UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others in their group on a home-and-away basis. The winner and runner-up of each group qualified automatically for the final tournament. This was the first Euro qualification since expansion to have no playoff.

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
Tournament details
Dates16 August 2006 – 24 November 2007
Teams50
Tournament statistics
Matches played306
Goals scored839 (2.74 per match)[note 1]
Top scorer(s)Northern Ireland David Healy (13 goals)
UEFA European Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship

Austria and Switzerland qualified automatically as co-hosts of the event.

Qualified teams
  Qualified
  Did not qualify
  Did not enter
  Not a UEFA member
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 1]
 AustriaCo-host12 December 20020 (debut)
  SwitzerlandCo-host12 December 20022 (1996, 2004)
 Germany[upper-alpha 2]Group D runner-up13 October 20079 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 GreeceGroup C winner17 October 20072 (1980, 2004)
 Czech Republic[upper-alpha 3]Group D winner17 October 20076 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 RomaniaGroup G winner17 October 20073 (1984, 1996, 2000)
 PolandGroup A winner17 November 20070 (debut)
 ItalyGroup B winner17 November 20076 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 FranceGroup B runner-up17 November 20076 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 CroatiaGroup E winner17 November 20072 (1996, 2004)
 SpainGroup F winner17 November 20077 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 NetherlandsGroup G runner-up17 November 20077 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 PortugalGroup A runner-up21 November 20074 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 TurkeyGroup C runner-up21 November 20072 (1996, 2000)
 Russia[upper-alpha 4]Group E runner-up21 November 20078 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004)
 SwedenGroup F runner-up21 November 20073 (1992, 2000, 2004)
  1. Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
  2. From 1972 to 1988, Germany competed as West Germany.
  3. From 1960 to 1980, the Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.
  4. From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as CIS.

Seedings

UEFA used the 2005 UEFA national team coefficient to rank the teams according to their results in both UEFA Euro 2004 and 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. Only the group matches counted towards the coefficients. As defending champions, Greece were automatically seeded in the top pool. Since Portugal hosted and automatically qualified for UEFA Euro 2004, the coefficient factored in only their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification record. Similarly, Germany's coefficient factored only their UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying record, since they hosted and automatically qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan never competed in the European Championships previously, so the coefficient used only their World Cup record. Montenegro had not been admitted to UEFA/FIFA at the time the qualifying competition had started, and thus were ineligible.

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

Austria (1,333) and Switzerland (1,833) were already assured of places at Euro 2008 as host nations.

Teams in bold eventually qualified for the final tournament.

Pot 1
TeamCoeffRank
 Greece (title holders)1,95013
 Netherlands2,5501
 Portugal2,5002
 England2,5003
 Czech Republic2,4504
 France2,4445
 Sweden2,2786
Pot 2
TeamCoeffRank
 Germany2,2507
 Croatia2,2228
 Italy2,2229
 Turkey2,10010
 Poland2,05611
 Spain2,05612
 Romania1,95014
Pot 3
TeamCoeffRank
 Serbia and Montenegro1,88915
 Russia1,85016
 Denmark1,85017
 Norway1,77818
 Bulgaria1,77819
 Ukraine1,75020
 Slovakia1,65021
Pot 4
TeamCoeffRank
 Bosnia and Herzegovina1,61122
 Republic of Ireland1,55623
 Belgium1,55624
 Latvia1,55025
 Israel1,50026
 Scotland1,50027
 Slovenia1,44428
Pot 5
TeamCoeffRank
 Hungary1,38929
 Finland1,30030
 Estonia1,25031
 Wales1,16732
 Lithuania1,11133
 Albania0,94434
 Iceland0,85035
Pot 6
TeamCoeffRank
 Georgia0,85036
 Macedonia0,75037
 Belarus0,72238
 Armenia0,70039
 Northern Ireland0,66740
 Cyprus0,66741
 Moldova0,61142
Pot 7
TeamCoeffRank
 Liechtenstein0,45043
 Azerbaijan0,38944
 Andorra0,25045
 Malta0,22246
 Faroe Islands0,11147
 Kazakhstan0,08348
 Luxembourg0,00049
 San Marino0,00050

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied to determine the rankings:[2]

  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 had an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 4) was reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6) and 7) applied;
  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

Summary
  Group winners and runners-up qualified directly for UEFA Euro 2008
  Other teams were eliminated
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

Macedonia

Estonia

Andorra
Northern Ireland

Denmark

Latvia

Iceland

Liechtenstein
Bulgaria

Belarus

Albania

Slovenia

Luxembourg

Groups

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

The qualifying format had been changed from the previous tournament: the respective winners and runners-up from seven groups would automatically qualify for the finals, alongside the host nations. Therefore, there were no play-offs between the runners-up of the groups. Group A contained eight teams, while the other six groups each contained seven.

