European Football Championship 2012 / qualification

qualified

not qualified

not participated, not a UEFA member

The qualifying matches for the finals of the 2012 European Football Championship took place from August 2010 to November 2011.

The two hosts Poland and Ukraine qualified directly. The remaining 51 member countries of UEFA played the 14 remaining starting places for the EM 2012 in the qualification. For the first time, Montenegro , which has been a member of UEFA since 2006, took part in a European Championship qualifier.

Qualification mode

The 51 teams were each drawn to one of nine groups when the qualifying groups were drawn on February 7, 2010 in Warsaw . Groups A to F consisted of six teams, groups G to I were assigned five teams each. Each team played a home and return match against each of their group opponents. There were 3 points awarded to the winner and one point each in the event of a tie.

If two or more teams were tied after these games, the following criteria were used to decide:

1. direct comparison (number of points, goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored)
2. Repetition of the direct comparison among the remaining teams
3. Results from all group matches (goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored)
4. Fair play rating
5. the lot

The group winners and the best runner-up in the group qualified directly for the final round. To determine the best runners-up in the group, the games against the bottom of the group were not taken into account in the groups of six in order to make all runners-up comparable. In the event of a tie, the criteria described under 3 were used. The eight remaining runners-up in the group determined the remaining four finalists in playoff games with a return leg (November 11 and November 15, 2011). The games were drawn with the four better teams in the UEFA rankings seeded.

In the event of a tie between two legs, the number of goals scored away first decided, in the event of a tie there was an extension. If both teams had the same number of goals and the same number of away goals after extra time, the final round participant was determined by penalty shoot-out.

Qualification groups after the draw

The draw for the qualifying groups took place on February 7, 2010 in Warsaw. It was drawn from six pots, with pot 6 only containing six teams that were drawn into groups A - F. Due to political tensions between the states, it was also ruled out that Armenia would be drawn into a group with Azerbaijan or Russia into a group with Georgia . In fact, Armenia was then drawn into Group A to Azerbaijan, so that Armenia was placed in Group B. The order of the teams in the groups below corresponds to their allocation to the six lottery pots, i. That is, the one mentioned at the top comes from Pot 1, the following Pot 2, the third named Pot 3.

Group A	Group B	Group C
Germany	Russia	Italy
Turkey	Slovakia	Serbia
Austria	Ireland	Northern Ireland
Belgium	Macedonia	Slovenia
Kazakhstan	Armenia	Estonia
Azerbaijan	Andorra	Faroe Islands
Group D	Group E	Group F.
France	Netherlands	Croatia
Romania	Sweden	Greece
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Finland	Israel
Belarus	Hungary	Latvia
Albania	Moldova	Georgia
Luxembourg	San Marino	Malta
Group G	Group H.	Group I.
England	Portugal	Spain
Switzerland	Denmark	Czech Republic
Bulgaria	Norway	Scotland
Wales	Cyprus	Lithuania
Montenegro	Iceland	Liechtenstein

Group A

As in the qualification for the European Championship 2008 , Germany qualified as the first team after the host countries. In contrast to then, after qualifying early, there were no experiences of failure. The games in Turkey and against Belgium could also be won. This made Germany the only team alongside defending champions Spain to win all qualifying games. As expected, Turkey reached the relegation spot as they won their home game against Belgium and drew in the second leg. Belgium could have ousted Turkey from second place with an away win in Germany on the last match day, but the defeat in this game was not the decisive factor for missing the qualification. Rather, it was decisive that in the home games against Austria and Turkey, despite the interim lead and numerous chances, no wins were achieved. After the 4: 4 draw in Belgium, Austria was given at least a small chance of second place, but this turned out to be a misjudgment, as the team could only win against Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The Azerbaijanis, led by former German national coach Berti Vogts , achieved some remarkable results in their home games, but never had a realistic chance of finishing second.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	Germany	10	10	0	0	034: 700	30th
2.	Turkey	10	5	2	3	013:110	17th
3.	Belgium	10	4th	3	3	021:150	15th
4th	Austria	10	3	3	4th	016:170	12
5.	Azerbaijan	10	2	1	7th	010:260	07th
6th	Kazakhstan	10	1	1	8th	006:240	04th

Game results

09/03/2010	Brussels	Belgium	-	Germany	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/03/2010	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Turkey	0: 3 (0: 2)
07.09.2010	Salzburg	Austria	-	Kazakhstan	2: 0 (0: 0)
07.09.2010	Cologne	Germany	-	Azerbaijan	6: 1 (3: 0)
07.09.2010	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Belgium	3: 2 (0: 1)
10/08/2010	Vienna	Austria	-	Azerbaijan	3: 0 (1: 0)
10/08/2010	Berlin	Germany	-	Turkey	3: 0 (1: 0)
10/08/2010	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Belgium	0: 2 (0: 0)
10/12/2010	Brussels	Belgium	-	Austria	4: 4 (1: 2)
10/12/2010	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Turkey	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/12/2010	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Germany	0: 3 (0: 0)
03/25/2011	Vienna	Austria	-	Belgium	0: 2 (0: 1)
03/26/2011	Kaisersl.	Germany	-	Kazakhstan	4: 0 (3: 0)
03/29/2011	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Austria	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/29/2011	Brussels	Belgium	-	Azerbaijan	4: 1 (3: 1)

