UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 February 2010 in the Congress Hall of the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, with matches set to take place between August 2010 and November 2011.[1]

There were nine groups. Six of these groups had six teams (one each from pots 1 to 6 below); the remaining three groups consisted of five teams (one each from pots 1 to 5 below). Group competition was a double round robin: each team hosted a game with every other team in its group. The first-place team in each group qualified, along with the second-place team with the most points against teams ranked in the top five in the group. The remaining eight second-place teams were paired for two-game play-offs, with the winner of each total goals tie qualifying for the finals. The two host countries completed the field of sixteen teams.

Qualified teams

  Qualified — directly
  Qualified — after Play offs
  Did not qualify — Play offs
  Did not qualify — First Round
  Did not enter
  Not a UEFA member
Country Qualified as Date qualification was secured Previous appearances in tournament1 2
 Poland Co-hosts 18 April 2007 1 (2008)
 Ukraine Co-hosts 18 April 2007 0 (debut)
 Germany3 Group A winner 2 September 2011 10 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 Russia4 Group B winner 11 October 2011 9 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008)
 Italy Group C winner 6 September 2011 7 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 France Group D winner 11 October 2011 7 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 Netherlands Group E winner 6 September 2011 8 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 Greece Group F winner 11 October 2011 3 (1980, 2004, 2008)
 England Group G winner 7 October 2011 7 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Denmark Group H winner 11 October 2011 7 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Spain Group I winner 6 September 2011 8 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 Sweden Best runner-up 11 October 2011 4 (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 Croatia Play-off winner 15 November 2011 3 (1996, 2004, 2008)
 Czech Republic5 Play-off winner 15 November 2011 7 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 Portugal Play-off winner 15 November 2011 5 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)
 Republic of Ireland Play-off winner 15 November 2011 1 (1988)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italics indicate (co-)host for that year
3 from 1972-88, Germany competed in the European Championship final tournament as West Germany
4 from 1960-88, Russia competed in the European Championship final tournament as the Soviet Union and in 1992 as the Commonwealth of Independent States
5 from 1960-92, Czech Republic competed in the European Championship final tournament as Czechoslovakia

Seedings

The pot allocations for the qualifying group stage draw were based on the UEFA national team coefficient rankings as of the end of 2009. The sole exception was the automatic placement of Spain, as reigning European champions, as the top-ranked team (their coefficient ranking would have also placed them in this position anyway).[2] Each nation's coefficient was generated by calculating:[3]

The 51 entrants were divided into the following six pots for the drawing of nine qualifying groups on 7 February 2010 in Warsaw, Poland:[4]

The countries which eventually qualified for the final tournament are emboldened in the table below.

Pot 1
Team Coeff Rank
 Spain (title holders) 39,964 1
 Germany 38,294 2
 Netherlands 37,821 3
 Italy 35,838 4
 England 34,819 5
 Croatia 33,677 6
 Portugal 33,226 7
 France 32,551 8
 Russia 32,477 9
Pot 2
Team Coeff Rank
 Greece 31,268 10
 Czech Republic 30,871 11
 Sweden 30,695 12
  Switzerland 30,395 13
 Serbia 29,811 14
 Turkey 29,447 15
 Denmark 29,222 16
 Slovakia 28,228 17
 Romania 28,145 18
Pot 3
Team Coeff Rank
 Israel 28,052 20
 Bulgaria 27,198 21
 Finland 26,827 22
 Norway 26,210 24
 Republic of Ireland 25,971 25
 Scotland 25,646 26
 Northern Ireland 24,518 27
 Austria 24,381 28
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 24,365 29
Pot 4
Team Coeff Rank
 Slovenia 24,221 30
 Latvia 23,303 31
 Hungary 23,048 32
 Lithuania 22,071 33
 Belarus 21,515 34
 Belgium 21,426 35
 Wales 21,274 36
 Macedonia 19,409 37
 Cyprus 18,791 38
Pot 5
Team Coeff Rank
 Montenegro 18,751 39
 Albania 18,319 40
 Estonia 17,792 41
 Georgia 15,819 42
 Moldova 15,734 43
 Iceland 15,404 44
 Armenia 15,164 45
 Kazakhstan 14,730 46
 Liechtenstein 13,581 47
Pot 6
Team Coeff Rank
 Azerbaijan 13,500 48
 Luxembourg 11,872 49
 Malta 11,517 50
 Faroe Islands 10,620 51
 Andorra 9,197 52
 San Marino 7,783 53
Notes

Before the draw UEFA confirmed that, for political reasons, Armenia would not be drawn against Azerbaijan (due to the dispute concerning territory of Nagorno-Karabakh) and Georgia would not be drawn against Russia (due to the dispute regarding the territory of South Ossetia).[5] Armenia and Azerbaijan were drawn together in Group A during the draw ceremony, forcing UEFA to reassign Armenia to Group B, as Azerbaijan had refused to play in Armenia when they had been drawn together during UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying.[6]

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.[7]

  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) to 10) apply;
  6. superior goal difference in all group matches;
  7. higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  8. higher number of goals scored away from home in all group matches;
  9. fair play ranking in all group matches;
  10. drawing of lots.

