UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying

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]

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
Tournament details
Dates21 March 2019 – 12 November 2020
Teams55
Tournament statistics
Matches played262
Goals scored826 (3.15 per match)
Attendance5,225,403 (19,944 per match)
Top scorer(s)England Harry Kane (12 goals)
UEFA European Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship

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, Republic of Ireland, on 2 December 2018.[5]

Qualified teams
  Team qualified for UEFA Euro 2020
  Team failed to qualify
Team[upper-alpha 1] Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 2]
 BelgiumGroup I winner10 October 20195 (1972, 1980, 1984, 2000, 2016)
 ItalyGroup J winner12 October 20199 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 Russia[upper-alpha 3]Group I runner-up13 October 201911 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 PolandGroup G winner13 October 20193 (2008, 2012, 2016)
 UkraineGroup B winner14 October 20192 (2012, 2016)
 SpainGroup F winner15 October 201910 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 FranceGroup H winner14 November 20199 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 TurkeyGroup H runner-up14 November 20194 (1996, 2000, 2008, 2016)
 EnglandGroup A winner14 November 20199 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016)
 Czech Republic[upper-alpha 4]Group A runner-up14 November 20199 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 FinlandGroup J runner-up15 November 20190 (debut)
 SwedenGroup F runner-up15 November 20196 (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 CroatiaGroup E winner16 November 20195 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 AustriaGroup G runner-up16 November 20192 (2008, 2016)
 NetherlandsGroup C runner-up16 November 20199 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
 Germany[upper-alpha 5]Group C winner16 November 201912 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
 PortugalGroup B runner-up17 November 20197 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
  SwitzerlandGroup D winner18 November 20194 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2016)
 DenmarkGroup D runner-up18 November 20198 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012)
 WalesGroup E runner-up19 November 20191 (2016)
 North MacedoniaPlay-off Path D winner12 November 20200 (debut)
 HungaryPlay-off Path A winner12 November 20203 (1964, 1972, 2016)
 SlovakiaPlay-off Path B winner12 November 20201 (2016)
 ScotlandPlay-off Path C winner12 November 20202 (1992, 1996)
  1. Italic indicates team from one of the eleven host associations.
  2. Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
  3. From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as CIS.
  4. From 1960 to 1980, the Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.
  5. From 1972 to 1988, Germany competed as West Germany.

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.[6][7]

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.[7][8] 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).[9][10]

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.[9] 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.[11] 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.[12][13]

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 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.[10] 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.[14]

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]

  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. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
  5. 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;
  6. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  10. Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
  11. 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);
  12. Position in the UEFA Nations League overall ranking.

Notes

  1. When there were two or more teams tied in points, criteria 1 to 4 were applied. After these criteria were applied, they may have defined the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there is a three-way tie on points, the application of the first four criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure is resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that are still tied.

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]

  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 2020 qualifying campaign.[11]

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.[15][16] Afterwards, UEFA tentatively scheduled for the matches to take place on 4 and 9 June 2020.[17] However, the play-offs were later postponed indefinitely by UEFA on 1 April 2020.[18] The scheduling of the play-offs was reviewed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 17 June 2020.[19] At the meeting, UEFA decided to stage the play-off semi-finals on 8 October 2020, and the finals on 12 November 2020.[20] 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.[21] The changes to the International Match Calendar for October and November 2020 were approved by the FIFA Council on 25 June 2020.[22]

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 1]
Finals 12 November 2020[upper-alpha 2]
  1. Originally scheduled for 26 March 2020, and later for 4 June 2020
  2. Originally scheduled for 31 March 2020, and later for 9 June 2020

The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 2 December 2018 following the draw.[23][24]

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, Republic of Ireland.[5][25][26] 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).[27][28][29]

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:[30]

  • 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.[31][32] Teams in italics are final tournament hosts. Teams in bold qualified for 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
North 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

Groups

Matches took place from 21 March to 19 November 2019.

