UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

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This page describes the qualifying procedure for the UEFA Euro 2008.

Contents 1 Seedings 2 Tiebreakers 3 Summary 4 Groups 4.1 Group A 4.2 Group B 4.3 Group C 4.4 Group D 4.5 Group E 4.6 Group F 4.7 Group G 5 Top goalscorers 6 Qualified nations 7 Trivia 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Seedings

Qualification coefficients were used to rank the teams according to their results in both UEFA Euro 2004 and FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifying stages. Only the group matches, and not any additional playoffs, counted towards the coefficients, also determining which pot a national team was put in. Some points to note:

• Greece are European champions, thus were automatically seeded in the top pool.
• Portugal did not have to qualify for UEFA Euro 2004 as hosts. Only their record in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying was used.
• Germany did not have to qualify for the World Cup 2006 as hosts. Only their record in UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying was used.
• Kazakhstan had never competed in the European Championships, so only their World Cup record was used. The team's last continental qualifying was for the 2000 Asian Cup. Their record in that competition (P4, Pts6) is not used.
• After the independence from Serbia for Montenegro, Serbia took up the old Serbia & Montenegro's fixtures. Montenegro had not been admitted to UEFA/FIFA at the time the qualifying competition had started, and therefore will not compete until the qualifying for the next World Cup.

The draw took place on 27 January 2006 in Montreux, Switzerland.^[1]

Pot 1	Pot 3	Pot 5	Pot 7
Greece  Netherlands  Portugal  England  Czech Republic  France  Sweden	Serbia  Russia  Denmark  Norway  Bulgaria  Ukraine  Slovakia	Hungary  Finland  Estonia  Wales  Lithuania  Albania  Iceland	Liechtenstein  Azerbaijan  Andorra  Malta  Faroe Islands  Kazakhstan  Luxembourg  San Marino
Pot 2	Pot 4	Pot 6
Germany  Croatia  Italy  Turkey  Poland  Spain  Romania	Bosnia and Herzegovina  Republic of Ireland  Belgium  Latvia  Israel  Scotland  Slovenia	Georgia  FYR Macedonia  Belarus  Armenia  Northern Ireland  Cyprus  Moldova

[edit] Tiebreakers

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings.

1. Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question.
2. Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question.
3. Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question.
4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question.
5. If, after applying criteria 1) to 4) to several teams, two or more teams still have an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 4) will be reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6) and 7) will apply.
6. Results of all group matches: 1. Superior goal difference 2. Higher number of goals scored 3. Higher number of goals scored away from home 4. Fair play conduct.
7. Drawing of lots.

[edit] Summary

Below is a table containing all seven qualifying groups. Teams that have secured a place in the final tournament are highlighted in green. The order of teams is by final group position.

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G
Poland  Portugal	Italy  France	Greece  Turkey	Czech Republic  Germany	Croatia  Russia	Spain  Sweden	Romania  Netherlands
Serbia  Finland  Belgium  Kazakhstan  Armenia  Azerbaijan	Scotland  Ukraine  Lithuania  Georgia  Faroe Islands	Norway  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Moldova  Hungary  Malta	Republic of Ireland  Slovakia  Wales  Cyprus  San Marino	England  Israel  FYR Macedonia  Estonia  Andorra	Northern Ireland  Denmark  Latvia  Iceland  Liechtenstein	Bulgaria  Belarus  Albania  Slovenia  Luxembourg

[edit] Groups

The qualifying process started in August 2006. Austria and Switzerland were granted places in the tournament finals as host nations.

The qualifying format has been changed compared to the previous tournament. The winners and runners-up from seven groups will automatically qualify for the Championship, with the hosts filling the other two slots in the 16-team tournament. The move means there will no longer be play-offs between teams finishing in second place in the groups. Six of the qualifying groups contain seven teams, and the other eight.

As the official successor of the previous football association, Serbia inherited the position originally allotted to Serbia and Montenegro in Group A prior to the dissolution of the state union. Montenegro were granted UEFA membership after qualifying had started and thus were not able to participate in this European Championship.

Key:

• Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.

[edit] Group A

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group A

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD  Poland 28 14 8 4 2 24 12 +12  Portugal 27 14 7 6 1 24 10 +14  Serbia 24 14 6 6 2 22 11 +11  Finland 24 14 6 6 2 13 7 +6  Belgium 18 14 5 3 6 14 16 -2  Kazakhstan 10 14 2 4 8 11 21 -10  Armenia 9 12* 2 3 7 4 13 -9  Azerbaijan 5 12* 1 2 9 6 28 -22

ARM AZE BEL FIN KAZ POL POR SRB Armenia — Canc.* 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 Azerbaijan Canc.* — 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 0–2 1–6 Belgium 3–0 3–0 — 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 3–2 Finland 1–0 2–1 2–0 — 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 Kazakhstan 1–2 1–1 2–2 0–2 — 0–1 1–2 2–1 Poland 1–0 5–0 2–0 1–3 3–1 — 2–1 1–1 Portugal 1–0 3–0 4–0 0–0 3–0 2–2 — 1–1 Serbia 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 —

(*) Armenia and Azerbaijan played only 12 matches due to UEFA's decision to cancel the two fixtures between these countries, with no points awarded to both teams. [1]

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Serbia and Finland are ranked by their head-to-head records:
  • Serbia – 4 pts (0:0 H vs Finland, 2:0 A vs Finland)
  • Finland – 1 pt (0:2 H vs Serbia, 0:0 A vs Serbia)

[edit] Group B

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group B

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD  Italy 29 12 9 2 1 22 9 +13  France 26 12 8 2 2 25 5 +20  Scotland 24 12 8 0 4 21 12 +9  Ukraine 17 12 5 2 5 18 16 +2  Lithuania 16 12 5 1 6 11 13 -2  Georgia 10 12 3 1 8 16 19 -3  Faroe Islands 0 12 0 0 12 4 43 -39

FRO FRA GEO ITA LTU SCO UKR Faroe Islands — 0–6 0–6 1–2 0–1 0–2 0–2 France 5–0 — 1–0 3–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 Georgia 3–1 0–3 — 1–3 0–2 2–0 1–1 Italy 3–1 0–0 2–0 — 1–1 2–0 2–0 Lithuania 2–1 0–1 1–0 0–2 — 1–2 2–0 Scotland 6–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 3–1 — 3–1 Ukraine 5–0 2–2 3–2 1–2 1–0 2–0 —

[edit] Group C

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group C

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD  Greece 31 12 10 1 1 25 10 +15  Turkey 24 12 7 3 2 25 11 +14  Norway 23 12 7 2 3 27 11 +16  Bosnia and Herzegovina 13 12 4 1 7 16 22 -6  Moldova 12 12 3 3 6 12 19 -7  Hungary 12 12 4 0 8 11 22 -11  Malta 5 12 1 2 9 10 31 -21

BIH GRE HUN MLT MDA NOR TUR Bosnia and Herzegovina — 0–4 1–3 1–0 0–1 0–2 3–2 Greece 3–2 — 2–0 5–0 2–1 1–0 1–4 Hungary 1–0 1–2 — 2–0 2–0 1–4 0–1 Malta 2–5 0–1 2–1 — 2–3 1–4 2–2 Moldova 2–2 0–1 3–0 1–1 — 0–1 1–1 Norway 1–2 2–2 4–0 4–0 2–0 — 1–2 Turkey 1–0 0–1 3–0 2–0 5–0 2–2 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Moldova and Hungary are ranked by their head-to-head records:
  • Moldova – 3 pts, +1GD (3:0 H vs Hungary, 0:2 A vs Hungary)
  • Hungary – 3 pts, -1GD (2:0 H vs Moldova, 0:3 A vs Moldova)

[edit] Group D

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group D

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD  Czech Republic 29 12 9 2 1 27 5 +22  Germany 27 12 8 3 1 35 7 +28  Republic of Ireland 17 12 4 5 3 17 14 +3  Slovakia 16 12 5 1 6 33 23 +10  Wales 15 12 4 3 5 18 19 -1  Cyprus 14 12 4 2 6 17 24 -7  San Marino 0 12 0 0 12 2 57 -55

CYP CZE GER IRL SMR SVK WAL Cyprus — 0–2 1–1 5–2 3–0 1–3 3–1 Czech Republic 1–0 — 1–2 1–0 7–0 3–1 2–1 Germany 4–0 0–3 — 1–0 6–0 2–1 0–0 Republic of Ireland 1–1 1–1 0–0 — 5–0 1–0 1–0 San Marino 0–1 0–3 0–13 1–2 — 0–5 1–2 Slovakia 6–1 0–3 1–4 2–2 7–0 — 2–5 Wales 3–1 0–0 0–2 2–2 3–0 1–5 —

[edit] Group E

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD  Croatia 29 12 9 2 1 28 8 +20  Russia 24 12 7 3 2 18 7 +11