The UEFA European Championship qualifying, branded as the European Qualifiers, is the process that UEFA-affiliated national football teams go through in order to qualify for the UEFA European Championship. In this article, the years represent the final tournaments of the European Championship and are not meant to correspond to the actual dates when the qualification matches were played.
Format evolution + Qualifying groups Year Groups Teams 1960 — — 1964 — — 1968 8 3–4 1972 8 4 1976 8 4 1980 7 4–5 1984 7 4–5 1988 7 4–5 1992 7 4–5 1996 8 5–6 2000 9 5–6 2004 10 5 2008 7 7–8 2012 9 5–6 2016 9 5–6 2020 10 5–6 2024 10 5–6 2028 12 4–5
Pre-2000 The 1960 and 1964 qualifications were knock-out tournaments. The four quarter-final-winning teams qualified for the final stages, and one of them was chosen to host the competition.
From 1968 onwards, a group stage began to be used as the main, or sole, component of qualification. In 1968, 1972 and 1976, the winners of the eight groups advanced to a quarter-final stage, which was still part of the qualifying. The four quarter-final winners progressed to the finals. Again, the host nation was selected among the four finalists.
From 1980, the hosting rights would be assigned in advance, and the host teams would be guaranteed automatic qualification. The format of the finals was expanded to feature eight teams. Winners of qualifying groups now proceeded to the finals directly. The 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992 qualifications included seven groups – the winners of which would join the hosts in the finals. However, in 1992, one winner was eventually banned from appearing and replaced by the runner-up of its group.
From 1996, a 16-team format was employed for the main tournament. Runners-up in qualifying groups now could also gain access to the finals. Play-off pairings were introduced as a second opportunity for teams that narrowly miss out on direct qualification. The 1996 qualifying consisted of eight groups: The group winners as well as the six best runners-up qualified, so did the winner of the play-off between the remaining two runners-up, joining the host country.
2000s In 2000, the first-placed teams in the nine qualifying groups as well as the best runner-up progressed directly to the finals, while another four spots were taken by winners of play-offs contested by the remaining runners-up. For the first time, there were two host countries who both received automatic berths in the finals.
In 2004, along with the host team, the ten qualifying group winners advanced, as did the winners of the five play-off ties formed by the runners-up.
In 2008, the top two teams from each of the seven qualifying groups joined the two host teams to bring the number of finalists to 16. No play-off stage was held.
The 2012 qualification replicated the format of that of 2000: places were taken by nine group winners and the best runner-up, while the other runners-up determined four more finalists via play-offs, with the two host countries qualifying by default.
Starting from 2016, the finals format was expanded again, now featuring 24 teams. It became possible for third-placed teams in qualifying groups to get to the Euros too. The 2016 qualifying included nine groups; the winners, the runners-up, and the best third-placed team advanced directly, while play-offs played by the other third-placed teams determined the last four finalists. The host nation still qualified automatically. The 2016 qualification tournament was the first one to be branded as the European Qualifiers, a trademark used from that point on for both the European Championship qualifications and the FIFA World Cup qualification tournaments in Europe.
2020s–present From 2020, qualification began to be linked with the newly created UEFA Nations League: participation in the qualifying play-offs was now determined based on the teams' performances in that competition and not in qualification itself. The play-offs themselves were restructured into four-team brackets consisting of semi-finals and a final. In the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, the top two teams of the ten qualifying groups took twenty places in the main tournament. From each of the four divisions of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, the four best-ranked teams that were not yet qualified for Euro 2020 filled in a play-off bracket for that division, and the winner of each bracket got a spot in the Euros as well. There were no automatic berths for Euro 2020 as it was hosted by multiple cities across the continent. However, the tournament was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but retained its original branding.
Much like the 2020 tournament, the 2024 qualifying granted spots to the winners and runners-up of the ten qualifying groups, while this time only the top three divisions of the 2022–23 Nations League formed play-off brackets to determine three more finalists, and the host country got an automatic spot.
