Groups
The qualifying process started in August 2006. Austria and Switzerland were granted places in the tournament finals as host nations.
The qualifying format had been changed compared to the previous tournament. The winners and runners-up from seven groups will automatically qualify for the Championship, with the hosts filling the other two slots in the 16-team tournament. The move means there will no longer be play-offs between teams finishing in second place in the groups. Six of the qualifying groups contain seven teams, and the other, eight.
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.
Key:
- Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals
Read more about this topic: UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
Famous quotes containing the word groups:
“And seniors grow tomorrow
From the juniors today,
And even swimming groups can fade,
Games mistresses turn grey.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“Writers and politicians are natural rivals. Both groups try to make the world in their own images; they fight for the same territory.”
—Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)
“Instead of seeing society as a collection of clearly defined “interest groups,” society must be reconceptualized as a complex network of groups of interacting individuals whose membership and communication patterns are seldom confined to one such group alone.”
—Diana Crane (b. 1933)