Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others in their group on a home-and-away basis. The winner and runner-up of each group qualified automatically for the final tournament. This was the first Euro qualification since expansion to have no playoff.
Austria and Switzerland qualified automatically as co-hosts of the event.
Qualified teams
^Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
^From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as CIS.
Seedings
UEFA used the 2005 UEFA national team coefficient to rank the teams according to their results in both UEFA Euro 2004 and 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. Only the group matches counted towards the coefficients. As defending champions, Greece were automatically seeded in the top pool.[1][2] Since Portugal automatically qualified for UEFA Euro 2004 as hosts, the coefficient factored in only their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification record. Similarly, Germany's coefficient factored only their UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying record, since they automatically qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup as hosts. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan never competed in the European Championships previously, so the coefficient used only their World Cup record.[3][4]Montenegro had not been admitted to UEFA/FIFA at the time the qualifying competition had started, and thus were ineligible.[5][6][7]
The draw took place on 27 January 2006 in Montreux, Switzerland.[8]
Austria (1,333) and Switzerland (1,833) were already assured of places at Euro 2008 as host nations.
Tiebreakers
If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied to determine the rankings:[9]
Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question
Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question
Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question
Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question
If, after applying criteria 1) to 4) to several teams, two or more teams still had an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 4) was reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6) and 7) applied;
Results of all group matches: 1. Superior goal difference 2. Higher number of goals scored 3. Higher number of goals scored away from home 4. Fair play conduct
Drawing of lots
Summary
Group winners and runners-up qualified directly for UEFA Euro 2008
Other teams were eliminated
Groups
The qualifying process started in August 2006. Austria and Switzerland were automatically granted places in the tournament finals as the host nations.
The qualifying format had been changed from the previous tournament: the respective winners and runners-up from seven groups would automatically qualify for the finals, alongside the host nations. Therefore, there were no play-offs between the runners-up of the groups. Group A contained eight teams, while the other six groups each contained seven.
As the official successor of the previous football association, Serbia inherited the position originally allotted to Serbia and Montenegro in Group A prior to the dissolution of the state union. Montenegro were granted UEFA membership after qualifying had started and thus were not able to participate in this European Championship.
Group A
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bHead-to-head points: Serbia 4, Finland 1.
^ a bThe matches between Azerbaijan and Armenia were cancelled by UEFA with both associations receiving no points, as the two national associations failed to resolve political and security disagreements.[10][11]
Group B
Source: UEFA
Group C
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bTied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head goal difference: Moldova +1, Hungary −1.
Group D
Source: UEFA
Group E
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bHead-to-head points: England 4, Israel 1.
Group F
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bHead-to-head points: Northern Ireland 4, Denmark 1.
^The Denmark v Sweden match was abandoned in the 89th minute at 3–3 following a fan attack on the referee.[12][13][14][15] The match was awarded as a 3–0 forfeit win to Sweden by UEFA following a hearing on 8 June 2007.[16][17][18]
Group G
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bTied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Goalscorers
There were 839 goals scored in 306 matches, for an average of 2.74 goals per match.[note 1]
^ a b c d e f gThe goal tally takes into account the original result of fixtures that were subsequently forfeited, not the awarded scoreline.
References
^"CNN.com - Greece are top seeds for Euro 2008 - Oct 14, 2005". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
^"Greece top seeds for Euro draw". Times of Malta. 15 October 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
^UEFA.com (27 January 2006). "EURO 2008™ draw procedure | UEFA EURO". UEFA.com. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^UEFA.com (14 January 2006). "EURO 2008™ draw fast approaching | UEFA EURO". UEFA.com. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^"Serbia to take spot in Euro 2008". BBC Sport. 23 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
^UEFA.com (26 January 2007). "Montenegro named UEFA member | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^Frylan, Kevin (9 August 2007). "UEFA admits Montenegro". Reuters. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^Qualifying draw (UEFA).
^"Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2006/08" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 August 2005. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
^"EXCO unveils World Cup programme". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
^"UEFA cancel Armenia v Azerbaijan Euro qualifiers". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. 23 June 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2017.