06/03/2011	Vienna	Austria	-	Germany	1: 2 (0: 1)
06/03/2011	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Azerbaijan	2: 1 (0: 0)
06/03/2011	Brussels	Belgium	-	Turkey	1: 1 (1: 1)
06/07/2011	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Germany	1: 3 (0: 2)
02.09.2011	Gelsenk.	Germany	-	Austria	6: 2 (3: 1)
02.09.2011	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Belgium	1: 1 (0: 1)
02.09.2011	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Kazakhstan	2: 1 (1: 0)
09/06/2011	Vienna	Austria	-	Turkey	0-0
09/06/2011	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Kazakhstan	3: 2 (0: 1)
07/10/2011	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Austria	1: 4 (0: 1)
07/10/2011	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Germany	1: 3 (0: 1)
07/10/2011	Brussels	Belgium	-	Kazakhstan	4: 1 (2: 0)
10/11/2011	Astana	Kazakhstan	-	Austria	0-0
10/11/2011	Dusseldorf	Germany	-	Belgium	3: 1 (2: 0)
10/11/2011	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Azerbaijan	1: 0 (0: 0)

• 

  The German national team on June 3, 2011.

• 

  The Turkish national team on September 6, 2011.

• 

  The Belgian national team on March 25, 2011.

• 

  The Austrian national team on October 8, 2010.

• 

  The Azerbaijani national team on October 8, 2010.

Group B

Russia was able to prevail as group winners. The qualification began with a defeat against Slovakia, the supposed toughest competitor, but this failure was made up for with the away win in Ireland. Although it was only enough to score 0-0 in the second leg against Ireland despite numerous chances, the Russians were already clearly in the lead as the most consistent team in the group. On the penultimate day of the match, Slovakia managed to take revenge for the only defeat in this qualification, which means that Russia would even have been enough to draw against Andorra due to the direct comparison it won against Ireland. As expected, Andorra could be clearly defeated.

Ireland lost their home game against Russia, drew 0-0 in Moscow and couldn't win a game against Slovakia either. Four mandatory victories against Andorra and Macedonia as well as two narrow victories against the surprisingly strong Armenians were enough for the relegation place in this balanced group.

Along with Estonia, Armenia were probably the biggest surprise of the qualification. After the expected weak start, the underdog, who had mostly had no chance in previous qualifications, clearly won against Slovakia and scored 0-0 against disappointing Russians. After they had already achieved the highest win in their international history with a 4-0 win against Andorra, this result was sensationally repeated in Slovakia, making them a serious contender for the relegation place. However, that chance was missed by the defeat in Ireland.

As a World Cup participant, Slovakia was given good chances of qualifying, which was initially confirmed with the away win in Russia. Against Ireland two draws could be achieved, so that enough points were scored against the immediate competitors. However, the two unexpected defeats against Armenia cost Slovakia the ticket to the European Championship. While the away defeat could still be described as a slip, the home game ended in a 4-0 debacle. Since the subsequent home game against Russia was also lost, Slovakia was eliminated on the penultimate match day.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	Russia	10	7th	2	1	017: 400	23
2.	Ireland	10	6th	3	1	015: 700	21st
3.	Armenia	10	5	2	3	022:100	17th
4th	Slovakia	10	4th	3	3	007:100	15th
5.	Macedonia	10	2	2	6th	008:140	08th
6th	Andorra	10	0	0	10	001:250	00

Game results

09/03/2010	Bratislava	Slovakia	-	Macedonia	1: 0 (0: 0)
09/03/2010	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Ireland	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/03/2010	Andorra la V.	Andorra	-	Russia	0: 2 (0: 1)
07.09.2010	Moscow	Russia	-	Slovakia	0: 1 (0: 1)
07.09.2010	Dublin	Ireland	-	Andorra	3: 1 (2: 1)
07.09.2010	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Armenia	2: 2 (1: 1)
10/08/2010	Dublin	Ireland	-	Russia	2: 3 (0: 2)
10/08/2010	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Slovakia	3: 1 (1: 1)
10/08/2010	Andorra la V.	Andorra	-	Macedonia	0: 2 (0: 1)
10/12/2010	Žilina	Slovakia	-	Ireland	1: 1 (1: 1)
10/12/2010	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Russia	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/12/2010	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Andorra	4: 0 (3: 0)
03/26/2011	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Russia	0-0
03/26/2011	Dublin	Ireland	-	Macedonia	2: 1 (2: 1)
03/26/2011	Andorra la V.	Andorra	-	Slovakia	0: 1 (0: 1)

06/04/2011	Bratislava	Slovakia	-	Andorra	1: 0 (0: 0)
06/04/2011	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Ireland	0: 2 (0: 2)
06/04/2011	St. Petersburg	Russia	-	Armenia	3: 1 (1: 1)
02.09.2011	Moscow	Russia	-	Macedonia	1: 0 (1: 0)
02.09.2011	Dublin	Ireland	-	Slovakia	0-0
02.09.2011	Andorra la V.	Andorra	-	Armenia	0: 3 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Moscow	Russia	-	Ireland	0-0
09/06/2011	Žilina	Slovakia	-	Armenia	0: 4 (0: 0)
09/06/2011	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Andorra	1: 0 (0: 0)
07/10/2011	Žilina	Slovakia	-	Russia	0: 1 (0: 0)
07/10/2011	Yerevan	Armenia	-	Macedonia	4: 1 (2: 0)
07/10/2011	Andorra la V.	Andorra	-	Ireland	0: 2 (0: 2)
10/11/2011	St. Petersburg	Russia	-	Andorra	6: 0 (4: 0)
10/11/2011	Dublin	Ireland	-	Armenia	2: 1 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Skopje	Macedonia	-	Slovakia	1: 1 (0: 0)

Group C

After the embarrassing failure at the World Cup, Italy started the qualification with great difficulty, a narrow victory in Estonia and a goalless draw in Northern Ireland once again made the problems of the Squadra Azzura clear. The important game against the supposedly toughest competitor for first place, Serbia, was canceled due to serious riots by Serbian hooligans and counted for Italy, which brought the team trained by Cesare Prandelli a significant step closer to the European Championship finals. The second part of the qualification was completed much more convincingly, the deciding factor for first place was mainly the two 1-0 victories against World Cup participants Slovenia, and Estonia was also easily dealt with in the second leg. Since the field of pursuers was surprisingly even, Italy was able to qualify two game days before the end and then achieved results that were befitting with a 1-1 draw against revitalized Serbs and a clear win against Northern Ireland. In addition, Italy only conceded two and thus the fewest goals conceded by any team in qualifying.

Despite enormous fluctuations in performance, Estonia was able to secure the relegation place, almost always without a chance in earlier qualifying rounds, which was one of the biggest surprises of the entire qualification. The happy opening win against the Faroe Islands was followed by a narrow defeat against four-time world champions Italy. Although the second leg against the eventual group winners was clearly lost and they even suffered a disgraceful defeat on the Faroe Islands, Estonia was able to leave the two World Cup participants Serbia and Slovenia behind. It was crucial that both teams could be won away from home and two wins against Northern Ireland. Since Serbia, which could have achieved second place on its own, lost on the last matchday in Slovenia, Estonia had the most points of all pursuers and thus achieved the relegation.

Serbia had won against Germany at the last World Cup and was a little unlucky to be eliminated from the bottom of the group in an even group. Success in qualifying therefore seemed likely. However, the start of the qualification was extremely bad. A draw against Slovenia was followed by a defeat against the Estonians, who were rated much weaker. The first game against Italy had to be canceled after clashes by Serbian fans inside and outside the stadium and was subsequently counted for Italy. The second leg ended in a draw. Although there was only one draw in Estonia, a win in Slovenia on the last day of the match would have put them second, as they would have had better results in a direct comparison. Due to the defeat against Slovenia only a third place in the group was achieved.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	Italy	10	8th	2	0	020: 200	26th
2.	Estonia	10	5	1	4th	015:140	16
3.	Serbia	10	4th	3	3	013:120	15th
4th	Slovenia	10	4th	2	4th	011: 700	14th
5.	Northern Ireland	10	2	3	5	009:130	09
6th	Faroe Islands	10	1	1	8th	006:260	04th

Game results

08/11/2010	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Faroe Islands	2: 1 (0: 1)
09/03/2010	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Italy	1: 2 (1: 0)
09/03/2010	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Serbia	0: 3 (0: 2)
09/03/2010	Maribor	Slovenia	-	Northern Ireland	0: 1 (0: 0)
07.09.2010	Florence	Italy	-	Faroe Islands	5: 0 (3: 0)
07.09.2010	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Slovenia	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/08/2010	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Italy	0-0
10/08/2010	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Estonia	1: 3 (0: 0)
10/08/2010	Maribor	Slovenia	-	Faroe Islands	5: 1 (2: 0)
10/12/2010	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Northern Ireland	1: 1 (1: 0)
10/12/2010	Genoa	Italy	-	Serbia	3: 0 (rating)
10/12/2010	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Slovenia	0: 1 (0: 0)
03/25/2011	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Italy	0: 1 (0: 0)
03/25/2011	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Northern Ireland	2: 1 (0: 1)
03/29/2011	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Slovenia	0-0

03/29/2011	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Serbia	1: 1 (0: 1)
06/03/2011	Toftir	Faroe Islands	-	Slovenia	0: 2 (0: 1)
06/03/2011	Modena	Italy	-	Estonia	3: 0 (2: 0)
06/07/2011	Toftir	Faroe Islands	-	Estonia	2: 0 (1: 0)
08/10/2011	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Faroe Islands	4: 0 (1: 0)
02.09.2011	Tórshavn	Faroe Islands	-	Italy	0: 1 (0: 1)
02.09.2011	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Estonia	1: 2 (0: 1)
02.09.2011	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Serbia	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/06/2011	Florence	Italy	-	Slovenia	1: 0 (0: 0)
09/06/2011	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Faroe Islands	3: 1 (2: 1)
09/06/2011	Tallinn	Estonia	-	Northern Ireland	4: 1 (2: 1)
07/10/2011	Belgrade	Serbia	-	Italy	1: 1 (1: 1)
07/10/2011	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Estonia	1: 2 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Pescara	Italy	-	Northern Ireland	3: 0 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Maribor	Slovenia	-	Serbia	1: 0 (1: 0)

• The match between Italy and Serbia on October 12, 2010 was canceled after six minutes due to riots by Serbian fans, which included fireworks on the field. It was rated 3-0 for Italy by UEFA on October 29th.

Group D

After the World Cup in South Africa , which was not only a low point for the French national team, Laurent Blanc took over the Equipe Tricolore . After the unfortunate opening defeat against Belarus, the crisis initially seemed to continue. However, a few days later an away win against the biggest competitor in this group, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was decisive for the direct qualification. France did not lose another game, but could not break away from Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that there was a final between these two teams on the last day of the game for the direct qualification. A penalty gave France the necessary draw after falling behind, so, unlike in the last World Cup qualification, the relegation could just be avoided.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	France	10	6th	3	1	015: 400	21st
2.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	6th	2	2	017: 800	20th
3.	Romania	10	3	5	2	013: 900	14th
4th	Belarus	10	3	4th	3	008: 700	13
5.	Albania	10	2	3	5	007:140	09
6th	Luxembourg	10	1	1	8th	003:210	04th

Game results

09/03/2010	St. Denis	France	-	Belarus	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/03/2010	Piatra N.	Romania	-	Albania	1: 1 (0: 0)
09/03/2010	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Bosnia heart.	0: 3 (0: 3)
07.09.2010	Sarajevo	Bosnia heart.	-	France	0: 2 (0: 0)
07.09.2010	Minsk	Belarus	-	Romania	0-0
07.09.2010	Tirana	Albania	-	Luxembourg	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/08/2010	Tirana	Albania	-	Bosnia heart.	1: 1 (1: 1)
10/08/2010	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Belarus	0-0
10/09/2010	St. Denis	France	-	Romania	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/12/2010	Metz	France	-	Luxembourg	2: 0 (1: 0)
10/12/2010	Mahiljou	Belarus	-	Albania	2: 0 (0: 0)
03/25/2011	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	France	0: 2 (0: 1)
03/26/2011	Sarajevo	Bosnia heart.	-	Romania	2: 1 (0: 1)
03/26/2011	Tirana	Albania	-	Belarus	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/29/2011	Piatra N.	Romania	-	Luxembourg	3: 1 (1: 1)

06/03/2011	Bucharest	Romania	-	Bosnia heart.	3: 0 (2: 0)
06/03/2011	Minsk	Belarus	-	France	1: 1 (1: 1)
06/07/2011	Zenica	Bosnia heart.	-	Albania	2: 0 (0: 0)
06/07/2011	Minsk	Belarus	-	Luxembourg	2: 0 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Minsk	Belarus	-	Bosnia heart.	0: 2 (0: 2)
02.09.2011	Tirana	Albania	-	France	1: 2 (0: 2)
02.09.2011	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Romania	0: 2 (0: 2)
09/06/2011	Bucharest	Romania	-	France	0-0
09/06/2011	Zenica	Bosnia heart.	-	Belarus	1: 0 (0: 0)
09/06/2011	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Albania	2: 1 (1: 0)
07/10/2011	St. Denis	France	-	Albania	3: 0 (2: 0)
07/10/2011	Bucharest	Romania	-	Belarus	2: 2 (1: 1)
07/10/2011	Zenica	Bosnia heart.	-	Luxembourg	5: 0 (4: 0)
10/11/2011	St. Denis	France	-	Bosnia heart.	1: 1 (0: 1)
10/11/2011	Tirana	Albania	-	Romania	1: 1 (1: 0)

Group E

The Netherlands had already mastered the qualification for the 2010 World Cup with eight wins in eight games. The "Elftal" completed this lap just as consistently, qualifying again early. In addition, an 11-0 win against San Marino was the highest victory of the Dutch national team to date. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twelve goals and was the top scorer in this European Championship qualification. The successful streak of the Dutch only came to an end on the last day of the match when they lost in Sweden. Sweden lost away to the Netherlands and Hungary, but otherwise remained without a point loss and qualified for the finals as the best runner-up in the group.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	Netherlands	10	9	0	1	037: 800	27
2.	Sweden	10	8th	0	2	031:110	24
3.	Hungary	10	6th	1	3	022:140	19th
4th	Finland	10	3	1	6th	016:160	10
5.	Moldova	10	3	0	7th	012:160	09
6th	San Marino	10	0	0	10	000:530	00

Game results

09/03/2010	Solna	Sweden	-	Hungary	2: 0 (0: 0)
09/03/2010	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Finland	2: 0 (0: 0)
09/03/2010	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Netherlands	0: 5 (0: 2)
07.09.2010	Rotterdam	Netherlands	-	Finland	2: 1 (2: 1)
07.09.2010	Malmo	Sweden	-	San Marino	6: 0 (3: 0)
07.09.2010	Budapest	Hungary	-	Moldova	2: 1 (0: 0)
10/08/2010	Budapest	Hungary	-	San Marino	8: 0 (4: 0)
10/08/2010	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Netherlands	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/12/2010	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	Sweden	4: 1 (2: 0)
10/12/2010	Helsinki	Finland	-	Hungary	1: 2 (0: 0)
10/12/2010	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Moldova	0: 2 (0: 1)
11/17/2010	Helsinki	Finland	-	San Marino	8: 0 (1: 0)
03/25/2011	Budapest	Hungary	-	Netherlands	0: 4 (0: 2)
03/29/2011	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	Hungary	5: 3 (1: 0)
03/29/2011	Solna	Sweden	-	Moldova	2: 1 (1: 0)

06/03/2011	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Sweden	1: 4 (0: 2)
06/03/2011	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Finland	0: 1 (0: 1)
06/07/2011	Solna	Sweden	-	Finland	5: 0 (3: 0)
06/07/2011	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Hungary	0: 3 (0: 1)
02.09.2011	Eindhoven	Netherlands	-	San Marino	11: 0 (3: 0)
02.09.2011	Helsinki	Finland	-	Moldova	4: 1 (2: 0)
02.09.2011	Budapest	Hungary	-	Sweden	2: 1 (1: 0)
09/06/2011	Helsinki	Finland	-	Netherlands	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Chișinău	Moldova	-	Hungary	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Sweden	0: 5 (0: 0)
07/10/2011	Rotterdam	Netherlands	-	Moldova	1: 0 (1: 0)
07/10/2011	Helsinki	Finland	-	Sweden	1: 2 (0: 1)
10/11/2011	Solna	Sweden	-	Netherlands	3: 2 (1: 1)
10/11/2011	Budapest	Hungary	-	Finland	0-0
10/11/2011	Chișinău	Moldova	-	San Marino	4: 0 (1: 0)

Group F.

Greece surprisingly only managed a draw in their first game against Georgia while Croatia won, but the tie between the two in their second game left everything open. Greece won the next five games, however, and from the fifth game onwards they were even able to sit at the top of the table as Croatia lost to Georgia. The championship lead was lost again due to a draw with Latvia, but Croatia could be defeated in the home game and since the last game was also won, Greece qualified as group winners. With only 14 goals, however, they are the one that scored the fewest goals among all directly qualified teams. Only the Czech Republic scored fewer goals, but had to play two fewer games in the group stage and into relegation.

Croatia topped the table from the start, but lost this position to Greece on matchday five, as they surprisingly lost in Georgia. Croatia won the following games and thus the top of the table was briefly recaptured after a draw by Greece against Latvia, but since the game was lost in Greece, Croatia had to be content with second place.

Israel was sovereign against Latvia, Georgia and Malta, but since all games against Greece and Croatia were lost, they had to be content with third place.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	Greece	10	7th	3	0	014: 500	24
2.	Croatia	10	7th	1	2	018: 700	22nd
3.	Israel	10	5	1	4th	013:110	16
4th	Latvia	10	3	2	5	009:120	11
5.	Georgia	10	2	4th	4th	007: 900	10
6th	Malta	10	0	1	9	004:210	01

Game results

02.09.2010	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Malta	3: 1 (1: 1)
09/03/2010	Piraeus	Greece	-	Georgia	1: 1 (0: 1)
09/03/2010	Riga	Latvia	-	Croatia	0: 3 (0: 1)
07.09.2010	Zagreb	Croatia	-	Greece	0-0
07.09.2010	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Israel	0-0
07.09.2010	Ta 'Qali	Malta	-	Latvia	0: 2 (0: 2)
10/08/2010	Piraeus	Greece	-	Latvia	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/08/2010	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Malta	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/09/2010	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Croatia	1: 2 (0: 2)
10/12/2010	Piraeus	Greece	-	Israel	2: 1 (1: 0)
10/12/2010	Riga	Latvia	-	Georgia	1: 1 (0: 0)
11/17/2010	Zagreb	Croatia	-	Malta	3: 0 (2: 0)
03/26/2011	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Latvia	2: 1 (1: 0)
03/26/2011	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Croatia	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/26/2011	Ta 'Qali	Malta	-	Greece	0: 1 (0: 0)

03/29/2011	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Georgia	1: 0 (0: 0)
06/03/2011	Split	Croatia	-	Georgia	2: 1 (0: 1)
06/04/2011	Piraeus	Greece	-	Malta	3: 1 (2: 0)
06/04/2011	Riga	Latvia	-	Israel	1: 2 (0: 2)
02.09.2011	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Greece	0: 1 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Latvia	0: 1 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Ta 'Qali	Malta	-	Croatia	1: 3 (1: 2)
09/06/2011	Zagreb	Croatia	-	Israel	3: 1 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Riga	Latvia	-	Greece	1: 1 (1: 0)
09/06/2011	Ta 'Qali	Malta	-	Georgia	1: 1 (1: 1)
07/10/2011	Piraeus	Greece	-	Croatia	2: 0 (0: 0)
07/10/2011	Riga	Latvia	-	Malta	2: 0 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Rijeka	Croatia	-	Latvia	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/11/2011	Tbilisi	Georgia	-	Greece	1: 2 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Ta 'Qali	Malta	-	Israel	0: 2 (0: 1)

Group G

Despite the disappointing World Cup, England got off to a good start in qualifying, but only managed to score 0-0 in their home game against Montenegro. The Balkan republic, which for the first time ever participated as an independent state in a European Championship qualification, surprised positively and even had the chance of winning the group until the second leg against England. The Montenegrin defeat against Wales gave England a decisive advantage in the fight for direct qualification, so a 2-2 in the second leg meant first place for England and safe participation in the playoffs for Montenegro. The failure of Switzerland, which did not qualify for a major tournament for the first time since the 2002 World Cup, was already foreseeable after the two defeats at the beginning. Maybe they could have challenged Montenegro for second place, but the defeat in Wales on the penultimate matchday made that mathematically impossible. After the unsuccessful start to the qualifying round, Bulgaria signed the German record international player Lothar Matthäus as coach, but presented themselves too weak, especially against England and Switzerland. Wales started with a series of defeats in this round, the victories achieved later were only respectable successes.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	England	8th	5	3	0	017: 500	18th
2.	Montenegro	8th	3	3	2	007: 700	12
3.	Switzerland	8th	3	2	3	012:100	11
4th	Wales	8th	3	0	5	006:100	09
5.	Bulgaria	8th	1	2	5	003:130	05

Game results

09/03/2010	London	England	-	Bulgaria	4: 0 (1: 0)
09/03/2010	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Wales	1: 0 (1: 0)
07.09.2010	Basel	Switzerland	-	England	1: 3 (0: 1)
07.09.2010	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Montenegro	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/08/2010	Cardiff	Wales	-	Bulgaria	0: 1 (0: 0)
10/08/2010	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Switzerland	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/12/2010	London	England	-	Montenegro	0-0
10/12/2010	Basel	Switzerland	-	Wales	4: 1 (2: 1)
03/26/2011	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Switzerland	0-0
03/26/2011	Cardiff	Wales	-	England	0: 2 (0: 2)

06/04/2011	London	England	-	Switzerland	2: 2 (1: 2)
06/04/2011	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	Bulgaria	1: 1 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	England	0: 3 (0: 3)
02.09.2011	Cardiff	Wales	-	Montenegro	2: 1 (1: 0)
09/06/2011	London	England	-	Wales	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/06/2011	Basel	Switzerland	-	Bulgaria	3: 1 (1: 1)
07/10/2011	Swansea	Wales	-	Switzerland	2: 0 (0: 0)
07/10/2011	Podgorica	Montenegro	-	England	2: 2 (1: 2)
10/11/2011	Basel	Switzerland	-	Montenegro	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/11/2011	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Wales	0: 1 (0: 1)

Group H.

In this very even group, Denmark surprisingly managed to qualify directly. After the defeat in Portugal and the draw in Norway, “Danish Dynamite” was already a long way behind the first two places. However, these were the only point losses for the Danes, two home wins against their direct competitors brought the decision in favor of the Northern Europeans. Portugal got off to a bad start with a draw with Cyprus and a defeat in Norway, but then won five straight wins and led the group for a long time. After the 3-1 win in the first leg on the last day of the match in Denmark, a draw would have been enough to win the group. However, since Portugal lost this game, only second place remained and thus the move to the play-offs. Norway started the qualifying round very well and remained undefeated in their home games against both rivals. However, after the away games against Portugal and Denmark were lost, they could no longer achieve second place on their own. Since the direct comparison with Portugal (1-0 win and 0-1 defeat) ended in a draw, reaching second place would theoretically have been possible. The significantly worse goal difference to Portugal kept Norway in third place. Cyprus reached a sensational 4: 4 draw in Portugal on matchday one, but was as hopeless as Iceland.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	Denmark	8th	6th	1	1	015: 600	19th
2.	Portugal	8th	5	1	2	021:120	16
3.	Norway	8th	5	1	2	010: 700	16
4th	Iceland	8th	1	1	6th	006:140	04th
5.	Cyprus	8th	0	2	6th	007:200	02

Game results

09/03/2010	Guimarães	Portugal	-	Cyprus	4: 4 (2: 2)
09/03/2010	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Norway	1: 2 (1: 0)
07.09.2010	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Iceland	1: 0 (0: 0)
07.09.2010	Oslo	Norway	-	Portugal	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/08/2010	postage	Portugal	-	Denmark	3: 1 (2: 0)
10/08/2010	Larnaka	Cyprus	-	Norway	1: 2 (0: 2)
10/12/2010	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Cyprus	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/12/2010	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Portugal	1: 3 (1: 2)
03/26/2011	Oslo	Norway	-	Denmark	1: 1 (0: 1)
03/26/2011	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Iceland	0-0

06/04/2011	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Norway	1: 0 (0: 0)
06/04/2011	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Denmark	0: 2 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Oslo	Norway	-	Iceland	1: 0 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Larnaka	Cyprus	-	Portugal	0: 4 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Norway	2: 0 (2: 0)
09/06/2011	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Cyprus	1: 0 (1: 0)
07/10/2011	postage	Portugal	-	Iceland	5: 3 (3: 0)
07/10/2011	Larnaka	Cyprus	-	Denmark	1: 4 (1: 4)
10/11/2011	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Portugal	2: 1 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Oslo	Norway	-	Cyprus	3: 1 (2: 1)

Group I.

World and European champions Spain qualified two game days before the end of the round, as narrow victories were achieved in the first legs against Scotland and the Czech Republic. Even in the final games against these contenders for the relegation place safe victories could be achieved, whereby Spain won all qualifying games like in the qualification for the 2010 World Cup . The Czech Republic achieved a win and a draw in the two games against Scotland, which decided the battle for the relegation place. Lithuania scored points against both Scotland and the Czech Republic and would have had realistic chances of being relegated if they had scored two wins against Liechtenstein instead of just one draw and one defeat. As expected, Liechtenstein had no chance of qualifying, but achieved two prestige victories against Lithuania and was able to keep most of its defeats under control.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
1.	Spain	8th	8th	0	0	026: 600	24
2.	Czech Republic	8th	4th	1	3	012: 800	13
3.	Scotland	8th	3	2	3	009:100	11
4th	Lithuania	8th	1	2	5	004:130	05
5.	Liechtenstein	8th	1	1	6th	003:170	04th

Game results

09/03/2010	Kaunas	Lithuania	-	Scotland	0-0
09/03/2010	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Spain	0: 4 (0: 2)
07.09.2010	Olomouc	Czech Republic	-	Lithuania	0: 1 (0: 1)
07.09.2010	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Liechtenstein	2: 1 (0: 0)
10/08/2010	Salamanca	Spain	-	Lithuania	3: 1 (0: 0)
10/08/2010	Prague	Czech Republic	-	Scotland	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/12/2010	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Czech Republic	0: 2 (0: 2)
10/12/2010	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Spain	2: 3 (0: 1)
03/25/2011	Granada	Spain	-	Czech Republic	2: 1 (0: 1)
03/29/2011	Ceske Budejovice	Czech Republic	-	Liechtenstein	2: 0 (1: 0)

03/29/2011	Kaunas	Lithuania	-	Spain	1: 3 (0: 1)
06/03/2011	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Lithuania	2: 0 (2: 0)
02.09.2011	Kaunas	Lithuania	-	Liechtenstein	0-0
09/03/2011	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Czech Republic	2: 2 (1: 0)
09/06/2011	Logroño	Spain	-	Liechtenstein	6: 0 (3: 0)
09/06/2011	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Lithuania	1: 0 (0: 0)
07/10/2011	Prague	Czech Republic	-	Spain	0: 2 (0: 2)
08/10/2011	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	-	Scotland	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/11/2011	Alicante	Spain	-	Scotland	3: 1 (2: 0)
10/11/2011	Kaunas	Lithuania	-	Czech Republic	1: 4 (0: 3)

