UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying

Qualifying for UEFA Euro 1996 took place throughout 1994 and 1995. Forty-seven teams were divided into eight groups, with each team playing the others in their group both home and away. The winners of each group, as well as the six best runners-up, qualified automatically, while the two worst runners-up were involved in a play-off at a neutral venue. England qualified automatically as hosts of the event.

UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
Tournament details
Dates20 April 1994 – 13 December 1995
Teams47
Tournament statistics
Matches played231
Goals scored680 (2.94 per match)
Top scorer(s) Davor Šuker (12 goals)
UEFA European Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship

This was the first European Championship qualifying phase in which three points were awarded for each win, as opposed to the two points that had been awarded previously.

Qualified teams
  Qualified
  Did not qualify
  Did not enter
  Not a UEFA member
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 1]
 EnglandHost5 May 19924 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992)
 SpainGroup 2 winner11 October 19954 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988)
 Russia[upper-alpha 2]Group 8 winner11 October 19956 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992)
  SwitzerlandGroup 3 winner15 November 19950 (debut)
 CroatiaGroup 4 winner15 November 19950 (debut)
 Scotland4th best runner-up15 November 19951 (1992)
 Bulgaria2nd best runner-up15 November 19950 (debut)
 Germany[upper-alpha 3]Group 7 winner15 November 19956 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992)
 RomaniaGroup 1 winner15 November 19951 (1984)
 Turkey3rd best runner-up15 November 19950 (debut)
 Denmark5th best runner-up15 November 19954 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992)
 Czech Republic[upper-alpha 4]Group 5 winner15 November 19953 (1960, 1976, 1980)
 Italy1st best runner-up15 November 19953 (1968, 1980, 1988)
 France6th best runner-up15 November 19953 (1960, 1984, 1992)
 PortugalGroup 6 winner15 November 19951 (1984)
 NetherlandsPlay-off winner13 December 19954 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992)
  1. Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
  2. From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as CIS.
  3. From 1972 to 1988, Germany competed as West Germany.
  4. From 1960 to 1980, the Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.

Seedings

The draw was made on 22 January 1994 in Manchester. Denmark were seeded first as title holders, while the remaining 46 teams were divided into six pots. FR Yugoslavia did not enter qualifying as they were suspended due to United Nations Security Council Resolution 757.[1]

Team highlighted in bold qualified and italic took part in play-off.

Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3
Pool 4 Pool 5 Pool 6
New entrants

New teams that joined UEFA's qualification games after the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA):

  • From the former Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine
  • From the former Czechoslovakia: Czech Republic and Slovakia
  • From the former Yugoslavia: Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia
  • Liechtenstein

Summary
  Group winners and the six best ranked runners-up qualified directly for UEFA Euro 1996
  The two worst runners-up advanced to the play-off
  Other teams were eliminated after the qualifying group stage
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8

Romania
Spain
Switzerland
Croatia
Czech Republic
Portugal
Germany
Russia

France
Denmark
Turkey
Italy
Netherlands
Republic of Ireland
Bulgaria
Scotland

Slovakia

Poland

Israel

Azerbaijan
Belgium

Macedonia

Cyprus

Armenia
Sweden

Hungary

Iceland
Lithuania

Ukraine

Slovenia

Estonia
Norway

Belarus

Luxembourg

Malta
Northern Ireland

Austria

Latvia

Liechtenstein
Georgia

Moldova

Wales

Albania
Greece

Finland

Faroe Islands

San Marino

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tiebreakers were used to determine the final ranking:[2]

  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 away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
  4. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  5. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  7. 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).

Groups

Group 1
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Romania 10 6 3 1 18 9 +9 21 Qualify for final tournament — 1–3 3–2 2–1 2–1 3–0
2  France 10 5 5 0 22 2 +20 20 0–0 — 4–0 1–1 2–0 10–0
3  Slovakia 10 4 2 4 14 18 −4 14 0–2 0–0 — 4–1 1–0 4–1
4  Poland 10 3 4 3 14 12 +2 13 0–0 0–0 5–0 — 4–3 1–0
5  Israel 10 3 3 4 13 13 0 12 1–1 0–0 2–2 2–1 — 2–0
6  Azerbaijan 10 0 1 9 2 29 −27 1 1–4 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group 2
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 10 8 2 0 25 4 +21 26 Qualify for final tournament — 3–0 1–1 3–0 6–0 1–0
2  Denmark 10 6 3 1 19 9 +10 21 1–1 — 3–1 1–0 4–0 3–1
3  Belgium 10 4 3 3 17 13 +4 15 1–4 1–3 — 1–1 2–0 2–0
4  Macedonia 10 1 4 5 9 18 −9 7[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 1–1 0–5 — 3–0 1–2
5  Cyprus 10 1 4 5 6 20 −14 7[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 — 2–0
6  Armenia 10 1 2 7 5 17 −12 5 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–2 0–0 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Macedonia 4, Cyprus 1.

