The UEFA Euro Cup is the second most important tournament for national squads in Europe. Although the winner of the Euro earns the pass to contest against all continental winners of the world (America Cup, African Cup, Asian Cup, and North American Cup) the Euro remains to be the most contended event after the World Cup.
And not for the least as many times in history the winner of the Euro Cup becomes the winner of the World Cup, a feat that Spain and France have achieved.
36 teams in Europe contest to qualify for the Euro Cup, but till date only 24 spots are available in the group stages (The Euro 2016 will be the first hosting 24 teams, before only 16 advanced to the final tournament).
The Euro Cup differs from its South American and North American brothers in the sense that those cups do not require a qualifying process, all the national teams of South America play in the America Cup. The vast number of contestants in Europe, which keeps increasing in time, requires a previous process of elimination.
*Quick Fact: Did you know Russia has seen more final stages of the Euro Cup than any other team and has only won the first edition? Check out the Euro Cup history and its dramatic stories.
How the Qualifying Process of the Euro Cup Works
One year after the World Cup the qualifying season begins. The football super powers of Europe, defined by FIFA rankings and current champions, each lead a group of 6 teams, this is referred to as “seeding”.
*These are the present qualifiers games for the Euro Cup [1].
The host country of the tournament qualifies automatically to the Euro.
FIFA Rank for the Euro Cup
To define which national teams will dominate a group, FIFA ranks all teams based on a point system. This points are determined as followed:
Total number of points won in all international matches, divided by the total of games played. The result should give a points per game ratio.
Only the results from the most recent qualifying competitions are used. If there is a point draw between teams then the following conditions decides which team outperforms the other:
- Coefficient from the matches played more recently
- Goal difference average
- Goals scored average
- Away Goals scored average
If two teams draw on all of the previous conditions then a ballot is cast to decide who the leader is.
Euro Cup Groups
The qualifying phase, as the tournament itself, is played on a group format of 9 groups of 6 teams each (6 groups of 6 teams and 3 groups of 5 teams) during the previous year of the Euro Cup itself (1 year after the World Cup).
Each group of 6 teams plays in a small league format, home and away games, two times during the year. Only the first two of each group after all games have been played (the two with the most score of points) will advance to the tournament phase. Four best thirds move on to play further play-offs to earn extra spots in the Euro Cup.
Euro Cup Qualifying Points Scheme
- 3 points are awarded to the winner of a match
- 1 point for a draw
- No points for a loss
When teams have the same points the following process applies to determine who bests who:
- Higher number of points
- Greater goal difference
- The most away goals scored
- Fair play conduct (fewer red and yellow cards)
- Draw ballot
Euro Cup Qualifier Betting
There are many opportunities to place a winning bet during the qualifying stage of the Euro Cup. Pro punters love to place both Pre Match and In Play Bets among other betting types on the Euro Cup.
Pre Match bets are favored after a serious analysis on who the potential winner could be. While In Play bets are placed live during the match themselves, and only signals to enter a bet occur as the match develops.
Our Daily Free Pre Match Bets are composed by the best punters on the punters, and all free of charge to our followers. All you have to do is subscribe to our newsletter and receive every day tips and picks of Euro matches, the Premier League and other football games around the world.
External Links
[1] .uefa.com, UEFA Qualifiers Matches, 2016