UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying

Lua error in Module:Infobox at line 166: malformed pattern (missing ']'). Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europe in June and July 2021.^[1]^[2]^[3] The competition was linked with the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, giving countries a secondary route to qualify for the final tournament. For the first time since 1976, no team automatically qualified for the UEFA European Championship as the host country.^[4]

The national teams of all 55 UEFA member associations entered the qualifying process, with Kosovo taking part for the first time. The group stage draw took place at the Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland, on 2 December 2018.^[5]

Qualified teams

File:UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying map.svg

292px

Team^{[upper-alpha 1]}	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament^{[upper-alpha 2]}
Belgium	Group I winner	10 October 2019	5 (1972, 1980, 1984, 2000, 2016)
Italy	Group J winner	12 October 2019	9 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Russia^{[upper-alpha 3]}	Group I runner-up	13 October 2019	11 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Poland	Group G winner	13 October 2019	3 (2008, 2012, 2016)
Ukraine	Group B winner	14 October 2019	2 (2012, 2016)
Spain	Group F winner	15 October 2019	10 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
France	Group H winner	14 November 2019	9 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Turkey	Group H runner-up	14 November 2019	4 (1996, 2000, 2008, 2016)
England	Group A winner	14 November 2019	9 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016)
Czech Republic^{[upper-alpha 4]}	Group A runner-up	14 November 2019	9 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Finland	Group J runner-up	15 November 2019	0 (debut)
Sweden	Group F runner-up	15 November 2019	6 (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Croatia	Group E winner	16 November 2019	5 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Austria	Group G runner-up	16 November 2019	2 (2008, 2016)
Netherlands	Group C runner-up	16 November 2019	9 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Germany^{[upper-alpha 5]}	Group C winner	16 November 2019	12 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Portugal	Group B runner-up	17 November 2019	7 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Switzerland	Group D winner	18 November 2019	4 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2016)
Denmark	Group D runner-up	18 November 2019	8 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012)
Wales	Group E runner-up	19 November 2019	1 (2016)
Macedonia	Play-off Path D winner	12 November 2020	0 (debut)
Hungary	Play-off Path A winner	12 November 2020	3 (1964, 1972, 2016)
Slovakia^{[upper-alpha 4]}	Play-off Path B winner	12 November 2020	4 (1960, 1976, 1980, 2016)
Scotland	Play-off Path C winner	12 November 2020	2 (1992, 1996)

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

Format

There was no automatic qualifying berth, and all 55 UEFA national teams, including the twelve national teams whose countries were selected to stage matches, had to compete in the qualifiers for the 24 places at the finals tournament.^[2]^[3] As the host cities were appointed by UEFA in September 2014, before qualifying, it was possible for the national teams from the host cities to fail to qualify for the finals tournament.^[9]^[10]

With the creation of the UEFA Nations League starting in 2018, the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was linked with UEFA Euro qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for the tournament.^[10]^[11] The qualifying process guaranteed that at least one team from each division of the previous Nations League season would qualify for the final tournament (either directly or through the play-offs).^[12]^[13]

The main qualifying process began with the qualifying group stage in March 2019, instead of late 2018 immediately following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and ended in November 2019. The qualifiers were played on double matchdays in March, June, September, October, and November 2019.^[12] As with the 2016 qualifying tournament, the group stage decided 20 of the 24 teams that advanced to the final tournament. Following the admission of Kosovo to UEFA in May 2016, it was announced that the 55 teams would be drawn into ten groups after the completion of the league phase of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, and the draw seeding would be based on the overall rankings of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.^[14] There were five groups of five teams, and five groups of six teams, with the four UEFA Nations League Finals participants guaranteed to be drawn into groups of five teams (so they could compete in the Nations League Finals in June 2019). The top two teams in each of the ten groups qualified for the final tournament.^[15]^[16]

Following the qualifying group stage, the qualifying play-offs took place to determine the remaining four teams for the final tournament. Unlike previous editions, the participants of the play-offs were not decided based on results from the qualifying group stage. Instead, sixteen teams were selected based entirely on their performance in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. These teams were divided into four paths, each containing four teams, with one team from each path qualifying for the final tournament. Each league had its own play-off path if at least four teams had not already qualified in the conventional qualifying group stage. The Nations League group winners automatically qualified for the play-off path of their league. If a group winner had already qualified through the qualifying group stage, they were 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 went to the next best team in the overall ranking. However, group winners could not face teams from a higher league.^[1]

Each play-off path 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 four play-off path winners joined the twenty teams that had already qualified for the final tournament.^[13] The UEFA Executive Committee approved the use of the video assistant referee system for the play-offs during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland on 4 December 2019, the first time the technology was used in the qualifying competition.^[17]

Tiebreakers for group ranking

If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:^[1]

Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.^{[lower-alpha 1]} If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 applied;
Superior goal difference in all group matches;
Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
Higher number of wins in all group matches;
Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
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);
Position in the UEFA Nations League overall ranking.

Notes

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

Criteria for overall ranking

To determine the overall rankings of the European Qualifiers, results against teams in sixth place were discarded and the following criteria were applied:^[1]

Position in the group;
Higher number of points;
Superior goal difference;
Higher number of goals scored;
Higher number of goals scored away from home;
Higher number of wins;
Higher number of wins away from home;
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);
Position in the UEFA Nations League overall ranking.

