UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Euro 2024 final tournament. The competition was linked with the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League, which gave countries a secondary route to qualify for the final tournament.[1]

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
Tournament details
Dates23 March 2023 – 26 March 2024
Teams53
Tournament statistics
Matches played239
Goals scored690 (2.89 per match)
Attendance5,311,891 (22,225 per match)
Top scorer(s)Belgium Romelu Lukaku
(14 goals)
2020
2028

A total of 53 UEFA member associations entered the qualifying process. The draw for the qualifying group stage took place at the Festhalle in Frankfurt on 9 October 2022.[2]

Qualified teams

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  Team qualified for UEFA Euro 2024
  Team failed to qualify
  Team banned from competition
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[A]
  Germany[B] Host 27 September 2018 13 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Belgium Group F winner 13 October 2023 6 (1972, 1980, 1984, 2000, 2016, 2020)
  France Group B winner 13 October 2023 10 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Portugal Group J winner 13 October 2023 8 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Scotland Group A runner-up 15 October 2023 3 (1992, 1996, 2020)
  Spain Group A winner 15 October 2023 11 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Turkey Group D winner 15 October 2023 5 (1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, 2020)
  Austria Group F runner-up 16 October 2023 3 (2008, 2016, 2020)
  England Group C winner 17 October 2023 10 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Hungary Group G winner 16 November 2023 4 (1964, 1972, 2016, 2020)
  Slovakia[C] Group J runner-up 16 November 2023 5 (1960, 1976, 1980, 2016, 2020)
  Albania Group E winner 17 November 2023 1 (2016)
  Denmark Group H winner 17 November 2023 9 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2020)
  Netherlands Group B runner-up 18 November 2023 10 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2020)
  Romania Group I winner 18 November 2023 5 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016)
   Switzerland Group I runner-up 18 November 2023 5 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2020)
  Serbia[D] Group G runner-up 19 November 2023 5 (1960, 1968, 1976, 1984, 2000)[E]
  Czech Republic[C] Group E runner-up 20 November 2023 10 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Italy Group C runner-up 20 November 2023 10 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Slovenia Group H runner-up 20 November 2023 1 (2000)
  Croatia Group D runner-up 21 November 2023 6 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  Georgia Play-off Path C winner 26 March 2024 0 (debut)
  Ukraine Play-off Path B winner 26 March 2024 3 (2012, 2016, 2020)
  Poland Play-off Path A winner 26 March 2024 4 (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
  1. ^ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
  2. ^ From 1972 to 1988, Germany competed as West Germany.
  3. ^ a b From 1960 to 1980, both Slovakia and the Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.[3][4][5][6]
  4. ^ From 1960 to 1984, Serbia competed as Yugoslavia, and in 2000 as FR Yugoslavia.
  5. ^ FR Yugoslavia were initially to appear in 1992 (after qualifying as Yugoslavia), but were replaced after being banned by the United Nations from all international sport.

Format

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The format was similar to the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying competition: the group stage decided 20 of the 23 teams that would advance to the final tournament to join host Germany. The 53 UEFA member associations were divided into ten groups, with seven groups containing five teams and three containing six teams. The draw for the qualifying group stage took place on 9 October 2022,[2] after conclusion of the league phase of the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League. The four UEFA Nations League Finals participants were drawn into groups of five teams (so they were able to compete in the Nations League Finals in June 2023). The qualifying group stage was played in a home-and-away, round-robin format on double matchdays in March, June, September, October, and November 2023. The winners and runners-up from the ten groups qualified directly to the final tournament.[7]

Following the qualifying group stage, the remaining three teams were decided through the play-offs, held in March 2024. Twelve teams were selected based entirely on their performance in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League. These teams were divided into three paths, each containing four teams, with one team from each path qualifying for the final tournament. The group winners of Nations Leagues A, B, and C automatically qualified for the play-off path of their league, unless they qualified for the final tournament via the qualifying group stage. If a group winner had already qualified through the qualifying group stage, they would be replaced by the next best-ranked team in the same league. However, if there were not enough non-qualified teams in the same league, then the spot would go first to the best-ranked group winner of League D, unless that team had already qualified for the final tournament. The remaining slots were then allocated to the next best team in the Nations League overall ranking. However, group winners of Leagues B and C could not face teams from a higher league.

The three play-off paths each featured two single-leg semi-finals, and one single-leg final. In the semi-finals, the best-ranked team hosted the lowest-ranked team, and the second-ranked team hosted the third-ranked team. The host of the final was drawn between the winners of the semi-final pairings. The three play-off path winners joined the twenty teams that already qualified for the final tournament through the group stage.[8]

Tiebreakers for group ranking

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If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:[8]

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.[a] If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 applied;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  9. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
  10. Fair play conduct in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
  11. Position in the UEFA Nations League overall ranking.

Notes

  1. ^ When there were two or more teams tied in points, criteria 1 to 3 were applied. After these criteria were applied, they may define the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there was a three-way tie on points, the application of the first three criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure was resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that were still tied.

Criteria for overall ranking

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To determine the overall rankings of the European Qualifiers, results against teams in sixth place were discarded and the following criteria were applied:[8]

  1. Position in the group;
  2. Higher number of points;
  3. Superior goal difference;
  4. Higher number of goals scored;
  5. Higher number of goals scored away from home;
  6. Higher number of wins;
  7. Higher number of wins away from home;
  8. Fair play conduct (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
  9. Position in the UEFA Nations League overall ranking.

Schedule

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Below was the schedule of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.[9]

Stage Matchday Dates
Qualifying group stage Matchday 1 23–25 March 2023
Matchday 2 26–28 March 2023
Matchday 3 16–17 June 2023
Matchday 4 19–20 June 2023
Matchday 5 7–9 September 2023
Matchday 6 10–12 September 2023
Matchday 7 12–14 October 2023[note 1]
Matchday 8 15–17 October 2023[note 1]
Matchday 9 16–18 November 2023
Matchday 10 19–21 November 2023
Play-offs Semi-finals 21 March 2024
Finals 26 March 2024

Draw

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The qualifying group stage draw was held on 9 October 2022, 12:00 CEST,[12] at the Festhalle in Frankfurt.[2][13][14][15] Of UEFA's 55 member associations, 53 compete in the qualifying competition. Host team Germany qualified directly to the final tournament, while it was confirmed on 20 September 2022 that Russia were ineligible due to the suspension from FIFA and UEFA competitions.[16]

The 53 UEFA national teams were seeded into six pots based on the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League overall ranking following the conclusion of the league phase. The four participants of the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals were placed into the UNL Pot and drawn into Groups A–D, which only had five teams, so that they only had to play eight qualifying matches, leaving two free matchdays to play in the Nations League Finals in June 2023. The next six-highest teams were then placed into Pot 1. If Germany had won their Nations League group, the UNL Pot would have contained three teams, and Pot 1 would have instead contained seven teams. Pots 2 to 5 contained ten teams, while Pot 6 contained the three lowest-ranked teams. The teams were drawn into ten groups: seven groups of five teams (Groups A–G) and three groups of six teams (Groups H–J). The draw started with the UNL Pot and Pot 1, and continued from Pot 2 to Pot 6, from where a team was drawn and assigned to the first available group (based on draw conditions) in alphabetical order.[17]

The following restrictions were applied with computer assistance:[17]

  • Prohibited clashes: For political reasons, matches between the following pairs of teams were considered prohibited clashes, unable to be drawn into the same group: Armenia / Azerbaijan, Belarus / Ukraine, Gibraltar / Spain, Kosovo / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo / Serbia.
  • Winter venues: A maximum of two teams whose venues were identified as having high or medium risk of severe winter conditions could be placed in each group: Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway.
    • The two "hard winter venues", Faroe Islands and Iceland, generally could not host games in March or November; the others were to play as few home matches as possible in March and November.[18]
  • Excessive travel: A maximum of one pair of teams identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries could be placed in each group:
    • Azerbaijan: with Gibraltar, Iceland, Portugal.
    • Iceland: with Cyprus, Georgia, Israel. (Armenia were also identified with Iceland for excessive travel distance, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.)
    • Kazakhstan: with Andorra, England, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales. (Faroe Islands were also identified with Kazakhstan for excessive travel distance, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.)

