Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others in their group on a home-and-away basis. The winner and runner-up of each group qualified automatically for the final tournament. This was the first Euro qualification since expansion to have no playoff.
Austria and Switzerland qualified automatically as co-hosts of the event.
If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied to determine the rankings:[9]
Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question
Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question
Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question
Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question
If, after applying criteria 1) to 4) to several teams, two or more teams still had an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 4) was reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6) and 7) applied;
Results of all group matches: 1. Superior goal difference 2. Higher number of goals scored 3. Higher number of goals scored away from home 4. Fair play conduct
Drawing of lots
Summary
Group winners and runners-up qualified directly for UEFA Euro 2008
The qualifying process started in August 2006. Austria and Switzerland were automatically granted places in the tournament finals as the host nations.
The qualifying format had been changed from the previous tournament: the respective winners and runners-up from seven groups would automatically qualify for the finals, alongside the host nations. Therefore, there were no play-offs between the runners-up of the groups. Group A contained eight teams, while the other six groups each contained seven.
As the official successor of the previous football association, Serbia inherited the position originally allotted to Serbia and Montenegro in Group A prior to the dissolution of the state union. Montenegro were granted UEFA membership after qualifying had started and thus were not able to participate in this European Championship.
^ abThe matches between Azerbaijan and Armenia were cancelled by UEFA with both associations receiving no points, as the two national associations failed to resolve political and security disagreements.[10][11]
^The Denmark v Sweden match was abandoned in the 89th minute at 3–3 following a fan attack on the referee.[12][13][14][15] The match was awarded as a 3–0 forfeit win to Sweden by UEFA following a hearing on 8 June 2007.[16][17][18]