Schedule

Below was the schedule of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.^[14]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the qualifying play-offs, originally scheduled for 26 and 31 March 2020, were postponed by UEFA on 17 March 2020.^[18]^[19] Afterwards, UEFA tentatively scheduled for the matches to take place on 4 and 9 June 2020.^[20] However, the play-offs were later postponed indefinitely by UEFA on 1 April 2020.^[21] The scheduling of the play-offs was reviewed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 17 June 2020.^[22] At the meeting, UEFA decided to stage the play-off semi-finals on 8 October 2020, and the finals on 12 November 2020.^[23] To facilitate this, an additional matchday was added to both international windows, allowing for triple-headers to be played in order to complete the league phase of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League as scheduled.^[24] The changes to the International Match Calendar for October and November 2020 were approved by the FIFA Council on 25 June 2020.^[25]

Stage	Matchday	Dates
Qualifying group stage	Matchday 1	21–23 March 2019
	Matchday 2	24–26 March 2019
	Matchday 3	7–8 June 2019
	Matchday 4	10–11 June 2019
	Matchday 5	5–7 September 2019
	Matchday 6	8–10 September 2019
	Matchday 7	10–12 October 2019
	Matchday 8	13–15 October 2019
	Matchday 9	14–16 November 2019
	Matchday 10	17–19 November 2019
Play-offs	Semi-finals	8 October 2020^{[upper-alpha 6]}
Play-offs	Finals	12 November 2020^{[upper-alpha 7]}

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 2 December 2018 following the draw.^[26]^[27]

Draw

The qualifying group stage draw was held on 2 December 2018, 12:00 CET (11:00 local time), at the Convention Centre Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.^[5]^[28]^[29] The 55 teams were drawn into 10 groups: five groups of five teams (Groups A–E) and five groups of six teams (Groups F–J).^[30]^[31]^[32]

The teams were seeded based on the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League overall ranking. The four participants of the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals in June 2019 were placed in a separate 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 Nations League Finals.^[1] The following restrictions were also applied with computer assistance:^[33]

Host teams: In order to allow all 12 teams from the host associations to have a chance to qualify as group winners and runners-up, a maximum of two were placed in each group: Azerbaijan, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Spain.
Prohibited clashes: For political reasons, matches between following pairs of teams were considered prohibited clashes, unable to be drawn into the same group: Gibraltar / Spain, Kosovo / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo / Serbia. (Armenia / Azerbaijan and Russia / Ukraine were also identified as prohibited clashes, but the teams in these pairs were in the same pots for the draw.)
Winter venues: A maximum of two teams whose venues were identified as having high or medium risk of severe winter conditions were placed in each group: Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Ukraine.
- The three "hard winter venues" (Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland) generally could not host games in March or November; the others played as few home matches as possible in March and November.
Excessive travel: A maximum of one pair of teams identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries were placed in each group:
- Azerbaijan: with Iceland, Portugal. (Gibraltar was also identified with Azerbaijan for excessive travel distance, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.)
- Iceland: with Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel.
- Kazakhstan: with Andorra, England, France, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales. (Faroe Islands and Gibraltar were also identified with Kazakhstan for excessive travel distance, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.)

Seeding

The teams were seeded based on the November 2018 UEFA Nations League overall rankings.^[34]^[35] Teams in italics are final tournament hosts. Teams in bold qualified to the final tournament.

UNL pot
Team	Rank
Switzerland	1
Portugal (title holders)	2
Netherlands	3
England	4

Pot 1
Team	Rank
Belgium	5
France	6
Spain	7
Italy	8
Croatia	9
Poland	10

Pot 2
Team	Rank
Germany	11
Iceland	12
Bosnia and Herzegovina	13
Ukraine	14
Denmark	15
Sweden	16
Russia	17
Austria	18
Wales	19
Czech Republic	20

Pot 3
Team	Rank
Slovakia	21
Turkey	22
Republic of Ireland	23
Northern Ireland	24
Scotland	25
Norway	26
Serbia	27
Finland	28
Bulgaria	29
Israel	30

Pot 4
Team	Rank
Hungary	31
Romania	32
Greece	33
Albania	34
Montenegro	35
Cyprus	36
Estonia	37
Slovenia	38
Lithuania	39
Georgia	40

Pot 5
Team	Rank
Macedonia	41
Kosovo	42
Belarus	43
Luxembourg	44
Armenia	45
Azerbaijan	46
Kazakhstan	47
Moldova	48
Gibraltar	49
Faroe Islands	50

Pot 6
Team	Rank
Latvia	51
Liechtenstein	52
Andorra	53
Malta	54
San Marino	55

Summary

Group winners and runners-up qualified directly for UEFA Euro 2020

Teams advanced to the play-offs, selected based on their performance in the 2018–19 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
England Czech Republic	Ukraine Portugal	Germany Netherlands	Switzerland Denmark	Croatia Wales	Spain Sweden	Poland Austria	France Turkey	Belgium Russia	Italy Finland
Kosovo	Serbia	Northern Ireland	Republic of Ireland	Slovakia	Norway	Macedonia	Iceland	Scotland	Greece
Bulgaria	Luxembourg	Belarus	Georgia	Hungary	Romania	Slovenia	Albania	Cyprus	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro	Lithuania	Estonia	Gibraltar	Azerbaijan	Faroe Islands	Israel	Andorra	Kazakhstan	Armenia
					Malta	Latvia	Moldova	San Marino	Liechtenstein