Seeding

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The teams were seeded based on the September 2022 UEFA Nations League overall rankings.[19]

Final tournament hosts
Team Rank
  Germany 10
Teams entering qualifying group stage
UNL pot
Team Rank
  Netherlands 1
  Croatia 2
  Spain 3
  Italy (title holders) 4
Pot 1
Team Rank
  Denmark 5
  Portugal 6
  Belgium 7
  Hungary 8
   Switzerland 9
  Poland 11
Pot 2
Team Rank
  France 12
  Austria 13
  Czech Republic 14
  England 15
  Wales 16
  Israel 17
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 18
  Serbia 19
  Scotland 20
  Finland 21
Pot 3
Team Rank
  Ukraine 22
  Iceland 23
  Norway 24
  Slovenia 25
  Republic of Ireland 26
  Albania 27
  Montenegro 28
  Romania 29
  Sweden 30
  Armenia 31
Pot 4
Team Rank
  Georgia 33
  Greece 34
  Turkey 35
  Kazakhstan 36
  Luxembourg 37
  Azerbaijan 38
  Kosovo 39
  Bulgaria 40
  Faroe Islands 41
  North Macedonia 42
Pot 5
Team Rank
  Slovakia 43
  Northern Ireland 44
  Cyprus 45
  Belarus 46
  Lithuania 47
  Gibraltar 48
  Estonia 49
  Latvia 50
  Moldova 51
  Malta 52
Pot 6
Team Rank
  Andorra 53
  San Marino 54
  Liechtenstein 55
Banned from entering qualifying
Team Rank
  Russia 32

Summary

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  Group winners and runners-up qualified directly for UEFA Euro 2024
  Teams advanced to the play-offs, selected based on their performance in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League
  Other teams were eliminated after the qualifying group stage
Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I Group J
 
Spain
 
Scotland
 
France
 
Netherlands
 
England
 
Italy
 
Turkey
 
Croatia
 
Albania
 
Czech Republic
 
Belgium
 
Austria
 
Hungary
 
Serbia
 
Denmark
 
Slovenia
 
Romania
 
Switzerland
 
Portugal
 
Slovakia
 
Norway
 
Greece
 
Ukraine
 
Wales
 
Poland
 
Sweden
 
Montenegro
 
Finland
 
Israel
 
Luxembourg
 
Georgia
 
Republic of Ireland
 
North Macedonia
 
Armenia
 
Moldova
 
Azerbaijan
 
Lithuania
 
Kazakhstan
 
Belarus
 
Iceland
 
Cyprus
 
Gibraltar
 
Malta
 
Latvia
 
Faroe Islands
 
Estonia
 
Bulgaria
 
Northern Ireland
 
Kosovo
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
 
San Marino
 
Andorra
 
Liechtenstein

Groups

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The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 10 October 2022, the day following the draw.[20][21][22] The schedule was initially released on the day of the draw, but was withdrawn shortly after its distribution due to an alleged calendar issue.[23] However, UEFA ultimately confirmed the initial schedule the following day, with no changes made.[24] Group matches took place from 23 March to 21 November 2023.

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Spain 8 7 0 1 25 5 +20 21 Qualify for final tournament 2–0 3–0 3–1 6–0
2   Scotland 8 5 2 1 17 8 +9 17 2–0 3–3 2–0 3–0
3   Norway 8 3 2 3 14 12 +2 11 0–1 1–2 2–1 3–1
4   Georgia 8 2 2 4 12 18 −6 8 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–7 2–2 1–1 4–0
5   Cyprus 8 0 0 8 3 28 −25 0 1–3 0–3 0–4 1–2
Source: UEFA

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   France 8 7 1 0 29 3 +26 22 Qualify for final tournament 4–0 1–0 2–0 14–0
2   Netherlands 8 6 0 2 17 7 +10 18 1–2 3–0 1–0 3–0
3   Greece 8 4 1 3 14 8 +6 13 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 2–2 0–1 2–1 5–0
4   Republic of Ireland 8 2 0 6 9 10 −1 6 0–1 1–2 0–2 3–0
5   Gibraltar 8 0 0 8 0 41 −41 0 0–3 0–6 0–3 0–4
Source: UEFA

