UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying draw

The European Qualifiers draw for UEFA EURO 2020 took place at the Convention Centre Dublin on Sunday 2 December. The 55 entrants were drawn into five groups of six and five groups of five.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying groups

Group A: England, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo

Group B: Portugal, Ukraine, Serbia, Lithuania, Luxembourg

Group C: Netherlands, Germany, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Belarus

Group D: Switzerland, Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Georgia, Gibraltar

Group E: Croatia, Wales, Slovakia, Hungary, Azerbaijan

Group F: Spain, Sweden, Norway, Romania, Faroe Islands, Malta

Group G: Poland, Austria, Israel, Slovenia, FYR Macedonia, Latvia

Group H: France, Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Moldova, Andorra

Group I: Belgium, Russia, Scotland, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, San Marino

Group J: Italy, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Finland, Greece, Armenia, Liechtenstein

Key points

• All 55 entrants are involved in the qualifying group stage, with no exemptions for any of the 12 EURO host nations.
• The teams were drawn into ten groups: five of five (Groups A–E) and five of six (Groups F–J), played between March and November 2019.
• The six seeding pots were confirmed after the UEFA Nations League league phase.
• The top two teams in each of the ten groups will qualify for the finals in June and July 2020.
• The remaining four finals slots will be decided by play-offs in March 2020 (with entry decided by the UEFA Nations League).

How the groups were formed

• The 55 teams involved in the draw were classified on the basis of the overall UEFA Nations League Rankings issued on 21 November.
• Based on these rankings, the 55 teams were divided into seven pots with the UEFA Nations League pot containing the four finalists, followed by Pot 1 to Pot 6 in accordance with the rankings.

DRAW POTS

UEFA Nations League pot: UEFA Nations League finalists (4)
Pot 1: Teams ranked 5th–10th (6)
Pot 2: Teams ranked 11th–20th (10)
Pot 3: Teams ranked 21st–30th (10)
Pot 4: Teams ranked 31st–40th (10)
Pot 5: Teams ranked 41st–50th (10)
Pot 6: Teams ranked 51st–55th (5)

• The four teams in the UEFA Nations League pot were drawn into the first position in Groups A–D (to ensure they each have two dates free to play the UEFA Nations League Finals in June).
• The teams in Pot 1 were drawn into the first position in Groups E–J.
• The teams in Pot 2 were drawn into second positions in the ten groups, with the draw continuing in similar style for Pots 3, 4 and 5 to fill positions 3, 4 and 5 respectively.
• The teams in Pot 6 were drawn into the sixth position in the six-team Groups F–J.

Restrictions

The following restrictions were applied when needed.

Host nations

• In order to allow all 12 UEFA EURO 2020 host association teams a chance of qualifying as group winner or group runner-up, a maximum of two such teams could be drawn into one group.
• If a UEFA EURO 2020 host association team was drawn into a group already containing two such teams, this team was placed instead in the first available group in alphabetical order as indicated by the computer.

Azerbaijan
Denmark
England
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Netherlands
Republic of Ireland
Romania
Russia
Scotland
Spain

Prohibited team clashes

• Based on UEFA Executive Committee decisions valid at the time of the draw, the following teams could not be drawn into the same group:

Gibraltar/Spain
Bosnia and Herzegovina/Kosovo
Kosovo/Serbia

• If such a clash was to occur, the team drawn was placed instead in the first available group in alphabetical order as indicated by the computer.

Winter venue restrictions

• A number of countries have been identified as venues with high or medium risk of severe winter conditions. In order to minimise the risks of matches being negatively affected or even not being completed or played, a maximum of two such countries could be drawn into the same group.
• The three 'hard winter venues' (*) cannot host games in March or November; the others shall play as few home matches as possible in March and November.

Belarus
Estonia
Faroe Islands*
Finland*
Iceland*
Latvia
Lithuania
Norway
Russia
Ukraine

• If a team was drawn into a group already containing two such teams, this team was placed instead in the first available group in alphabetical order as indicated by the computer.

Excessive travel restrictions

• A number of countries have been identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries. In order to minimise teams' travel burden, a maximum of one such pair could be drawn into the same group.

From/to Kazakhstan (Astana)
Andorra (Barcelona)
England (London)
France (Paris)
Iceland (Reykjavik)
Malta (Valletta)
Northern Ireland (Belfast)
Portugal (Lisbon)
Republic of Ireland (Dublin)
Scotland (Edinburgh)
Spain (Madrid)
Wales (Cardiff)

From/to Azerbaijan (Baku)
Iceland (Reykjavik)
Portugal (Lisbon)

From/to Iceland (Reykjavik)
Armenia (Yerevan)
Cyprus (Larnaca)
Georgia (Tbilisi)
Israel (Tel-Aviv)

• If a team was drawn into a group already containing two such teams, this team was placed instead in the first available group in alphabetical order as indicated by the computer.

Match calendar

Matchday 1: 21–23 March 2019
Matchday 2: 24–26 March 2019
(UEFA Nations League semi-finals: 5 & 6 June 2019)
Matchday 3: 7–8 June 2019
(UEFA Nations League final/third-place match: 9 June 2019)
Matchday 4: 10–11 June 2019
Matchday 5: 5–7 September 2019
Matchday 6: 8–10 September 2019
Matchday 7: 10–12 October 2019
Matchday 8: 13–15 October 2019
Matchday 9: 14–16 November 2019
Matchday 10: 17–19 November 2019

Play-off draw: 22 November 2019
Final tournament draw: 1 December 2019
Play-off semi-finals: 26–28 March 2020
Play-off finals: 29–31 March 2020
Final tournament: 12 June–12 July 2020