Group 3
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 3
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Switzerland 8 5 2 1 15 7 +8 17 Qualify for final tournament — 1–2 4–2 3–0 1–0
2  Turkey 8 4 3 1 16 8 +8 15 1–2 — 2–1 2–0 5–0
3  Sweden 8 2 3 3 9 10 −1 9 0–0 2–2 — 2–0 1–1
4  Hungary 8 2 2 4 7 13 −6 8 2–2 2–2 1–0 — 1–0
5  Iceland 8 1 2 5 3 12 −9 5 0–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group 4
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 4
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Croatia 10 7 2 1 22 5 +17 23[lower-alpha 1] Qualify for final tournament — 1–1 2–0 4–0 2–0 7–1
2  Italy 10 7 2 1 20 6 +14 23[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 — 4–0 3–1 1–0 4–1
3  Lithuania 10 5 1 4 13 12 +1 16 0–0 0–1 — 1–3 2–1 5–0
4  Ukraine 10 4 1 5 11 15 −4 13 1–0 0–2 0–2 — 0–0 3–0
5  Slovenia 10 3 2 5 13 13 0 11 1–2 1–1 1–2 3–2 — 3–0
6  Estonia 10 0 0 10 3 31 −28 0 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–3 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Croatia 4, Italy 1.

Group 5
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 5
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Czech Republic 10 6 3 1 21 6 +15 21 Qualify for final tournament — 3–1 2–0 4–2 3–0 6–1
2  Netherlands 10 6 2 2 23 5 +18 20[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-off 0–0 — 3–0 1–0 5–0 4–0
3  Norway 10 6 2 2 17 7 +10 20[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 1–1 — 1–0 5–0 2–0
4  Belarus 10 3 2 5 8 13 −5 11 0–2 1–0 0–4 — 2–0 1–1
5  Luxembourg 10 3 1 6 3 21 −18 10 1–0 0–4 0–2 0–0 — 1–0
6  Malta 10 0 2 8 2 22 −20 2 0–0 0–4 0–1 0–2 0–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Netherlands 4, Norway 1.

Group 6
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 6
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 10 7 2 1 29 7 +22 23 Qualify for final tournament — 3–0 1–1 1–0 3–2 8–0
2  Republic of Ireland 10 5 2 3 17 11 +6 17[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-off 1–0 — 1–1 1–3 2–1 4–0
3  Northern Ireland 10 5 2 3 20 15 +5 17[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 0–4 — 5–3 1–2 4–1
4  Austria 10 5 1 4 29 14 +15 16 1–1 3–1 1–2 — 5–0 7–0
5  Latvia 10 4 0 6 11 20 −9 12 1–3 0–3 0–1 3–2 — 1–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 1 9 1 40 −39 1 0–7 0–0 0–4 0–4 0–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Republic of Ireland 4, Northern Ireland 1.

Group 7
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 7
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 10 8 1 1 27 10 +17 25 Qualify for final tournament — 3–1 4–1 6–1 1–1 2–1
2  Bulgaria 10 7 1 2 24 10 +14 22 3–2 — 2–0 4–1 3–1 3–0
3  Georgia 10 5 0 5 14 13 +1 15 0–2 2–1 — 0–1 5–0 2–0
4  Moldova 10 3 0 7 11 27 −16 9 0–3 0–3 3–2 — 3–2 2–3
5  Wales 10 2 2 6 9 19 −10 8[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 0–3 0–1 1–0 — 2–0
6  Albania 10 2 2 6 10 16 −6 8[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Wales 4, Albania 1.

Group 8
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 8
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Russia 10 8 2 0 34 5 +29 26 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 2–1 3–1 3–0 4–0
2  Scotland 10 7 2 1 19 3 +16 23 1–1 — 1–0 1–0 5–1 5–0
3  Greece 10 6 0 4 23 9 +14 18 0–3 1–0 — 4–0 5–0 2–0
4  Finland 10 5 0 5 18 18 0 15 0–6 0–2 2–1 — 5–0 4–1
5  Faroe Islands 10 2 0 8 10 35 −25 6 2–5 0–2 1–5 0–4 — 3–0
6  San Marino 10 0 0 10 2 36 −34 0 0–7 0–2 0–4 0–2 1–3 —
Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

The runners-up of each of the eight groups were placed in a table to decide which seven of them would qualify. The best six runners-up would qualify automatically, while the two worst would compete in a play-off at a neutral venue to determine the final qualifier. The same ranking and tiebreaking criteria were used to classify the eight runners-up, although only matches played against teams that finished first, third and fourth in each group were considered.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 4  Italy 6 4 1 1 12 4 +8 13 Qualify for final tournament
2 7  Bulgaria 6 4 0 2 14 8 +6 12
3 3  Turkey 6 3 2 1 11 8 +3 11
4 8  Scotland 6 3 2 1 5 2 +3 11
5 2  Denmark 6 3 2 1 9 7 +2 11
6 1  France 6 2 4 0 8 2 +6 10
7 5  Netherlands 6 2 2 2 6 5 +1 8 Advance to play-off
8 6  Republic of Ireland 6 2 1 3 8 10 −2 7
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Drawing of lots.

Play-off
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying play-off

The bottom two runners-up, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands, took part in a play-off on a neutral ground, Anfield, to determine the last team to qualify for the final tournament.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Republic of Ireland  0–2  Netherlands

Goalscorers

There were 680 goals scored in 231 matches, for an average of 2.94 goals per match.

12 goals

11 goals

10 goals

9 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

References
  1. "United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 (Implementing Trade Embargo on Yugoslavia)". UMN.edu. United Nations. 30 May 1992. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  2. "European Championship 1996". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 18 January 2000. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
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