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   England 8 6 2 0 22 4 +18 20 Qualify for final tournament 3–1 2–0 7–0 2–0
2   Italy 8 4 2 2 16 9 +7 14[a] 1–2 2–1 5–2 4–0
3   Ukraine 8 4 2 2 11 8 +3 14[a] Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–0
4   North Macedonia 8 2 2 4 10 20 −10 8 1–1 1–1 2–3 2–1
5   Malta 8 0 0 8 2 20 −18 0 0–4 0–2 1–3 0–2
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Italy 4, Ukraine 1.

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Turkey 8 5 2 1 14 7 +7 17 Qualify for final tournament 0–2 2–0 1–1 4–0
2   Croatia 8 5 1 2 13 4 +9 16 0–1 1–1 1–0 5–0
3   Wales 8 3 3 2 10 10 0 12 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–1 2–1 2–4 1–0
4   Armenia 8 2 2 4 9 11 −2 8 1–2 0–1 1–1 2–1
5   Latvia 8 1 0 7 5 19 −14 3 2–3 0–2 0–2 2–0
Source: UEFA

Group E

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Albania 8 4 3 1 12 4 +8 15[a] Qualify for final tournament 3–0 2–0 2–0 0–0
2   Czech Republic 8 4 3 1 12 6 +6 15[a] 1–1 3–1 3–0 1–0
3   Poland 8 3 2 3 10 10 0 11 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0
4   Moldova 8 2 4 2 7 10 −3 10 1–1 0–0 3–2 1–1
5   Faroe Islands 8 0 2 6 2 13 −11 2 1–3 0–3 0–2 0–1
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head to head points: Albania 4, Czech Republic 1.

Group F

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Belgium 8 6 2 0 22 4 +18 20 Qualify for final tournament 1–1 1–1[a] 5–0 5–0
2   Austria 8 6 1 1 17 7 +10 19 2–3 2–0 4–1 2–1
3   Sweden 8 3 1 4 14 12 +2 10 0–3 1–3 5–0 2–0
4   Azerbaijan 8 2 1 5 7 17 −10 7 0–1 0–1 3–0 1–1
5   Estonia 8 0 1 7 2 22 −20 1 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–3 0–2 0–5 0–2
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ The Belgium v Sweden match was abandoned at 1–1 at half-time for security reasons, as two Swedish supporters had been killed in a terrorist shooting in Brussels prior to the match; the score was later confirmed as final.[25][26]

Group G

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Hungary 8 5 3 0 16 7 +9 18 Qualify for final tournament 2–1 3–1 2–0 3–0
2   Serbia 8 4 2 2 15 9 +6 14 1–2 3–1 2–0 2–2
3   Montenegro 8 3 2 3 9 11 −2 11 0–0 0–2 2–0 2–1
4   Lithuania 8 1 3 4 8 14 −6 6 2–2 1–3 2–2 1–1
5   Bulgaria 8 0 4 4 7 14 −7 4 2–2 1–1 0–1 0–2
Source: UEFA

Group H

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Denmark 10 7 1 2 19 10 +9 22[a] Qualify for final tournament 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–0 4–0
2   Slovenia 10 7 1 2 20 9 +11 22[a] 1–1 3–0 2–1 4–2 2–0
3   Finland 10 6 0 4 18 10 +8 18[b] Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–1 2–0 1–2 4–0 6–0
4   Kazakhstan 10 6 0 4 16 12 +4 18[b] 3–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 3–1
5   Northern Ireland 10 3 0 7 9 13 −4 9 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 3–0
6   San Marino 10 0 0 10 3 31 −28 0 1–2 0–4 1–2 0–3 0–2
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head to head points: Denmark 4, Slovenia 1.
  2. ^ a b Goal difference in all group matches: Finland +8, Kazakhstan +4.

