as the country was under international sanctions by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 because of the Yugoslav Wars.[2] The sanctions also resulted in the team being banned from entering the 1996 qualification. Denmark, who had originally failed to qualify for the 1992 finals finishing second in Yugoslavia's qualifying group, were invited to replace Yugoslavia in the finals. In the tables in this article, the 1992 qualifying campaign is treated as successful for Yugoslavia and unsuccessful for Denmark.

References

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

External links

• European Championship, RSSSF

See also

• UEFA European Championship
• FIFA World Cup qualification
• AFC Asian Cup qualification