Group A
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Czech Republic Kosovo Bulgaria Montenegro
1  England 8 7 0 1 37 6 +31 21 Qualify for final tournament — 5–0 5–3 4–0 7–0
2  Czech Republic 8 5 0 3 13 11 +2 15 2–1 — 2–1 2–1 3–0
3  Kosovo 8 3 2 3 13 16 −3 11 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–4 2–1 — 1–1 2–0
4  Bulgaria 8 1 3 4 6 17 −11 6 0–6 1–0 2–3 — 1–1
5  Montenegro 8 0 3 5 3 22 −19 3 1–5 0–3 1–1 0–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group B
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Ukraine Portugal Serbia Luxembourg Lithuania
1  Ukraine 8 6 2 0 17 4 +13 20 Qualify for final tournament — 2–1 5–0 1–0 2–0
2  Portugal 8 5 2 1 22 6 +16 17 0–0 — 1–1 3–0 6–0
3  Serbia 8 4 2 2 17 17 0 14 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 2–2 2–4 — 3–2 4–1
4  Luxembourg 8 1 1 6 7 16 −9 4 1–2 0–2 1–3 — 2–1
5  Lithuania 8 0 1 7 5 25 −20 1 0–3 1–5 1–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group C
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Germany Netherlands Northern Ireland Belarus Estonia
1  Germany 8 7 0 1 30 7 +23 21 Qualify for final tournament — 2–4 6–1 4–0 8–0
2  Netherlands 8 6 1 1 24 7 +17 19 2–3 — 3–1 4–0 5–0
3  Northern Ireland 8 4 1 3 9 13 −4 13 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–2 0–0 — 2–1 2–0
4  Belarus 8 1 1 6 4 16 −12 4 0–2 1–2 0–1 — 0–0
5  Estonia 8 0 1 7 2 26 −24 1 0–3 0–4 1–2 1–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group D
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Switzerland Denmark Republic of Ireland Georgia (country) Gibraltar
1   Switzerland 8 5 2 1 19 6 +13 17 Qualify for final tournament — 3–3 2–0 1–0 4–0
2  Denmark 8 4 4 0 23 6 +17 16 1–0 — 1–1 5–1 6–0
3  Republic of Ireland 8 3 4 1 7 5 +2 13 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–1 1–1 — 1–0 2–0
4  Georgia 8 2 2 4 7 11 −4 8 0–2 0–0 0–0 — 3–0
5  Gibraltar 8 0 0 8 3 31 −28 0 1–6 0–6 0–1 2–3 —
Source: UEFA

Group E
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Croatia Wales Slovakia Hungary Azerbaijan
1  Croatia 8 5 2 1 17 7 +10 17 Qualify for final tournament — 2–1 3–1 3–0 2–1
2  Wales 8 4 2 2 10 6 +4 14 1–1 — 1–0 2–0 2–1
3  Slovakia 8 4 1 3 13 11 +2 13 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–4 1–1 — 2–0 2–0
4  Hungary 8 4 0 4 8 11 −3 12 2–1 1–0 1–2 — 1–0
5  Azerbaijan 8 0 1 7 5 18 −13 1 1–1 0–2 1–5 1–3 —
Source: UEFA

Group F
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain Sweden Norway Romania Faroe Islands Malta
1  Spain 10 8 2 0 31 5 +26 26 Qualify for final tournament — 3–0 2–1 5–0 4–0 7–0
2  Sweden 10 6 3 1 23 9 +14 21 1–1 — 1–1 2–1 3–0 3–0
3  Norway 10 4 5 1 19 11 +8 17 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–1 3–3 — 2–2 4–0 2–0
4  Romania 10 4 2 4 17 15 +2 14 1–2 0–2 1–1 — 4–1 1–0
5  Faroe Islands 10 1 0 9 4 30 −26 3[lower-alpha 1] 1–4 0–4 0–2 0–3 — 1–0
6  Malta 10 1 0 9 3 27 −24 3[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 0–4 1–2 0–4 2–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Tied on head-to-head points (3) and head-to-head goal difference (0). Head-to-head away goals: Faroe Islands 1, Malta 0.

Group G
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Poland Austria North Macedonia Slovenia Israel Latvia
1  Poland 10 8 1 1 18 5 +13 25 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 2–0 3–2 4–0 2–0
2  Austria 10 6 1 3 19 9 +10 19 0–1 — 2–1 1–0 3–1 6–0
3  North Macedonia 10 4 2 4 12 13 −1 14[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–1 1–4 — 2–1 1–0 3–1
4  Slovenia 10 4 2 4 16 11 +5 14[lower-alpha 1] 2–0 0–1 1–1 — 3–2 1–0
5  Israel 10 3 2 5 16 18 −2 11 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 1–2 4–2 1–1 1–1 — 3–1
6  Latvia 10 1 0 9 3 28 −25 3 0–3 1–0 0–2 0–5 0–3 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: North Macedonia 4, Slovenia 1.

