UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

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

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 were 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 did not compete until the qualifying for the next World Cup.

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

Pot	Team	Coefficient rating	Pot	Team	Coefficient rating
1	Greece1	1.950	5	Hungary	1.389
	Netherlands	2.550		Finland	1.300
	Portugal	2.500		Estonia	1.250
	England	2.500		Wales	1.167
	Czech Republic	2.450		Lithuania	1.111
	France	2.444		Albania	1.050
	Sweden	2.278		Iceland	0.944
2	Germany	2.250	6	Georgia	0.850
	Croatia	2.222		Macedonia	0.750
	Italy	2.222		Belarus	0.722
	Turkey	2.100		Armenia	0.700
	Poland	2.056		Northern Ireland	0.667
	Spain	2.056		Cyprus	0.667
	Romania	1.950		Moldova	0.611
3	Serbia	1.889	7	Liechtenstein	0.450
	Russia	1.850		Azerbaijan	0.389
	Denmark	1.850		Andorra	0.250
	Norway	1.778		Malta	0.222
	Bulgaria	1.778		Faroe Islands	0.111
	Ukraine	1.750		Kazakhstan	0.083
	Slovakia	1.650		Luxembourg	0.000
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.611		San Marino	0.000
	Republic of Ireland	1.556
	Belgium	1.556
	Latvia	1.550
	Israel	1.500
	Scotland	1.500
	Slovenia	1.444

¹ Greece were first seeded, as European champions

 Austria (1.333) and  Switzerland (1.833) were already assured of places at Euro 2008 as host nations.

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.

Summary

Below is a table containing all seven qualifying groups. Teams that secured a place in the final tournament are highlighted in green. The order of teams is by final group position. For the first time, UEFA named the qualifying groups alphabetically rather than numerically.

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 granted places in the tournament finals as host nations.

The qualifying format had 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.

Group A

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

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 either team for the cancelled matches^[2]

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)

Group B

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

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 —

Group C

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

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, +1 GD (3–0 H vs Hungary, 0–2 A vs Hungary)
  • Hungary – 3 pts, −1 GD (2–0 H vs Moldova, 0–3 A vs Moldova)

Group D

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

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 —

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Croatia 12 9 2 1 28 8 +20 29  Russia 12 7 3 2 18 7 +11 24  England 12 7 2 3 24 7 +17 23  Israel 12 7 2 3 20 12 +8 23  Macedonia 12 4 2 6 12 12 0 14  Estonia 12 2 1 9 5 21 −16 7  Andorra 12 0 0 12 2 42 −40 0

Andorra  — 0–6 0–3 0–2 0–3 0–2 0–1 Croatia  7–0 — 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 England  5–0 2–3 — 3–0 0–0 3–0 3–0 Estonia  2–1 0–1 0–3 — 0–1 0–1 0–2 Macedonia  3–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 — 1–2 0–2 Israel  4–1 3–4 0–0 4–0 1–0 — 2–1 Russia  4–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 3–0 1–1 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• England and Israel are ranked by their head-to-head records:
  • England – 4 pts (3–0 H vs Israel, 0–0 A vs Israel)
  • Israel – 1 pt (0–0 H vs England, 0–3 A vs England)

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Spain 12 9 1 2 23 8 +15 28  Sweden 12 8 2 2 23 9 +14 26  Northern Ireland 12 6 2 4 17 14 +3 20  Denmark 12 6 2 4 21 11 +10 20  Latvia 12 4 0 8 15 17 −2 12  Iceland 12 2 2 8 10 27 −17 8  Liechtenstein 12 2 1 9 9 32 −23 7

Denmark  — 3–0 3–1 4–0 0–0 1–3 0–3* Iceland  0–2 — 2–4 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 Latvia  0–2 4–0 — 4–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 Liechtenstein  0–4 3–0 1–0 — 1–4 0–2 0–3 Northern Ireland  2–1 0–3 1–0 3–1 — 3–2 2–1 Spain  2–1 1–0 2–0 4–0 1–0 — 3–0 Sweden  0–0 5–0 2–1 3–1 1–1 2–0 —

(*) The abandoned match between Denmark and Sweden was a 3–0 win awarded to Sweden, after a UEFA hearing on 8 June 2007^[3][4]

