The UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying draw is out: Spain meet Norway, France face Netherlands, Italy vs England
When is the EURO 2024 group stage draw? Where is it taking place? What are the seeding pots? How will it work? When will the games take place? All the big questions answered.
How does the draw work?
• 53 national associations participate in the qualifying draw.
• Germany as the organisers of the UEFA EURO 2024 final tournament are automatically qualified and therefore do not take part in the draw.
• All Russian teams are currently suspended following the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee of 28 February 2022 which has further been confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 15 July 2022. Russia are therefore not included in the UEFA European Football Championship 2022–24 qualifying draw.
• The 53 teams that participate in the qualifying draw are seeded based on the overall rankings of the UEFA Nations League 2022/23 and will be allocated to ten qualification groups (seven groups of five teams and three groups of six teams).
The draw principles are unchanged compared to the previous edition. The specific adaptations are highlighted here below:
• The four finalists of the UEFA Nations League are drawn into groups of five teams, to allow them to participate in the finals in June 2023;
• Five country pairs are declared as prohibited. Those pairings must not be drawn into the same group: Armenia/Azerbaijan, Belarus/Ukraine, Gibraltar/Spain, Kosovo/Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo/Serbia;
• A maximum of two winter venues may be drawn into the same group: Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway;
• Several country pairings have been declared to represent an excessive travel distance. A maximum of one such pair may be drawn into the same group.
What are the seeding pots for the EURO 2024 draw?
UEFA Nations League (UNL) pot
Netherlands
Croatia
Spain
Italy
Pot 1
Denmark
Portugal
Belgium
Hungary
Switzerland
Poland
Pot 2
France
Austria
Czechia
England
Wales
Israel
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbia
Scotland
Finland
Pot 3
Ukraine
Iceland
Norway
Slovenia
Republic of Ireland
Albania
Montenegro
Romania
Sweden
Armenia
Pot 4
Georgia
Greece
Türkiye
Kazakhstan
Luxembourg
Azerbaijan
Kosovo
Bulgaria
Faroe Islands
North Macedonia
Pot 5
Slovakia
Northern Ireland
Cyprus
Belarus
Lithuania
Gibraltar
Estonia
Latvia
Moldova
Malta
Pot 6
Andorra
San Marino
Liechtenstein
How were teams seeded for the EURO 2024 qualifying draw?
The 53 teams involved in the draw have been classified on the basis of the overall 2022/23 UEFA Nations League rankings issued on completion of the Nations League group stage. Based on these rankings, the teams have been divided into seven pots: the 'UNL' pot, which contains the four Nations League finalists, followed by Pot 1 to Pot 6. The 'UNL' pot contains four teams, Pot 1 contains six teams, Pots 2 to 5 each contain ten teams and Pot 6 contains the three remaining teams.
The four Nations League finalists will play the final matches of this competition in June 2023. As a consequence, these teams have only eight matchdays available for the European Qualifiers group stage and must be allocated to groups of five teams.
What is the draw procedure?
• The draw starts with the 'UNL' Pot and Pot 1 before continuing from Pot 2 to Pot 6. Each pot is emptied entirely before proceeding to the next pot.
• As a rule, for each pot, the teams drawn are allocated in alphabetical order from Group A to Group J. In the 'UNL' Pot, the four UNL finalists will be allocated in the order they are drawn to Groups A, B, C and D.
• In Pot 1, the teams will be allocated in the order they are drawn to Groups E to J.
• As of Pot 2, when a draw condition applies or is anticipated to apply, the team drawn are allocated to the first available group in alphabetical order.
• Since Pot 6 only contains three teams, these teams are drawn into the sixth positions in Groups H to J to the first available group in alphabetical order.
Who are the EURO 2024 qualifying draw guests?
Four big-name former players (all past EURO finalists) will be on stage to assist with the draw: Jürgen Klinsmann, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Gianluca Zambrotta and Demetrio Albertini.
Lena, winner of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, will also perform her latest release, Looking for Love.
How does the qualifying competition work?
There will be ten groups: seven groups of five teams (Groups A–G) and three groups of six teams (Groups H–J). Teams play each other home and away in a round-robin system. Group matches are played according to the European Qualifiers match calendar from March to November 2023.
The ten group winners and the ten group runners-up qualify directly for the final tournament. The three remaining spots will be completed with the teams that qualify through the play-offs in March 2024.
When are the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying matches?
Qualifying match dates
23–25/03/2023 Matchday 1
26–28/03/2023 Matchday 2
16–17/06/2023 Matchday 3
19–20/06/2023 Matchday 4
07–09/09/2023 Matchday 5
10–12/09/2023 Matchday 6
12–14/10/2023 Matchday 7
15–17/10/2023 Matchday 8
16–18/11/2023 Matchday 9
19–21/11/2023 Matchday 10
Play-off match dates
21/03/2024 Play-off semi-finals
26/03/2024 Play-off finals
Final tournament dates
14/06/2024 UEFA EURO 2024 finals opener
14/07/2024 UEFA EURO 2024 final