Relegation

Ranking of the runners-up

In order to make all runners-up in the group comparable, the games of the runners-up against the bottom of the group were not taken into account in the groups of six (groups A - F). Sweden qualified as the best runner-up in the group directly for the European Championship finals. The other eight runners-up in the group identified four more finalists in play-offs.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points	group	Group sixth
1.	Sweden	8th	6th	0	2	020:110	+9	18th	E.	San Marino
2.	Portugal	8th	5	1	2	021:120	+9	16	H	-
3.	Croatia	8th	5	1	2	012: 600	+6	16	F.	Malta
4th	Ireland	8th	4th	3	1	010: 600	+4	15th	B.	Andorra
5.	Bosnia heart.	8th	4th	2	2	009: 800	+1	14th	D.	Luxembourg
6th	Czech Republic	8th	4th	1	3	012: 800	+4	13	I.	-
7th	Estonia	8th	4th	1	3	013:110	+2	13	C.	Faroe Islands
8th.	Montenegro	8th	3	3	2	007: 700	± 0	12	G	-
9.	Turkey	8th	3	2	3	008:100	−2	11	A.	Kazakhstan

Playoffs

The eight teams participating in the play-offs were divided into four seeded and four unseeded teams according to the UEFA coefficient . Croatia, Portugal, Ireland and the Czech Republic were seeded, while Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Estonia were unset. The games were drawn on October 13, 2011 in Krakow . The first leg was played on November 11, the second leg followed on November 15, 2011. All seeded teams qualified.

	total		First leg	Return leg
Turkey	0: 3	Croatia	0: 3	0-0
Estonia	1: 5	Ireland	0: 4	1: 1
Czech Republic	3-0	Montenegro	2-0	1-0
Bosnia Herzegovina	2: 6	Portugal	0-0	2: 6

Best goal scorers

Below are the top scorers in European Championship qualification. With the same number of goals, the number of game minutes decided.

rank	player	Gates
1	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	12
2	Miroslav Klose	9
3	David Villa	7th
	Cristiano Ronaldo	7th
	Mikael Forssell	7th
	Robbie Keane	7th
7th	Mario Gomez	6th
	Robin van Persie	6th
	Gergely Rudolf	6th
	Antonio Cassano	6th
	Dirk Kuyt	6th
	Henrich Mchitarjan	6th
	Konstantin Vassiljev	6th

Finalists

The following national teams qualified:

qualified

not qualified

not a UEFA member

team	Qualified by	Qualified on	Previous participation in the final round 1
Poland	host	Apr 18, 2007	01 ( 2008 )
Ukraine	host	Apr 18, 2007	00 (first participation) 2
Germany	Group A winner	Sep 2 2011	10 ( 1972 , 1976 , 1980 , 1984 , 1988 , 1992 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 )
Italy	Group C winner	6 Sep 2011	07 ( 1968 , 1980 , 1988 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 )
Netherlands	Group E winner	6 Sep 2011	08 ( 1976 , 1980 , 1988 , 1992 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 )
Spain	Group I winner	6 Sep 2011	08 ( 1964 , 1980 , 1984 , 1988 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 )
England	Group G winner	Oct 7, 2011	07 ( 1968 , 1980 , 1988 , 1992 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 )
Denmark	Group H winner	Oct 11, 2011	07 ( 1964 , 1984 , 1988 , 1992 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 )
France	Group D winner	Oct 11, 2011	07 ( 1960 , 1984 , 1992 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 )
Greece	Group F winner	Oct 11, 2011	03 ( 1980 , 2004 , 2008 )
Russia	Group B winner	Oct 11, 2011	03 ( 1996 , 2004 , 2008 ) 2
Sweden	Best runner-up in the group	Oct 11, 2011	04 ( 1992 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 )
Ireland	Winner playoff	Nov 15, 2011	01 ( 1988 )
Croatia	Winner playoff	Nov 15, 2011	03 ( 1996 , 2004 , 2008 ) 3
Portugal	Winner playoff	Nov 15, 2011	05 ( 1984 , 1996 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 )
Czech Republic	Winner playoff	Nov 15, 2011	04 ( 1996 , 2000 , 2004 , 2008 ) 4

The draw for the preliminary round groups took place on Friday, December 2, 2011 at 6 p.m. (CET) in Kiev.

¹ In years in bold, the respective team became European champions; in years in italics, the respective teams were automatically qualified as hosts

² 1960 to 1988 as part of the Soviet Union , 1992 as part of the CIS

³ 1960 to 1992 as part of Yugoslavia

⁴ 1960 to 1992 as part of Czechoslovakia

Web links

• The qualifying groups for the EM 2012. on: rp-online.de , September 9, 2010.
• UEFA.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UEFA decision on Italy versus Serbia ; Announcement on uefa.com from October 29, 2010.
2. ^ Italy-Serbia broken off after rioting ; Announcement on uefa.com dated October 12, 2010.