Summary

  Winner of each group and the best runner-up qualified directly for the UEFA Euro 2012
  The Runners-up advanced to the second round (play-offs)
  Other teams were eliminated after the first round
Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I

Germany
Russia
Italy
France
Netherlands
Greece
England
Denmark
Spain

Turkey
Republic of Ireland
Estonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sweden
Croatia
Montenegro
Portugal
Czech Republic

Belgium

Austria

Azerbaijan

Kazakhstan
Armenia

Slovakia

Macedonia

Andorra
Serbia

Slovenia

Northern Ireland

Faroe Islands
Romania

Belarus

Albania

Luxembourg
Hungary

Finland

Moldova

San Marino
Israel

Latvia

Georgia

Malta
Switzerland

Wales

Bulgaria
Norway

Iceland

Cyprus
Scotland

Lithuania

Liechtenstein

Groups

The following 18 dates were reserved for group matches in qualifying:

For the first time, Tuesday evenings replaced Wednesday evenings for midweek qualifying fixtures where two matchdays occurred in the same week. This was in order to allow players an extra day to return to their clubs for domestic duty the following week. Consequently, teams were permitted to move the earlier weekend match forward to the Friday evening.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Germany Turkey Belgium Austria Azerbaijan Kazakhstan
1  Germany 10 10 0 0 34 7 +27 30 Qualify for final tournament — 3–0 3–1 6–2 6–1 4–0
2  Turkey 10 5 2 3 13 11 +2 17 Advance to play-offs 1–3 — 3–2 2–0 1–0 2–1
3  Belgium 10 4 3 3 21 15 +6 15 0–1 1–1 — 4–4 4–1 4–1
4  Austria 10 3 3 4 16 17 −1 12 1–2 0–0 0–2 — 3–0 2–0
5  Azerbaijan 10 2 1 7 10 26 −16 7 1–3 1–0 1–1 1–4 — 3–2
6  Kazakhstan 10 1 1 8 6 24 −18 4 0–3 0–3 0–2 0–0 2–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Russia Republic of Ireland Armenia Slovakia Republic of Macedonia Andorra
1  Russia 10 7 2 1 17 4 +13 23 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 3–1 0–1 1–0 6–0
2  Republic of Ireland 10 6 3 1 15 7 +8 21 Advance to play-offs 2–3 — 2–1 0–0 2–1 3–1
3  Armenia 10 5 2 3 22 10 +12 17 0–0 0–1 — 3–1 4–1 4–0
4  Slovakia 10 4 3 3 7 10 −3 15 0–1 1–1 0–4 — 1–0 1–0
5  Macedonia 10 2 2 6 8 14 −6 8 0–1 0–2 2–2 1–1 — 1–0
6  Andorra 10 0 0 10 1 25 −24 0 0–2 0–2 0–3 0–1 0–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy Estonia Serbia Slovenia Northern Ireland Faroe Islands
1  Italy 10 8 2 0 20 2 +18 26 Qualify for final tournament — 3–0 3–0[lower-alpha 1] 1–0 3–0 5–0
2  Estonia 10 5 1 4 15 14 +1 16 Advance to play-offs 1–2 — 1–1 0–1 4–1 2–1
3  Serbia 10 4 3 3 13 12 +1 15 1–1 1–3 — 1–1 2–1 3–1
4  Slovenia 10 4 2 4 11 7 +4 14 0–1 1–2 1–0 — 0–1 5–1
5  Northern Ireland 10 2 3 5 9 13 −4 9 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–0 — 4–0
6  Faroe Islands 10 1 1 8 6 26 −20 4 0–1 2–0 0–3 0–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ↑ The Italy v Serbia match was abandoned after six minutes due to rioting by Serbian fans.[8] The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body awarded the match as a 3–0 forfeit win to Italy.[9]

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification France Bosnia and Herzegovina Romania Belarus Albania Luxembourg
1  France 10 6 3 1 15 4 +11 21 Qualify for final tournament — 1–1 2–0 0–1 3–0 2–0
2  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 6 2 2 17 8 +9 20 Advance to play-offs 0–2 — 2–1 1–0 2–0 5–0
3  Romania 10 3 5 2 13 9 +4 14 0–0 3–0 — 2–2 1–1 3–1
4  Belarus 10 3 4 3 8 7 +1 13 1–1 0–2 0–0 — 2–0 2–0
5  Albania 10 2 3 5 7 14 −7 9 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 — 1–0
6  Luxembourg 10 1 1 8 3 21 −18 4 0–2 0–3 0–2 0–0 2–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Netherlands Sweden Hungary Finland Moldova San Marino
1  Netherlands 10 9 0 1 37 8 +29 27 Qualify for final tournament — 4–1 5–3 2–1 1–0 11–0
2  Sweden 10 8 0 2 31 11 +20 24 3–2 — 2–0 5–0 2–1 6–0
3  Hungary 10 6 1 3 22 14 +8 19 0–4 2–1 — 0–0 2–1 8–0
4  Finland 10 3 1 6 16 16 0 10 0–2 1–2 1–2 — 4–1 8–0
5  Moldova 10 3 0 7 12 16 −4 9 0–1 1–4 0–2 2–0 — 4–0
6  San Marino 10 0 0 10 0 53 −53 0 0–5 0–5 0–3 0–1 0–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Greece Croatia Israel Latvia Georgia (country) Malta
1  Greece 10 7 3 0 14 5 +9 24 Qualify for final tournament — 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 3–1
2  Croatia 10 7 1 2 18 7 +11 22 Advance to play-offs 0–0 — 3–1 2–0 2–1 3–0
3  Israel 10 5 1 4 13 11 +2 16 0–1 1–2 — 2–1 1–0 3–1
4  Latvia 10 3 2 5 9 12 −3 11 1–1 0–3 1–2 — 1–1 2–0
5  Georgia 10 2 4 4 7 9 −2 10 1–2 1–0 0–0 0–1 — 1–0
6  Malta 10 0 1 9 4 21 −17 1 0–1 1–3 0–2 0–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Montenegro Switzerland Wales Bulgaria
1  England 8 5 3 0 17 5 +12 18 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 2–2 1–0 4–0
2  Montenegro 8 3 3 2 7 7 0 12 Advance to play-offs 2–2 — 1–0 1–0 1–1
3   Switzerland 8 3 2 3 12 10 +2 11 1–3 2–0 — 4–1 3–1
4  Wales 8 3 0 5 6 10 −4 9 0–2 2–1 2–0 — 0–1
5  Bulgaria 8 1 2 5 3 13 −10 5 0–3 0–1 0–0 0–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Denmark Portugal Norway Iceland Cyprus
1  Denmark 8 6 1 1 15 6 +9 19 Qualify for final tournament — 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–0
2  Portugal 8 5 1 2 21 12 +9 16 Advance to play-offs 3–1 — 1–0 5–3 4–4
3  Norway 8 5 1 2 10 7 +3 16 1–1 1–0 — 1–0 3–1
4  Iceland 8 1 1 6 6 14 −8 4 0–2 1–3 1–2 — 1–0
5  Cyprus 8 0 2 6 7 20 −13 2 1–4 0–4 1–2 0–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group I

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain Czech Republic Scotland Lithuania Liechtenstein
1  Spain 8 8 0 0 26 6 +20 24 Qualify for final tournament — 2–1 3–1 3–1 6–0
2  Czech Republic 8 4 1 3 12 8 +4 13 Advance to play-offs 0–2 — 1–0 0–1 2–0
3  Scotland 8 3 2 3 9 10 −1 11 2–3 2–2 — 1–0 2–1
4  Lithuania 8 1 2 5 4 13 −9 5 1–3 1–4 0–0 — 0–0
5  Liechtenstein 8 1 1 6 3 17 −14 4 0–4 0–2 0–1 2–0 —
Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

The highest ranked second placed team from the groups qualified automatically for the tournament, while the remainder entered the play-offs. As some groups contain six teams and some five, matches against the sixth-placed team in each group were not included in this ranking. As a result, a total of eight matches played by each team count toward the purpose of the second-placed ranking table.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 E  Sweden 8 6 0 2 20 11 +9 18 Qualify for final tournament
2 H  Portugal 8 5 1 2 21 12 +9 16 Advance to play-offs
3 F  Croatia 8 5 1 2 12 6 +6 16
4 B  Republic of Ireland 8 4 3 1 10 6 +4 15
5 D  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 4 2 2 9 8 +1 14
6 I  Czech Republic 8 4 1 3 12 8 +4 13
7 C  Estonia 8 4 1 3 13 11 +2 13
8 G  Montenegro 8 3 3 2 7 7 0 12
9 A  Turkey 8 3 2 3 8 10 −2 11
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system; 6) Fair play ranking; 7) Drawing of lots.

Play-offs

The eight remaining third-placed teams contested two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals. The teams were seeded for the play-off draw according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings updated after the completion of the qualifying group stage. The draw for the play-offs was held on 13 October 2011 in Kraków, Poland.[10]

Seedings

The seedings were as follows:[11]

Pot 1 (seeded)
Team Coeff Rank
 Croatia 32.723 7
 Portugal 31.202 11
 Republic of Ireland 28.203 13
 Czech Republic 27.982 15
Pot 2 (unseeded)
Team Coeff Rank
 Turkey 27.601 18
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 27.199 19
 Montenegro 21.876 35
 Estonia 20.355 37

Matches

The first legs were played on 11 November, and the second legs were played on 15 November 2011. The four play-off winners qualified for the final tournament.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Turkey  0–3  Croatia 0–3 0–0
Estonia  1–5  Republic of Ireland 0–4 1–1
Czech Republic  3–0  Montenegro 2–0 1–0
Bosnia and Herzegovina  2–6  Portugal 0–0 2–6

Top goalscorers

There were 636 goals scored by 339 different players and 17 own goals.[12] This list reflects the top 15 players or those tied in the top 15.

12 goals
9 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals

Attendances

Data compiled from soccerway.com.

References

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