The ten qualifying groups for the UEFA Euro 2024 were confirmed in a draw held in Frankfurt, Germany on 9th October. It will be the 17th edition of the tournament. Die Mannschaft have already qualified by virtue of being the hosts. It is set to kick off on 14th June 2024 with the final set to be played a month later.
For the Euro 2024 Qualifiers, 53 participating nations were paired into groups of seven containing five teams and the remaining three having six. The Qualifiers will start from March 2023 and run until November of that year with the playoffs of the group to decide the remaining teams for the competition scheduled in March 2024. Every team in a group plays each other twice, with the top two in each section qualifying automatically for the finals alongside hosts Germany. A further three teams will qualify via the playoffs. Here is the full qualifying draw for the tournament and all the dates of the match days:
Group A
Spain
Scotland
Norway
Georgia
Cyprus
Spain will be favorites to gain automatic qualification to Euro 2024 from this group although face stiff challenges from Scotland and Norway especially on their travels. Georgia could ask a few questions with their tantalizing talent Kvicha kvaratskelia ripping it for his nation and club Napoli. La Roja have participated in eleven European Championships so far, winning it twice. Scotland have been at the Euros three times while Erling Haaland-Martin Odegaard led Norway will be wishing to be at the competition for only the second time in their history.
Group B
Netherlands
France
Republic of Ireland
Greece
Gibraltar
Group B will be down to two exciting battle between Netherlands and France to decide the group leaders if the Republic of Ireland or Greece do not cause any shock on the road. Hosted the inaugural tournament in 1960, France have competed in the Euros 10 times winning it twice and coming close to a third in 2016. Netherlands and Greece have one title each in their history but the Dutch have more appearances in the tournament with 10 compared to four of the Ethniki. The Republic of Ireland have qualified for the tournament three times, most recently in 2016 when they reached the round of 16 stages.
Group C
Italy
England
Ukraine
North Macedonia
Malta
The fascinating encounter of the entire qualifiers with major storylines will be the two Group C matches between defending champions Italy and the nation they beat in the final at Wembley last year, England. The 2020 Euro win was the Azzurri’s second success in their tournament history with 10 appearances and being in the showpiece final for the fourth time. The Three Lions too have made it to the competition proper 10 times but have never won it in Men’s football. Their best performance in tournament history was the runners-up spot in 2021 in front of their home crowd. Ukraine have been in the last three editions of the European Championship and will be a tricky customer with the war still raging in their nation. North Macedonia have eliminated Italy from contention for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar earlier this year proving to be the giant killers again making it another mesmerizing duel to watch in this group. Their first-ever appearance in the competition came in Euro 2020 and they alongside Ukraine are likely to compete for the playoff spot.
Group D
Croatia
Wales
Armenia
Turkey
Latvia
Since 1996, Croatia have failed to qualify for the European Championship only once appearing in the last four editions of the tournament. It is expected Zlatko Dalic’s side will make it to another competition with a quality squad at disposal while the group’s second spot is down to Wales and Turkey to compete. Wales have missed qualification to the Euros only once while Turkey have made five appearances in the tournament including in the last one. Armenia have participated in every qualifier for the Euros since 1996 though they are yet to qualify for the finals.
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Group E
Poland
Czechia
Albania
Faroe Islands
Moldova
Robert Lewandowski is hoping to fire Poland to the fifth consecutive European Championship finals from a relatively easy group in the qualifiers. Czechia are willing to join them in the tournament for the seventh time having reached the quarter final stages of the last edition in 2021. However, Albania are not to be taken lightly with the nation aiming to repeat their qualification to the 2016 edition of the tournament having a more talented squad this time around.
Group F
Belgium
Austria
Sweden
Azerbaijan
Estonia
Belgium and Sweden are the likeliest sides to qualify automatically from Group F while Austria could make the playoffs. The Red Devils have participated in six European Championship in their history including in the last two editions. Similarly, Sweden have qualified for the Euros six times and in every edition since 2000. Austria have competed in three Euros so far all in this century after making their debut in the competition as hosts in 2008.
Group G
Hungary
Serbia
Montenegro
Bulgaria
Lithuania
Serbia with their sensational attacking force and Hungary with their spirited football are the two dominant forces in Group G and are tipped to grab the top two places for direct qualification to the Euro 2024 in Germany. The striking pair of Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic wants to create history by sending their nation to the European Championship for the very first time as an independent country having been knocked out from the playoffs in the previous edition qualifiers. Meanwhile, Hungary have been in the tournament four times including in the last two editions. Bulgaria are the only other nation in this group to have tasted the Euros with two qualifications.
Group H
Denmark
Finland
Slovenia
Kazakhstan
Northern Ireland
San Marino
Denmark are the outright favorites to gain the top place in this group replicating a stellar 2022 World Cup qualification where they lost only once in the entire qualifiers. The Danish dynamites have participated in nine European Championships so far winning it once. Finland are expected to grab the other automatic places in the group to make it to the Euros for consecutive times in their history whereas Slovenia or even Northern Ireland have their say, mainly for the playoff spot, as well. Slovenia have been in the finals twice while Northern Ireland’s only appearance came in 2016.
Group I
Switzerland
Israel
Romania
Kosovo
Belarus
Andorra
Switzerland should not find this group a hurdle to escape with lower-ranked nations to face in the qualifiers. The Swiss Army have appeared in five European Championship till now between 1996 and 2020, held in 2021. Like them, Romania have competed in five tournaments with the latest being the 2016 edition. Israel have never qualified for the European Championship and neither the rest of the countries in the group.
Group J
Portugal
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iceland
Luxembourg
Slovakia
Liechtenstein
2016 winners Portugal are mighty favorites to seal their ninth qualification to the Euros probably the last major competition for the Selecao with Cristiano Ronaldo in their squad should he continue then. Edin Dzeko’s Bosnia and Herzegovina could eye the second spot in the group ahead of closest challengers Slovakia and Iceland coming with their surprises. Among them, only Slovakia has made it to the tournament more than once with Iceland managing one in 2016 and none so far for Bosnia.
Qualifying dates (Not finalized)
Matchday 1 - 23-25 March 2023
Matchday 2 - 26-28 March 2023
Matchday 3 - 16-17 June 2023
Matchday 4 - 19-20 June 2023
Matchday 5 - 07-09 September 2023
Matchday 6 - 10-12 September 2023
Matchday 7 - 12-14 October 2023
Matchday 8 - 15-17 October 2023
Matchday 9 - 16-18 November 2023
Matchday 10 - 19-21 November 2023
Play-off match dates:
Play-off semi-finals - 21 March 2024
Play-off finals - 26 March 2024
Final tournament dates:
14 June 2024 UEFA EURO 2024 finals opener
14 July 2024 UEFA EURO 2024 final
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