The UEFA Euro 2028 qualifying tournament is an upcoming football competition that will determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams in the UEFA Euro 2028 final tournament. The competition will be linked with the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League, giving countries a secondary route to qualify for the final tournament.
All UEFA member associations, except Russia who are suspended, may enter the qualifying process. This will be the last qualifying process to feature a group stage. All future European qualifiers, starting with those for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, will feature a two-tier qualification format, closely modelled after the new UEFA Champions League format.
Teams 54 UEFA member associations are eligible to compete in the qualifying competition, including the four host nations:
(hosts)
(hosts)
(hosts)
(title holders)
(hosts)
Exclusion
(not yet confirmed/finalised by UEFA, currently suspended due to their invasion of Ukraine)
Russia were suspended from UEFA competitions on 28 February 2022 due to their invasion of Ukraine and cannot compete until such sanction is lifted. However, a decision to lift the suspension may yet be made, before the final confirmation of the participation list. Should the suspension be lifted, they will not be able to qualify for the play-offs using the berths for the UEFA Nations League, due to them being suspended by the time of the confirmation of the access list for the 2026–27 edition of the competition.
Format + Summary of qualifiers Qualification method Teams Direct qualifiers (12 group winners + 8 best-ranked runners-up)20Host nation involved: 0–2 3 4 Host nation slot to be used 2 1 0 Play-off winners 2 3 4Total24
The national teams will be divided into twelve groups, with each group containing four or five teams. The group stage draw is expected to take place following the conclusion of the league phase of the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League (November 2026). Teams which have advanced to the quarter-finals of the UNL will be drawn into a group of four teams, since the quarter-finals of the UNL will take place simultaneously to matchdays 1 and 2, which will only be played by the five-team groups. The qualifying group stage will be played in a home-and-away round-robin format in 2027. Twenty teams will qualify directly for the final tournament: the twelve group winners, along with the eight best-ranked runners-up.
The host nations—England, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales—will participate in the qualifying group stage but will be drawn into separate groups. Two spots in the final tournament are reserved for the two best-ranked host nations (based on the overall qualifying group stage rankings) that fail to qualify as group winners or among the eight best runners-up.
The remaining spots (between two and four, depending on host nation qualification) will be determined through play-offs in March 2028. The play-offs will include the remaining runners-up from the qualifying groups (between two and four, depending on whether hosts are amongst these teams) and the best-ranked non-qualified group winners from the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League. The play-off structure depends on the number of host nation slots used: If both reserved host nation slots are used: Eight teams compete in two play-off paths, each with single-leg semi-finals and a final, for two final tournament spots. Teams are: 2–4 of the worst group runners-up 4–6 Nations League qualifiers If one reserved host nation slot is used: Twelve teams compete in three play-off paths, each with single-leg semi-finals and a final, for three final tournament spots. Teams are: 8 or 9 Nations League qualifiers 4 or 3 of the worst group runners-up If no reserved host nation slots are used: Eight teams (four via the Nations League) contest four home-and-away play-off ties, with the four winners qualifying for the final tournament. Teams are: The 4 worst group runners-up 4 Nations League qualifiers
Tiebreakers for group ranking If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:
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; 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 does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 apply; 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 interim overall ranking. Notes
Criteria for overall ranking To determine the overall rankings of the European Qualifiers, results against teams in fifth place are discarded and the following criteria are applied: 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 interim overall ranking.
Schedule Below is the schedule of the UEFA Euro 2028 qualifying campaign.
Stage Matchday Dates Groups of 4 Groups of 5 Qualifying group stage rowspan=4 Matchday 1 26–27 March 2027 Matchday 2 29–30 March 2027 Matchday 3 11–12 June 2027 Matchday 4 14–15 June 2027 Matchday 5 23–25 September 2027 Matchday 6 26–28 September 2027 Matchday 7 29 September – 2 October 2027 Matchday 8 3–5 October 2027 Matchday 9 11–13 November 2027 Matchday 10 14–16 November 2027 Play-offs Semi-finals 23–25 March 2028 Finals 26–28 March 2028
Draw The qualifying group stage draw will take place on 6 December 2026 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
As per the UEFA regulations, teams will be seeded based on their interim 2026–27 UEFA Nations League ranking. All host teams, as well as Northern Ireland, will be drawn into different groups to maximise their chances of qualifying directly for the final tournament. Draw conditions will also be in place for teams involved in either the Nations League quarter-finals or promotion/relegation play-offs, along with teams that are not allowed to be drawn into the same group for political or security reasons, as well as for teams that either have restrictions on playing matches at home during winter months or have excessive travel distances to certain venues.
+Pot 1 (co-host)
Pot 1 or Pot 2
(co-host) Pot 2 Pot 2 or Pot 3
(co-host) (co-host)
Pot 3
Pot 3 or Pot 4
Pot 4
Pot 5
Disqualified (TBC)
Groups
The groups of the qualification are:
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Group J
Group K
Group L
Ranking of final tournament hosts Two spots in the final tournament will be reserved for the host teams who failed to qualify directly from the group stage. If more than two host teams do not qualify directly, the two spots will be allocated to the hosts ranked highest in the European Qualifiers overall rankings. If only one or neither of the spots be used, the remaining spot(s) will be reallocated via the play-offs.
Ranking of second-placed teams
Play-offs
Slot allocation Depending on the number of places available, places in the play-offs are allocated as follows: Between two and four play-off places are reserved for the lowest-ranked runners-up of the qualifying group stage. The four to nine remaining places are allocated to group winners from Leagues A, B and C of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League that have not already qualified for the final tournament or the play-offs from the qualifying group stage, based on the interim overall 2026/27 UEFA Nations League rankings. If fewer than the required number of group winners of Leagues A, B and C are available to enter the play-offs, the next place is allocated to the League D group winner ranked 49th in the interim overall 2026/27 UEFA Nations League rankings, unless the team in question has already qualified for the final tournament or the play-offs. Any remaining play-off places are allocated to the highest-ranking teams in the interim overall 2026/27 UEFA Nations League rankings that have not already qualified for the final tournament or the play-offs.
Draw procedure for the play-offs The UEFA administration conducts a draw to allocate the participating teams to the play-off paths or, if home and away ties are formed, the play-off ties.
If two or three play-off paths are formed, the eight or twelve teams entering the play-offs are ranked in the following order and then divided into four pots for the draw as follows: Runners-up of the qualifying group stage, according to their positions in the overall European Qualifiers rankings; Teams that qualified via the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League, according to their positions in the interim overall 2026/27 UEFA Nations League rankings.
The eight or twelve teams, ranked 1st to 8th or 1st to 12th respectively, are divided into four pots according to the ranking using the above procedure. Each play-off path is composed of two semi-final pairings of one seeded team and one unseeded team: Pot 1 VS Pot 4 and Pot 2 VS Pot 3.
If four play-off ties are formed, two pots are formed for the draw. Pot 1 contains the four runners-up of the qualifying group stage and Pot 2 the four teams that qualified via the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League, according to their positions in the interim overall 2026/27 UEFA Nations League rankings. The winner of semi-final involving Pot 1 team will host the final.
If two host association teams enter the play-offs, they are allocated to separate paths or ties. If qualified for the play-offs and if possible, Northern Ireland will be allocated to a path or tie that does not include a host association team.
Additional principles and conditions may apply, subject to approval by the UEFA Executive Committee.
Scenario 1: Two reserved host nation places used
Eight teams compete in two play-off paths for two final tournament places. The eight play-off places will be distributed as follows if this is the scenario triggered:
The reserved host nationsfinishing as the 9th–12th best runners-up Worst runners-up tickets UEFA Nations League tickets 0 4 4 1 3 5 2 2 6
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
Scenario 2: One reserved host nation place used
Twelve teams compete in three play-off paths for three final tournament places. The twelve play-off places will be distributed as follows if this is the scenario triggered:
The reserved host nationsfinishing as the 9th–12th best runners-up Worst runner-up tickets UEFA Nations League tickets 0 4 8 1 3 9
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