Group H
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification France Turkey Iceland Albania Andorra Moldova
1  France 10 8 1 1 25 6 +19 25 Qualify for final tournament — 1–1 4–0 4–1 3–0 2–1
2  Turkey 10 7 2 1 18 3 +15 23 2–0 — 0–0 1–0 1–0 4–0
3  Iceland 10 6 1 3 14 11 +3 19 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–1 2–1 — 1–0 2–0 3–0
4  Albania 10 4 1 5 16 14 +2 13 0–2 0–2 4–2 — 2–2 2–0
5  Andorra 10 1 1 8 3 20 −17 4 0–4 0–2 0–2 0–3 — 1–0
6  Moldova 10 1 0 9 4 26 −22 3 1–4 0–4 1–2 0–4 1–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group I
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group I
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Belgium Russia Scotland Cyprus Kazakhstan San Marino
1  Belgium 10 10 0 0 40 3 +37 30 Qualify for final tournament — 3–1 3–0 6–1 3–0 9–0
2  Russia 10 8 0 2 33 8 +25 24 1–4 — 4–0 1–0 1–0 9–0
3  Scotland 10 5 0 5 16 19 −3 15 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–4 1–2 — 2–1 3–1 6–0
4  Cyprus 10 3 1 6 15 20 −5 10[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 0–5 1–2 — 1–1 5–0
5  Kazakhstan 10 3 1 6 13 17 −4 10[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 0–4 3–0 1–2 — 4–0
6  San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 51 −50 0 0–4 0–5 0–2 0–4 1–3 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Cyprus 4, Kazakhstan 1.

Group J
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group J
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy Finland Greece Bosnia and Herzegovina Armenia Liechtenstein
1  Italy 10 10 0 0 37 4 +33 30 Qualify for final tournament — 2–0 2–0 2–1 9–1 6–0
2  Finland 10 6 0 4 16 10 +6 18 1–2 — 1–0 2–0 3–0 3–0
3  Greece 10 4 2 4 12 14 −2 14 0–3 2–1 — 2–1 2–3 1–1
4  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 4 1 5 20 17 +3 13 Advance to play-offs via Nations League 0–3 4–1 2–2 — 2–1 5–0
5  Armenia 10 3 1 6 14 25 −11 10 1–3 0–2 0–1 4–2 — 3–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 2 31 −29 2 0–5 0–2 0–2 0–3 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Play-offs
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs

Teams that failed in the qualifying group stage could still qualify for the final tournament through the play-offs. Each league in the UEFA Nations League was allocated one of the four 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 had already qualified for the European Championship finals, then to the next best ranked team of the league, etc.

Team selection

The team selection process determined the 16 teams that competed in the play-offs based on a set of criteria.[33] Teams in bold advanced to the play-offs.

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

Key

  1. GW Nations League group winner
  2. H UEFA Euro 2020 host at the time of the draw
  3.   Team advanced to play-offs
  4.   Team qualified directly to final tournament

Draw

The qualifying play-off draw took place on 22 November 2019, 12:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[34] The draw followed the path formation rules to determine the play-off paths that the non-group winners would participate in.[35][36] Four 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 1 v 4, and semi-final 2 for 2 v 3).[4]

Based on the 16 teams that advanced to the play-offs, the four play-off paths were formed following the path formation rules, starting with League D and working up to League A:

  • As there were four teams from League D (all group winners), they were all placed in Path D.
  • As there were seven teams from League C (three group winners and four non-group winners), the three group winners were placed in Path C, while a draw decided which of the four non-group winners was also placed in Path C.
  • As there were four teams from League B (one group winner and three non-group winners), they were all placed in Path B.
  • As there was one team from League A (non-group winner), it was placed in Path A. The three non-group winners from League C not drawn to Path C were then placed in Path A.

The following four non-group winners from League C (ordered by Nations League ranking) took part in the draw, with one being drawn into Path C, while the remaining three were allocated to Path A:[37]

  1.  Bulgaria
  2.  Israel
  3.  Hungary[H]
  4.  Romania[H]

The team drawn into Path C occupied position C4, while the three teams drawn into Path A occupied positions A2, A3 and A4, following their Nations League ranking.

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

Path A
Rank Team
1  Iceland
2  Bulgaria
3  Hungary[H]
4  Romania[H]
Path B
Rank Team
1  Bosnia and Herzegovina
2  Slovakia
3  Republic of Ireland[H]
4  Northern Ireland
Path C
Rank Team
1  Scotland[H]
2  Norway
3  Serbia
4  Israel
Path D
Rank Team
1  Georgia
2  North Macedonia
3  Kosovo
4  Belarus

Key

  1. H UEFA Euro 2020 host at the time of the draw

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

With host Scotland in Path C, and two other hosts Hungary and Romania to be drawn into Path A or C, it was not possible to prevent one of these paths from containing two host teams. Therefore, the winner of the path with two hosts had to be assigned to two final tournament groups.

Path A
Team 1  Score  Team 2
Semi-finals
Iceland  2–1  Romania
Bulgaria  1–3  Hungary
Final
Hungary  2–1  Iceland

Path B
Team 1  Score  Team 2
Semi-finals
Bosnia and Herzegovina  1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)  Northern Ireland
Slovakia  0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)  Republic of Ireland
Final
Northern Ireland  1–2 (a.e.t.)  Slovakia

Path C
Team 1  Score  Team 2
Semi-finals
Scotland  0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)  Israel
Norway  1–2 (a.e.t.)  Serbia
Final
Serbia  1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)  Scotland

Path D
Team 1  Score  Team 2
Semi-finals
Georgia  1–0  Belarus
North Macedonia  2–1  Kosovo
Final
Georgia  0–1  North Macedonia

Goalscorers

There were 826 goals scored in 262 matches, for an average of 3.15 goals per match.

