UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying explained

Tourney Name:UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
Num Teams:53
Matches:239
Goals:690
Top Scorer: Romelu Lukaku
(14 goals)
Prevseason:2020
Nextseason:2028

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]

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

TeamQualified asQualified ondata-sort-type="number"Previous appearances in tournament
13 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Group F winner 6 (1972, 1980, 1984, 2000, 2016, 2020)
Group B winner 10 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Group J winner 8 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Group A runner-up 3 (1992, 1996, 2020)
Group A winner 11 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Group D winner 5 (1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, 2020)
Group F runner-up 3 (2008, 2016, 2020)
Group C winner 10 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Group G winner 4 (1964, 1972, 2016, 2020)
Group J runner-up 5 (1960, 1976, 1980, 2016, 2020)
Group E winner 1 (2016)
Group H winner 9 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2020)
Group B runner-up 10 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2020)
Group I winner 5 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016)
Group I runner-up 5 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2020)
Group G runner-up 5 (1960, 1968, 1976, 1984, 2000)
Group E runner-up 10 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Group C runner-up 10 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Group H runner-up 1 (2000)
Group D runner-up 6 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)
Play-off Path C winner 0 (debut)
Play-off Path B winner 3 (2012, 2016, 2020)
Play-off Path A winner 4 (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020)

Format

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.[3]

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.[4]

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:[4]

  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. 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

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:[4]

  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

Below was the schedule of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.[5]

StageMatchdayDates
Qualifying group stageMatchday 123–25 March 2023
Matchday 226–28 March 2023
Matchday 316–17 June 2023
Matchday 419–20 June 2023
Matchday 57–9 September 2023
Matchday 610–12 September 2023
Matchday 712–14 October 2023
Matchday 815–17 October 2023
Matchday 916–18 November 2023
Matchday 1019–21 November 2023
Play-offsSemi-finals21 March 2024
Finals26 March 2024

Draw

The qualifying group stage draw was held on 9 October 2022, 12:00 CEST,[6] at the Festhalle in Frankfurt.[2] [7] [8] [9] 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 following their country's invasion of Ukraine.[10]

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.[11]

The following restrictions were applied with computer assistance:[11]

Seeding

The teams were seeded based on the September 2022 UEFA Nations League overall rankings.[13]

Teams entering qualifying group stage
UNL pot
Team
1
2
3
(title holders) 4
Pot 1
Team
5
6
7
8
9
11
Pot 2
Team
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Pot 3
Team
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Pot 4
Team
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Pot 5
Team
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
Pot 6
Team
53
54
55

Groups

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 10 October 2022, the day following the draw.[14] [15] [16] The schedule was initially released on the day of the draw, but was withdrawn shortly after its distribution due to an alleged calendar issue.[17] However, UEFA ultimately confirmed the initial schedule the following day, with no changes made.[18] Group matches took place from 23 March to 21 November 2023.

Group A

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group A.

Group B

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group B.

Group C

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group C.

Group D

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group D.

Group E

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group E.

Group F

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group F.

Group G

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group G.

Group H

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group H.

Group I

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group I.

Group J

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group J.

Play-offs

See main article: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs.

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.[19]

Team selection

The team selection process determined the twelve teams that competed in the play-offs based on the Nations League overall rankings,[13] using a set of criteria that obeyed these principles:[4]

Path A

|-| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:whitesmoke;" | Semi-finals|-| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:whitesmoke;" | Final|}

Path B

|-| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:whitesmoke;" | Semi-finals|-| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:whitesmoke;" | Final|}

Path C

|-| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:whitesmoke;" | Semi-finals|-| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:whitesmoke;" | Final|}

Overall ranking

The overall rankings were used for seeding in the final tournament draw. Results against sixth-placed teams were not considered in the ranking.[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Euro 2024: All you need to know . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 12 July 2021 . 27 September 2021.
  2. News: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group stage draw to be staged in Frankfurt in 2022 . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 7 October 2021 . 7 October 2021.
  3. News: UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying: All you need to know . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 27 September 2022 . 28 September 2022.
  4. Web site: Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship, 2022–24 . Union of European Football Associations . 10 May 2022 . 16 May 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220516115052/https://documents.uefa.com/api/khub/maps/5tYSJw48iUOPsbIGOxQA4w/attachments/_dSxuIv48n81YqITx97r~g/content?Ft-Calling-App=ft%2Fturnkey-portal&Ft-Calling-App-Version=3.11.26&filename=20220601_Regulations_EURO_2024_en.pdf . 16 May 2022.
  5. Web site: Regulations of the UEFA Nations League, 2022/23 . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 22 September 2021 . 27 September 2021 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927201456/https://documents.uefa.com/api/khub/maps/5qGTXCxubTzMfOeAyWGmuQ/attachments/5avrJwcMhtmUTz_I1lWP9g/content?filename=UNL_Regulations_1_October_2021_EN_strPDF.pdf . 27 September 2021.
  6. UEFA European Football Championship 2022–24 – competition regulations, entry form and qualifying draw . UEFA Circular Letter . 31/2022 . Union of European Football Associations . ZIP . 16 May 2022 . 17 May 2022.
  7. Web site: UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying draw: When is it? How does it work? Who is seeded? . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 27 September 2022 . 28 September 2022.
  8. Web site: UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying draw . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 28 September 2022.
  9. News: UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying draw: Dutch get France, Italy pooled with England . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 9 October 2022 . 10 October 2022.
  10. News: UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying draw procedure approved . UEFA.com . . 20 September 2022 . 20 September 2022.
  11. Web site: Qualifying Draw Procedure: European Qualifiers 2022–24 . UEFA.com . . 20 September 2022 . 20 September 2022.
  12. European Qualifiers 2022-24 – draw and fixture list procedures . 67/2022 . UEFA Circular Letter . . 28 September 2022 . 28 September 2022.
  13. Web site: Overall ranking of the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 27 September 2022 . 28 September 2022.
  14. Web site: UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group fixtures . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 10 October 2022 . 10 October 2022.
  15. Web site: European Qualifiers 2022–24, Group stage: Fixture List (by group) . Union of European Football Associations . 10 October 2022 . 11 October 2022.
  16. Web site: European Qualifiers 2022–24, Group stage: Fixture List (by match-day) . Union of European Football Associations . 10 October 2022 . 11 October 2022.
  17. News: Confusion surrounds Euro 2024 fixtures . . 9 October 2022 . 10 October 2022.
  18. News: UEFA je odagnala sumnje i potvrdila raspored kvalifikacija, Vatreni otvaraju s Walesom kod kuće . UEFA has dispelled doubts and confirmed the qualification schedule, the Vatreni open with Wales at home . Telesport . 10 October 2022 . 11 October 2022 . hr.
  19. News: EURO 2024 play-offs: How they work . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 27 September 2022 . 28 September 2022.

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