For 2028, the number of groups will be increased to twelve. The winners will advance to the finals, while the runners-up will either also advance directly or participate in play-offs. The four hosts will join the qualfiying group stage, and the top two host teams that do not qualify directly through the group stage will receive automatic qualification berths, if available. The number of teams advancing via play-offs depends on how many host slots are used. The play-off slots will be filled with 2–4 remaining group runners-up and 4–9 teams through the 2026–27 Nations League. If both host berths are used, eight teams will compete in two four-team play-off paths, with the winner of each advancing to Euro 2028. If three hosts qualify directly to the finals and only one host receives the automatic berth, twelve teams will compete in three four-team play-off paths. If all four hosts qualify directly, four home-and-away two-legged ties between a group runner-up and a team qualified through the Nations League will be played.
Number of teams entering 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032 Total valid entries 17 29 31 32 32 31 32 32 34 47 49 50 50 51 53 55 53 Played at least one match 28 33 Qualified through qualification 4 4 4 4 4 7 7 7 7 15 14 15 14 14 23 24 23 Qualified automatically 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 0 1 2 Total finalists 4 4 4 4 4 8 8 8 8 16 16 16 16 16 24 24 24 24
Participating teams National teams that are members of UEFA are eligible to enter the European Championship qualification. A total of 56 distinct entities have made attempts to qualify for the European Championship. Of those, 55 are still active in the competition as of 2024. Due to political changes, a few of the entities have appeared under multiple incarnations (see the footnotes to the below table). For instance, the East Germany team has defunct since the German reunification on 3 October 1990.
Saarland, a former UEFA member, merged into West Germany in 1957. As a result, they did not enter the qualifiers of any European Championships. Year Debuting teams Successor teams Renamed teams Teams 1960 , , ,As recognised by UEFA, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are considered equal successors of Czechoslovakia from the 1996 qualification. , ,East Germany has competed as part of the reunited Germany since the 1992 qualification. , , , , , , , , ,The Soviet Union was succeeded and replaced for the 1992 finals by the provisional Commonwealth of Independent States team, which also was succeeded by Russia from the 1996 qualification. , , Yugoslavia was succeeded from the 2000 qualification by FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro, which also was succeeded by Serbia from the 2008 qualification. 17 17 1964 , , , , , , , , , , , 12 29 1968 , , , West Germany was succeeded by the reunified Germany from the 1992 qualification. 