UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying

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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)Croatia Davor Šuker (12 goals)
← 1992
2000 →
UEFA European Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship

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.

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[edit]

Euro 1996 qualifiers
  Qualified
  Did not qualify
  Did not enter
  Not a UEFA member
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[A]
 England Host 5 May 1992 4 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992)
 Spain Group 2 winner 11 October 1995 4 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988)
 Russia[B] 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[C] 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[D] 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)
  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[edit]

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.[1]

Pool 1
 Germany
 France
 Russia
 Netherlands
 Denmark
 Sweden
 Italy
 Republic of Ireland
Pool 2
 Norway
 Romania
  Switzerland
 Portugal
 Greece
 Spain
 Wales
 Ukraine
Pool 3
 Bulgaria
 Belgium
 Scotland
 Northern Ireland
 Poland
 Hungary
 Czech Republic
 Croatia
Pool 4
 Iceland
 Austria
 Finland
 Lithuania
 Israel
 Macedonia
 Belarus
 Georgia
Pool 5
 Turkey
 Latvia
 Albania
 Cyprus
 Malta
 Faroe Islands
 Estonia
 Slovakia
Pool 6
 Luxembourg
 San Marino
 Liechtenstein
 Slovenia
 Moldova
 Armenia
 Azerbaijan
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[edit]

  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[edit]

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[edit]

Group 1[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 1
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Romania France Slovakia Poland Israel Azerbaijan
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[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 2
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain Denmark Belgium North Macedonia Cyprus Armenia
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[a] 0–2 1–1 0–5 — 3–0 1–2
5  Cyprus 10 1 4 5 6 20 −14 7[a] 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. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Macedonia 4, Cyprus 1.

Group 3[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 3
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Switzerland Turkey Sweden Hungary Iceland
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[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 4
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Croatia Italy Lithuania Ukraine Slovenia Estonia
1  Croatia 10 7 2 1 22 5 +17 23[a] Qualify for final tournament — 1–1 2–0 4–0 2–0 7–1
2  Italy 10 7 2 1 20 6 +14 23[a] 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. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Croatia 4, Italy 1.

Group 5[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 5
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Czech Republic Netherlands Norway Belarus Luxembourg Malta
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[a] Advance to play-off 0–0 — 3–0 1–0 5–0 4–0
3  Norway 10 6 2 2 17 7 +10 20[a] 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. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Netherlands 4, Norway 1.

Group 6[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 6
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Portugal Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland Austria Latvia Liechtenstein
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[a] 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[a] 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. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Republic of Ireland 4, Northern Ireland 1.

Group 7[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 7
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Germany Bulgaria Georgia (country) Moldova Wales Albania
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[a] 1–2 0–3 0–1 1–0 — 2–0
6  Albania 10 2 2 6 10 16 −6 8[a] 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Wales 4, Albania 1.

Group 8[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 8
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Russia Scotland Greece Finland Faroe Islands San Marino
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[edit]

The runners-up of each of the eight groups were ranked 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. As one group had five teams and the others had six, results against fifth and sixth placed teams were not factored in (despite the fact that discarding results against sixth placed teams would’ve been sufficient enough).

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: Counting only matches against teams ranked first to fourth in the group, 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Drawing of lots.

Play-off[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

  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. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 18 January 2000. Retrieved 17 July 2017.

External links[edit]

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