Group I

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Romania 10 6 4 0 16 5 +11 22 Qualify for final tournament 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 4–0
2    Switzerland 10 4 5 1 22 11 +11 17 2–2 3–0 3–3 1–1 3–0
3   Israel 10 4 3 3 11 11 0 15 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1
4   Belarus 10 3 3 4 9 14 −5 12 0–0 0–5 1–2 2–1 1–0
5   Kosovo 10 2 5 3 10 10 0 11 0–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 1–1
6   Andorra 10 0 2 8 3 20 −17 2 0–2 1–2 0–2 0–0 0–3
Source: UEFA

Group J

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Portugal 10 10 0 0 36 2 +34 30 Qualify for final tournament 3–2 9–0 2–0 3–0 4–0
2   Slovakia 10 7 1 2 17 8 +9 22 0–1 0–0 4–2 2–0 3–0
3   Luxembourg 10 5 2 3 13 19 −6 17 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–6 0–1 3–1 4–1 2–0
4   Iceland 10 3 1 6 17 16 +1 10 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 4–0
5   Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 3 0 7 9 20 −11 9 0–5 1–2 0–2 3–0 2–1
6   Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 1 28 −27 0 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–7 0–2
Source: UEFA

Play-offs

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Teams that failed in the qualifying group stage could still qualify for the final tournament through the play-offs. Leagues A, B, and C in the UEFA Nations League were allocated one of the three remaining final tournament spots. Four teams from each league that had not already qualified for the European Championship finals competed in the play-offs of their league. The play-off berths were first allocated to each Nations League group winner, and if any of the group winners already qualify for the European Championship finals, then to the next-best ranked team of the league.[27]

Team selection

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The team selection process determined the twelve teams that competed in the play-offs based on the Nations League overall rankings,[19] using a set of criteria that obeyed these principles:[8]

  • Leagues A, B, and C each formed a path with the four best-ranked teams not yet qualified.
  • If one of those leagues had fewer than four non-qualifying teams, spots were taken first by the best group winner from League D (unless already qualified), and then by any other eligible teams based on ranking.
  • Group winners from Leagues B and C could not face teams from higher leagues.
League A
Rank Team
GW   Spain
GW   Croatia
GW   Italy
GW   Netherlands
5   Denmark
6   Portugal
7   Belgium
8   Hungary
9    Switzerland
10   Germany
11   Poland
12   France
13   Austria
14   Czech Republic
15   England
16   Wales
League B
Rank Team
17 GW   Israel
18 GW   Bosnia and Herzegovina
19 GW   Serbia
20 GW   Scotland
21   Finland
22   Ukraine
23   Iceland
24   Norway
25   Slovenia
26   Republic of Ireland
27   Albania
28   Montenegro
29   Romania
30   Sweden
31   Armenia
32   Russia
League C
Rank Team
33 GW   Georgia
34 GW   Greece
35 GW   Turkey
36 GW   Kazakhstan
37   Luxembourg
38   Azerbaijan
39   Kosovo
40   Bulgaria
41   Faroe Islands
42   North Macedonia
43   Slovakia
44   Northern Ireland
45   Cyprus
46   Belarus
47   Lithuania
48   Gibraltar
League D
Rank Team
49 BD   Estonia
50   Latvia
51   Moldova
52   Malta
53   Andorra
54   San Marino
55   Liechtenstein

Key

  • GW Group winner from Nations League A, B or C
  • BD Best group winner from Nations League D
  •   Team in bold advanced to play-offs
  •   Team qualified directly to final tournament
  •  †  UEFA Euro 2024 host, qualified automatically
  •  ‡  Banned from qualifying competition

Draw

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The qualifying play-off draw took place on 23 November 2023, 12:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[28][29][30] The draw followed the path formation rules to determine the paths in which the non-group winners will participate. Three separate draws determining the host of the play-off final of each path also took place between the winners of the semi-final pairings (identified as semi-final 1 for seed 1 v 4, and semi-final 2 for seed 2 v 3).[31]

Due to the specificity of the draw, the exact procedure could only be finalised following the conclusion of the qualifying group stage.[32] No restrictions were applied to the draw, as none of the clashes prohibited by UEFA for political reasons could occur.[note 2] Based on the twelve teams that advanced to the play-offs, the three play-off paths were formed following the path formation rules, starting with League C and working up to League A:[33][34]

  • As there were four teams from League C (three group winners and one non-group winner), they were all placed in Path C.
  • As there were five teams from League B (two group winners and three non-group winners), the two group winners were placed in Path B, while a draw decided which two of the three non-group winners were also placed in Path B.
  • As there were two teams from League A (both non-group winners), they were both placed in Path A, along with the best-ranked League D group winner. The one remaining non-group winner from League B that was not drawn to Path B was then placed in Path A.

The following three non-group winners from League B (ordered by Nations League ranking) took part in the draw, with two being drawn into Path B, while the remaining team was allocated to Path A:

The two teams drawn into Path B occupied positions B3 and B4, following their Nations League ranking, while the team drawn into Path A occupied position A3.

The following was the composition of the play-off paths:

Path A
Rank Team
11   Poland
16   Wales
21   Finland
49   Estonia
Path B
Rank Team
17   Israel
18   Bosnia and Herzegovina
22   Ukraine
23   Iceland
Path C
Rank Team
33   Georgia
34   Greece
36   Kazakhstan
37   Luxembourg

In the semi-finals of each path, the best-ranked team hosted the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team hosted the third-ranked team.

The following semi-final winners were drawn to host the play-off final:

Path A

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Home team  Score  Away team
Semi-finals
Poland   5–1   Estonia
Wales   4–1   Finland
Final
Wales   0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)   Poland

Path B

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Home team  Score  Away team
Semi-finals
Israel   1–4   Iceland
Bosnia and Herzegovina   1–2   Ukraine
Final
Ukraine   2–1   Iceland

Path C

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Home team  Score  Away team
Semi-finals
Georgia   2–0   Luxembourg
Greece   5–0   Kazakhstan
Final
Georgia   0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)   Greece

Goalscorers

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There were 690 goals scored in 239 matches, for an average of 2.89 goals per match.

14 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Overall ranking

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The overall rankings were used for seeding in the final tournament draw. Results against sixth-placed teams were not considered in the ranking.[8]

Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Allocation
1 J   Portugal 8 8 0 0 30 2 +28 24 Draw pot 1
2 B   France 8 7 1 0 29 3 +26 22
3 A   Spain 8 7 0 1 25 5 +20 21
4 F   Belgium 8 6 2 0 22 4 +18 20[a]
5 C   England 8 6 2 0 22 4 +18 20[a]
6 G   Hungary 8 5 3 0 16 7 +9 18 Draw pot 2
7 D   Turkey 8 5 2 1 14 7 +7 17
8 I   Romania 8 4 4 0 10 5 +5 16
9 H   Denmark 8 5 1 2 13 9 +4 16
10 E   Albania 8 4 3 1 12 4 +8 15
11 F   Austria 8 6 1 1 17 7 +10 19 Draw pot 2
12 B   Netherlands 8 6 0 2 17 7 +10 18 Draw pot 3
13 A   Scotland 8 5 2 1 17 8 +9 17
14 D   Croatia 8 5 1 2 13 4 +9 16
15 H   Slovenia 8 5 1 2 14 9 +5 16
16 J   Slovakia 8 5 1 2 13 8 +5 16
17 E   Czech Republic 8 4 3 1 12 6 +6 15
18 C   Italy 8 4 2 2 16 9 +7 14 Draw pot 4
19 G   Serbia 8 4 2 2 15 9 +6 14
20 I    Switzerland 8 2 5 1 17 10 +7 11
21 C   Ukraine 8 4 2 2 11 8 +3 14
22 B   Greece 8 4 1 3 14 8 +6 13
23 H   Finland 8 4 0 4 10 9 +1 12
24 D   Wales 8 3 3 2 10 10 0 12
25 A   Norway 8 3 2 3 14 12 +2 11
26 E   Poland 8 3 2 3 10 10 0 11
27 G   Montenegro 8 3 2 3 9 11 −2 11
28 J   Luxembourg 8 3 2 3 10 19 −9 11
29 F   Sweden 8 3 1 4 14 12 +2 10
30 I   Israel 8 2