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.

Group A
Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Poland Portugal Serbia Finland Belgium Kazakhstan Armenia Azerbaijan
1  Poland 14 8 4 2 24 12 +12 28 Qualify for final tournament — 2–1 1–1 1–3 2–0 3–1 1–0 5–0
2  Portugal 14 7 6 1 24 10 +14 27 2–2 — 1–1 0–0 4–0 3–0 1–0 3–0
3  Serbia 14 6 6 2 22 11 +11 24[lower-alpha 1] 2–2 1–1 — 0–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–0
4  Finland 14 6 6 2 13 7 +6 24[lower-alpha 1] 0–0 1–1 0–2 — 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–1
5  Belgium 14 5 3 6 14 16 −2 18 0–1 1–2 3–2 0–0 — 0–0 3–0 3–0
6  Kazakhstan 14 2 4 8 11 21 −10 10 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–2 2–2 — 1–2 1–1
7  Armenia 12 2 3 7 4 13 −9 9 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 — Canc.[lower-alpha 2]
8  Azerbaijan 12 1 2 9 6 28 −22 5 1–3 0–2 1–6 1–0 0–1 1–1 Canc.[lower-alpha 2] —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Serbia 4, Finland 1.
  2. The matches between Azerbaijan and Armenia were cancelled by UEFA with both associations receiving no points, as the two national associations failed to resolve political and security disagreements.[3][4]

Group B
Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy France Scotland Ukraine Lithuania Georgia (country) Faroe Islands
1  Italy 12 9 2 1 22 9 +13 29 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 3–1
2  France 12 8 2 2 25 5 +20 26 3–1 — 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 5–0
3  Scotland 12 8 0 4 21 12 +9 24 1–2 1–0 — 3–1 3–1 2–1 6–0
4  Ukraine 12 5 2 5 18 16 +2 17 1–2 2–2 2–0 — 1–0 3–2 5–0
5  Lithuania 12 5 1 6 11 13 −2 16 0–2 0–1 1–2 2–0 — 1–0 2–1
6  Georgia 12 3 1 8 16 19 −3 10 1–3 0–3 2–0 1–1 0–2 — 3–1
7  Faroe Islands 12 0 0 12 4 43 −39 0 1–2 0–6 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–6 —
Source: UEFA

Group C
Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Greece Turkey Norway Bosnia and Herzegovina Moldova Hungary Malta
1  Greece 12 10 1 1 25 10 +15 31 Qualify for final tournament — 1–4 1–0 3–2 2–1 2–0 5–0
2  Turkey 12 7 3 2 25 11 +14 24 0–1 — 2–2 1–0 5–0 3–0 2–0
3  Norway 12 7 2 3 27 11 +16 23 2–2 1–2 — 1–2 2–0 4–0 4–0
4  Bosnia and Herzegovina 12 4 1 7 16 22 −6 13 0–4 3–2 0–2 — 0–1 1–3 1–0
5  Moldova 12 3 3 6 12 19 −7 12[lower-alpha 1] 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–2 — 3–0 1–1
6  Hungary 12 4 0 8 11 22 −11 12[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 0–1 1–4 1–0 2–0 — 2–0
7  Malta 12 1 2 9 10 31 −21 5 0–1 2–2 1–4 2–5 2–3 2–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Tied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head goal difference: Moldova +1, Hungary −1.

Group D
Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Czech Republic Germany Republic of Ireland Slovakia Wales Cyprus San Marino
1  Czech Republic 12 9 2 1 27 5 +22 29 Qualify for final tournament — 1–2 1–0 3–1 2–1 1–0 7–0
2  Germany 12 8 3 1 35 7 +28 27 0–3 — 1–0 2–1 0–0 4–0 6–0
3  Republic of Ireland 12 4 5 3 17 14 +3 17 1–1 0–0 — 1–0 1–0 1–1 5–0
4  Slovakia 12 5 1 6 33 23 +10 16 0–3 1–4 2–2 — 2–5 6–1 7–0
5  Wales 12 4 3 5 18 19 −1 15 0–0 0–2 2–2 1–5 — 3–1 3–0
6  Cyprus 12 4 2 6 17 24 −7 14 0–2 1–1 5–2 1–3 3–1 — 3–0
7  San Marino 12 0 0 12 2 57 −55 0 0–3 0–13 1–2 0–5 1–2 0–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group E
Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Croatia Russia England Israel North Macedonia Estonia Andorra
1  Croatia 12 9 2 1 28 8 +20 29 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 7–0
2  Russia 12 7 3 2 18 7 +11 24 0–0 — 2–1 1–1 3–0 2–0 4–0
3  England 12 7 2 3 24 7 +17 23[lower-alpha 1] 2–3 3–0 — 3–0 0–0 3–0 5–0
4  Israel 12 7 2 3 20 12 +8 23[lower-alpha 1] 3–4 2–1 0–0 — 1–0 4–0 4–1
5  Macedonia 12 4 2 6 12 12 0 14 2–0 0–2 0–1 1–2 — 1–1 3–0
6  Estonia 12 2 1 9 5 21 −16 7 0–1 0–2 0–3 0–1 0–1 — 2–1
7  Andorra 12 0 0 12 2 42 −40 0 0–6 0–1 0–3 0–2 0–3 0–2 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: England 4, Israel 1.

Group F
Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain Sweden Northern Ireland Denmark Latvia Iceland Liechtenstein
1  Spain 12 9 1 2 23 8 +15 28 Qualify for final tournament — 3–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 4–0
2  Sweden 12 8 2 2 23 9 +14 26 2–0 — 1–1 0–0 2–1 5–0 3–1
3  Northern Ireland 12 6 2 4 17 14 +3 20[lower-alpha 1] 3–2 2–1 — 2–1 1–0 0–3 3–1
4  Denmark 12 6 2 4 21 11 +10 20[lower-alpha 1] 1–3 0–3[lower-alpha 2] 0–0 — 3–1 3–0 4–0
5  Latvia 12 4 0 8 15 17 −2 12 0–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 — 4–0 4–1
6  Iceland 12 2 2 8 10 27 −17 8 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–2 2–4 — 1–1
7  Liechtenstein 12 2 1 9 9 32 −23 7 0–2 0–3 1–4 0–4 1–0 3–0 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Northern Ireland 4, Denmark 1.
  2. The Denmark v Sweden match was abandoned in the 89th minute at 3–3 following a fan attack on the referee.[5] The match was awarded as a 3–0 forfeit win to Sweden by UEFA following a hearing on 8 June 2007.[6]

Group G
Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Romania Netherlands Bulgaria Belarus Albania Slovenia Luxembourg
1  Romania 12 9 2 1 26 7 +19 29 Qualify for final tournament — 1–0 2–2 3–1 6–1 2–0 3–0
2  Netherlands 12 8 2 2 15 5 +10 26 0–0 — 2–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 1–0
3  Bulgaria 12 7 4 1 18 7 +11 25 1–0 1–1 — 2–1 0–0 3–0 3–0
4  Belarus 12 4 1 7 17 23 −6 13 1–3 2–1 0–2 — 2–2 4–2 0–1
5  Albania 12 2 5 5 12 18 −6 11[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–4 — 0–0 2–0
6  Slovenia 12 3 2 7 9 16 −7 11[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–0 — 2–0
7  Luxembourg 12 1 0 11 2 23 −21 3 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–3 0–3 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Tied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.

Goalscorers

There were 839 goals scored in 306 matches, for an average of 2.74 goals per match.[note 1]

13 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

2 own goals

Notes
  1. The goal tally takes into account the original result of fixtures that were subsequently forfeited, not the awarded scoreline.

References
  1. Qualifying draw (UEFA).
  2. "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2006/08" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 August 2005. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  3. "EXCO unveils World Cup programme". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  4. "UEFA cancel Armenia v Azerbaijan Euro qualifiers". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. 23 June 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  5. "Denmark hearing tomorrow". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  6. "Copenhagen contest goes to Sweden". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
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