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

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

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Romania 12 9 2 1 26 7 +19 29  Netherlands 12 8 2 2 15 5 +10 26  Bulgaria 12 7 4 1 18 7 +11 25  Belarus 12 4 1 7 17 23 −6 13  Albania 12 2 5 5 12 18 −6 11  Slovenia 12 3 2 7 9 16 −7 11  Luxembourg 12 1 0 11 2 23 −21 3

Albania  — 2–4 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–2 0–0 Belarus  2–2 — 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–3 4–2 Bulgaria  0–0 2–1 — 3–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 Luxembourg  0–3 1–2 0–1 — 0–1 0–2 0–3 Netherlands  2–1 3–0 2–0 1–0 — 0–0 2–0 Romania  6–1 3–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 — 2–0 Slovenia  0–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–1 1–2 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Albania and Slovenia are tied on their head-to-head records, and are thus ranked by their overall goal difference in the group:
  • Albania – 2 pts, 0GD, 0GF, 0 away goals (0–0 H vs Slovenia, 0–0 A vs Slovenia) – Overall GD = −6
  • Slovenia – 2 pts, 0GD, 0GF, 0 away goals (0–0 H vs Albania, 0–0 A vs Albania) – Overall GD = −7

Top goalscorers

Scorer	Goals	Mins played	Nation	Club
David Healy	13	1075'	Northern Ireland	Leeds United/Fulham
Eduardo	10	1061'	Croatia	Arsenal
Euzebiusz Smolarek	9	824'	Poland	Racing Santander
Lukas Podolski	8	660'	Germany	Bayern Munich
Jon Dahl Tomasson	8	989'	Denmark	Villarreal
Cristiano Ronaldo	8	1153'	Portugal	Manchester United
Steffen Iversen	7	669'	Norway	Rosenborg
Mladen Petrić	7	677'	Croatia	Borussia Dortmund
Nikola Žigić	7	867'	Serbia	Valencia
David Villa	7	896'	Spain	Valencia

Source: UEFA

Qualified nations

Trivia

• Germany's 13-0 away victory against San Marino became the biggest win in UEFA European Championship qualifying history, beating the previous record of Spain's 12-1 win against Malta in 1983.^[5]
• Gary Caldwell scored the winner, as Scotland inflicted a first defeat upon France in competitive qualifiers, with a 1-0 win against Les Bleus being the first team to do so since Russia won 3-2 in Paris in the Euro 2000 qualifiers.^[6]
• Luxembourg ended their 12 year wait for a victory, with a 1-0 victory in Belarus, Fons Leweck scoring in the 5th minute of injury time.^[7]
• Poland got through the qualifying round for the first time in its history.^[8]
• David Healy became the record goalscorer in a single UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign when he scored his 13th goal for Northern Ireland (in 11 games) against Denmark on 17 November 2007, overtaking the previous best of 12 goals in 10 games by Croatia's Davor Šuker. Despite this feat, which saw his countrymen defeat three teams ranked in the World's top ten at the time, Spain, Denmark and Sweden, Northern Ireland crucially lost both fixtures against an Iceland side who failed to win any of their other twelve fixtures in the group and missed out on qualification in third place.^[9]
• England was the only seeded team not to qualify, whereas Russia was the only unseeded one to qualify.
• In the match between England and Croatia at Wembley, Tony Henry made a comical error whilst singing the national anthem of Croatia. He meant to sing "Mila kuda si planina" which roughly tanslates into English as "You know my dear how we love your mountains." He incorrectly sang "Mila kura si planina" which can be interpreted as "My dear, my penis is a mountain."^[10]
• Germany were the qualifiers' biggest goalscorers with 35 goals. Slovakia finished 2nd with 33, despite missing out on qualification.
• The team with the highest FIFA ranking^[11] to fail to qualify was England, ranked #9. The lowest ranked team (other than the hosts) which did qualify for the tournament was Sweden, ranked #30.
• Euro 2008 marked the first time since the 1994 FIFA World Cup that none of the home nations had qualified for a major tournament & the first time since Euro 84 that no teams from the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland) had qualified for a major tournament.

References

External links

• EURO 2008 seedings confirmed at UEFA.com
• Competition regulations (PDF file) at UEFA.com