12 goals

11 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

The overall rankings were used for seeding in the final tournament draw.[38] Results against sixth-placed teams were not considered in the ranking.[1]

Rnk Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 I  Belgium 8 8 0 0 27 3 +24 24
2 J  Italy 8 8 0 0 26 4 +22 24
3 A  England 8 7 0 1 37 6 +31 21
4 C  Germany 8 7 0 1 30 7 +23 21
5 F  Spain 8 6 2 0 22 5 +17 20
6 B  Ukraine 8 6 2 0 17 4 +13 20
7 H  France 8 6 1 1 19 4 +15 19
8 G  Poland 8 6 1 1 13 5 +8 19
9 D   Switzerland 8 5 2 1 19 6 +13 17
10 E  Croatia 8 5 2 1 17 7 +10 17
11 C  Netherlands 8 6 1 1 24 7 +17 19
12 I  Russia 8 6 0 2 19 8 +11 18
13 B  Portugal 8 5 2 1 22 6 +16 17
14 H  Turkey 8 5 2 1 10 3 +7 17
15 D  Denmark 8 4 4 0 23 6 +17 16
16 G  Austria 8 5 1 2 13 8 +5 16
17 F  Sweden 8 4 3 1 16 9 +7 15
18 A  Czech Republic 8 5 0 3 13 11 +2 15
19 E  Wales 8 4 2 2 10 6 +4 14
20 J  Finland 8 4 0 4 11 10 +1 12
21 B  Serbia 8 4 2 2 17 17 0 14
22 E  Slovakia 8 4 1 3 13 11 +2 13
23 D  Republic of Ireland 8 3 4 1 7 5 +2 13
24 H  Iceland 8 4 1 3 9 10 −1 13
25 C  Northern Ireland 8 4 1 3 9 13 −4 13
26 F  Norway 8 2 5 1 15 10 +5 11
27 A  Kosovo 8 3 2 3 13 16 −3 11
28 J  Greece 8 3 1 4 9 13 −4 10
29 I  Scotland 8 3 0 5 8 19 −11 9
30 G  North Macedonia 8 2 2 4 7 12 −5 8
31 E  Hungary 8 4 0 4 8 11 −3 12
32 G  Slovenia 8 2 2 4 10 11 −1 8
33 F  Romania 8 2 2 4 12 15 −3 8
34 D  Georgia 8 2 2 4 7 11 −4 8
35 H  Albania 8 2 1 5 10 14 −4 7
36 J  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 2 1 5 12 17 −5 7
37 A  Bulgaria 8 1 3 4 6 17 −11 6
38 B  Luxembourg 8 1 1 6 7 16 −9 4
39 C  Belarus 8 1 1 6 4 16 −12 4
40 I  Cyprus 8 1 1 6 6 20 −14 4
41 J  Armenia 8 2 0 6 10 24 −14 6
42 G  Israel 8 1 2 5 10 17 −7 5
43 I  Kazakhstan 8 1 1 6 6 16 −10 4
44 A  Montenegro 8 0 3 5 3 22 −19 3
45 E  Azerbaijan 8 0 1 7 5 18 −13 1
46 H  Andorra 8 0 1 7 2 19 −17 1
47 B  Lithuania 8 0 1 7 5 25 −20 1
48 C  Estonia 8 0 1 7 2 26 −24 1
49 F  Faroe Islands 8 0 0 8 2 28 −26 0
50 D  Gibraltar 8 0 0 8 3 31 −28 0
51 H  Moldova 10 1 0 9 4 26 −22 3
52 F  Malta 10 1 0 9 3 27 −24 3
53 G  Latvia 10 1 0 9 3 28 −25 3
54 J  Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 2 31 −29 2
55 I  San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 51 −50 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Ranking criteria

Team of the European Qualifiers

Following the completion of the qualifying group stage, UEFA released a "Team of the European Qualifiers" on 29 November 2019. The team featured 11 players based on accumulated scores from the FedEx Performance Zone player rankings, which was based on form from qualifying. Additional weighting was given for teams that played only eight matches.[39]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Ukraine Andriy Pyatov Iceland Ragnar Sigurðsson
Spain Sergio Ramos
Turkey Merih Demiral		 Cyprus Ioannis Kousoulos
Israel Eran Zahavi
Netherlands Georginio Wijnaldum
Portugal Bernardo Silva		 England Harry Kane
England Raheem Sterling
Netherlands Memphis Depay

References
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