4 33 1972 0 33 1976 0 33 1980 0 33 1984 0 33 1988 0 33 1992 , 2 35 1996 ,Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine competed as parts of the Soviet Union from 1960 to 1992. All of them except Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania also competed in the 1992 finals as parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States. , , ,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovenia competed as parts of Yugoslavia from 1960 to 1992. Kosovo and Montenegro competed as parts of FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro from 2000 to 2004. Kosovo competed as part of Serbia in 2008, before breaking off from it and eventually being admitted to UEFA. , , , , , , ,Macedonia was renamed as North Macedonia from the 2020 qualification. , , 15 50 , , 2000 , 2 52 FR Yugoslavia was renamed as Serbia and Montenegro during the 2004 qualification. 2004 0 52 2008 1 53 2012 1 54 2016 1 55 2020 1 56 2024 0 56
Successor teams inheriting the records of former teams
Teams competing as parts of other teams
Renamed teams
Other notes
Overview
Team 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032 r16 3/3 4/4 5/5 4/4 5/5 6/6 5/6 4/5 5/7 5/6 4/6 6/6 5/5 7/7 6/6 6/6 5/6 6/6 6/6 5/6 4/5 7/8 3/6 5/5 5/6 4/5 QF r16 3/4 2/4 3/4 2/5 3/5 3/4 4/5 4/6 3/5 3/5 4/6 6/6 5/6 5/5 8/8 5/6 5/6 5/5 4/5 4/6 5/5 5/5 4/7 4/6 4/6 4/5+p 4/6 pr 2/4 1/4QF 3/5 3/4 3/6 3/5 5/8 3/6 3/6 4/5 4/7 2/6+p 3/6+p 4/6+p 5/6+p r16 r16 1/4QF 2/4 3/4 4/5 3/4 2/5 4/5 4/5 3/7 5/5 4/6 4/5+p 5/5 3/5 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 5/5 5/5 5/6 4/5 4/5 6/7 5/5 5/6 4/6 5/5 pr 2/4 2/4 3/5 2/4 2/5 r16 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 4/7 3/5+p r16 r16 2/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 3/4 2/5 pr 1/4QF 2/4 2/5 3/7 6/6 5/6 4/5 6/7 2/6+p 4/6 5/5 5/5+p 5/5 5/6 6/6 5/5 7/7 6/6 5/6 5/6 5/5 4/4 4/4 4/4 3/4 4/4 4/4 4/5 4/6 3/5 4/5 4/8 4/6 4/6 3/6+p QF 1/4QF 3/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 3/6 6/6 5/5 6/7 5/6 5/6 4/5+p 2/3 6/6 5/5 5/5 r16 2/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 2/5 3/5 3/6 3/6 6/6 3/6 3/5+p r16 1/4QF 2/4 2/4 4/5 3/5 4/5 4/5 4/6 4/5 6/7 3/6 pr 4/4 5/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 5/5 4/6 3/5 6/7 4/5 3/6+p 4/6+p 5/6 2/5+p 3/5 4/7 3/6 4/6 5/6+p 3/6+p r16 1/4QF 3/4 4/5 2/5 6/8 6/6 5/6 5/6 4/6+p 3/5+p 5/6 5/6 4/6 5/7 4/6 6/6 6/6 5/5 6/6 6/6 5/5 7/7 5/5 5/6 6/6 6/6 3/6 4/6 4/5 5/7 4/5 5/6 5/5 4/5 QF 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 5/5 4/4 5/6 5/5 5/5 7/7 6/6 5/6 4/5 3/6+p pr 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 5/5 5/5 6/6 5/5 5/5 7/7 6/6 6/6 6/6 5/5 4/6 5/5 4/5 5/7 5/6 6/6 6/6 4/5 2/5+p 4/6 5/5 3/5 r16 3/4 2/4 2/5 4/6 4/6 4/5 4/5 5/7 5/6 6/6 4/5 r16 4/4 3/4 2/4 2/5 2/5 3/4 3/5 3/6 4/5 5/5 3/7 5/6 3/5+p 5/6 r16 pr 4/4 4/4 4/4 5/5 4/4 5/5 3/5 3/6 2/5+p 3/7 3/5 3/6+p 3/6+p 3/5 r16 pr 3/4 2/4 2/4 2/5 3/4 4/5 3/4 4/6 3/5 3/5 QF pr 2/4 2/4 3/4 3/5 3/5 2/5 pr QF 3/4 4/4 2/4 3/5 3/5 2/4 2/6+p 2/5+p 3/5 3/7 3/5+p 4/5 QF pr 2/4 1/4QF 2/4 3/4 2/4 3/5 3/5 3/6 4/6+p 1/4QF 4/4 2/4 3/6 5/5 6/6 5/5 5/5 7/7 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 2/4 3/4 3/4 4/5 4/4 4/5 2/6+p 2/5+p 3/7 3/5 4/6 r16 1/4QF 2/4 2/4 1/5dsq 3/5 3/8 3/6 4/5 3/5+p pr 2/4 2/4 3/5 2/4 2/5 3/6 3/6 3/5 4/7 4/6 5/6 2/5+p 6/7 4/6 3/6+p 4/6 QF 1/4QF 2/4 1/4QF 3/5 QF 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 2/5 2/5 3/5 3/5 pr 3/4 2/4 4/4 4/5 2/4 4/5 2/5 3/5 3/5 r16 pr 4/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 4/5 4/4 4/4 2/5+p 2/6+p 4/6 2/6+p 3/5 4/7 pr 3/4 3/4 1/4QF 3/4 2/4 3/4 2/4 5/6 4/5 2/5+p 5/7 4/5 3/5+p Team 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032
Key = successful qualifying campaign = did not take part in qualifying = participated in the final tournament