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 and 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.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 20 April 1994 – 13 December 1995 |
| Teams | 47 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 231 |
| Goals scored | 680 (2.94 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Davor Šuker (12 goals) |
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
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
|---|---|---|---|
 England | Host | 5 May 1992 | 4 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992) |
 Spain | Group 2 winner | 11 October 1995 | 4 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988) |
 Russia | Group 8 winner | 11 October 1995 | 6 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992) |
 Switzerland | Group 3 winner | 15 November 1995 | 0 (debut) |
| Croatia | Group 4 winner | 15 November 1995 | 0 (debut) |
 Scotland | 4th best runner-up | 15 November 1995 | 1 (1992) |
 Bulgaria | 2nd best runner-up | 15 November 1995 | 0 (debut) |
 Germany | Group 7 winner | 15 November 1995 | 6 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) |
 Romania | Group 1 winner | 15 November 1995 | 1 (1984) |
 Turkey | 3rd best runner-up | 15 November 1995 | 0 (debut) |
 Denmark | 5th best runner-up | 15 November 1995 | 4 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992) |
 Czech Republic | Group 5 winner | 15 November 1995 | 3 (1960, 1976, 1980) |
 Italy | 1st best runner-up | 15 November 1995 | 3 (1968, 1980, 1988) |
 France | 6th best runner-up | 15 November 1995 | 3 (1960, 1984, 1992) |
 Portugal | Group 6 winner | 15 November 1995 | 1 (1984) |
 Netherlands | Play-off winner | 13 December 1995 | 4 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992) |
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. Yugoslavia did not enter qualifying as they were suspended due to United Nations Security Council Resolution 757.
- 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
Initially Czech Republic were in Pool 2 and Wales in Pool 3. Slovakia were initially in Pool 4, before being replaced by Macedonia and put into Pool 5 in place of Luxembourg who were moved down to Pool 6.
Summary
| 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:
- 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 away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
- 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;
- 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
| 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 | — |
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 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–5 | — | 3–0 | 1–2 | ||
| 5 | Cyprus | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 20 | −14 | 7 | 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 | — |
Notes:
