The 48 national teams were divided into ten groups (two groups of four + eight groups of 5). Each group winner, as well as the six highest ranked second placed teams, advanced to the play-off. One of the eight qualifiers was then chosen to host the remaining fixtures.

Qualifying group stage

Draw

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

• Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 and 10 featured the same nations
• Group 5 did not include Faroe Islands
• Group 7 did not include Liechtenstein, but included Portugal (who did not participate in senior Euro qualification)
• Group 8 did not include Andorra

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  France 8 7 1 0 14 0 +14 22  Cyprus 8 5 0 3 12 5 +7 15  Israel 8 3 1 4 6 11 −5 10  Slovenia 8 2 3 3 4 7 −3 9  Malta 8 0 1 7 0 13 −13 1

Cyprus  — 0–1 2–0 2–0 4–0 France  2–0 — 2–0 2–0 1–0 Israel  0–3 0–3 — 3–0 0–0 Malta  0–1 0–3 0–1 — 0–0 Slovenia  2–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 —

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Norway 8 6 1 1 19 4 +15 19  Denmark 8 6 1 1 24 3 +21 19  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 4 1 3 6 10 −4 13  Romania 8 2 1 5 6 7 −1 7  Luxembourg 8 0 0 8 0 31 −31 0

Bosnia and Herzegovina  — 0–3 1–0 1–3 2–1 Denmark  3–0 — 9–0 2–0 0–0 Luxembourg  0–1 0–6 — 0–5 0–2 Norway  0–0 3–0 5–0 — 2–1 Romania  0–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 —

Group 3

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Czech Republic 8 6 0 2 17 4 +13 18  Belarus 8 6 0 2 11 6 +5 18  Austria 8 3 2 3 5 8 −3 11  Netherlands 8 1 4 3 6 10 −4 7  Moldova 8 0 2 6 3 14 −11 2

Austria  — 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 Belarus  0–1 — 1–0 3–1 2–1 Czech Republic  3–1 3–0 — 3–0 1–2 Moldova  0–1 0–2 0–2 — 2–2 Netherlands  0–0 0–1 0–3 0–0 —

Group 4

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Poland 8 6 2 0 24 6 +18 20  Sweden 8 4 2 2 17 13 +4 14  Hungary 8 4 0 4 17 13 +4 12  Latvia 8 3 0 5 11 16 −5 9  San Marino 8 1 0 7 8 29 −21 3

Hungary  — 3–1 1–2 4–1 5–2 Latvia  2–0 — 0–2 4–1 0–4 Poland  3–2 3–0 — 7–0 1–1 San Marino  1–2 0–2 1–5 — 1–5 Sweden  1–0 3–2 1–1 0–3* —

Group 5

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Scotland 6 4 1 1 10 6 +4 13  Germany 6 4 1 1 11 5 +6 13  Lithuania 6 3 0 3 10 10 0 9  Iceland 6 0 0 6 2 12 −10 0

Germany  — 1–0 1–0 0–1 Iceland  1–3 — 1–2 0–2 Lithuania  1–4 3–0 — 2–1 Scotland  2–2 1–0 3–2 —

Group 6

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Spain 8 6 1 1 16 2 +14 19  Greece 8 3 3 2 10 7 +3 12  Ukraine 8 2 5 1 8 5 +3 11  Northern Ireland 8 2 1 5 8 16 −8 7  Armenia 8 1 2 5 5 17 −12 5

Armenia  — 0–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 Greece  2–1 — 0–1 1–0 0–0 Northern Ireland  3–1 2–6 — 1–4 1–1 Spain  5–0 2–0 1–0 — 2–0 Ukraine  4–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 —

Group 7

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Turkey 8 7 1 0 18 5 +13 22  Portugal 8 6 0 2 20 11 +9 18  England 8 3 2 3 14 10 +4 11  Slovakia 8 2 0 6 9 16 −7 6  Macedonia 8 0 1 7 4 23 −19 1

England  — 3–1 1–2 2–0 1–1 Macedonia  1–1 — 1–4 0–2 0–4 Portugal  4–2 1–0 — 4–1 1–2 Slovakia  0–4 5–1 0–2 — 0–1 Turkey  1–0 3–0 4–2 2–1 —

Group 8

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Croatia 6 3 2 1 9 4 +5 11  Belgium 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10  Bulgaria 6 3 1 2 7 8 −1 10  Estonia 6 0 2 4 4 10 −6 2

Belgium  — 3–1 0–2 4–2 Bulgaria  2–1 — 1–3 1–0 Croatia  1–1 0–1 — 3–1 Estonia  0–1 1–1 0–0 —

Group 9

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Italy 8 7 0 1 26 5 +21 21  Serbia and Montenegro 8 6 1 1 16 8 +8 19  Finland 8 3 2 3 11 9 +2 11  Wales 8 2 1 5 7 16 −9 7  Azerbaijan 8 0 0 8 0 22 −22 0

Azerbaijan  — 0–1 0–3 0–2 0–1 Finland  3–0 — 1–2 1–2 2–1 Italy  6–0 1–0 — 4–1 8–1 Serbia and Montenegro  3–0 3–3 1–0 — 3–0 Wales  3–0* 0–0 1–2 0–1 —

Group 10

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts   Switzerland 8 6 1 1 12 6 +6 19  Russia 8 5 0 3 14 8 +6 15  Albania 8 3 1 4 10 10 0 10  Republic of Ireland 8 2 2 4 8 11 −3 8  Georgia 8 1 2 5 7 16 −9 5

Albania  — 3–0 1–0 1–4 0–0 Georgia  3–1 — 1–1 0–3 0–2 Republic of Ireland  0–3* 1–1 — 2–0 2–3 Russia  1–0 3–2 2–0 — 1–2 Switzerland  2–1 2–0 0–2 1–0 —

Ranking of second-placed teams

Because some groups contained five teams and some four, matches against the fifth-placed team in each group are not included in the ranking. As a result, six matches played by each team counted for the purposes of the second-placed table. The top six advanced to the play-off.

Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
5	Germany	6	4	1	1	11	5	+6	13
2	Denmark	6	4	1	1	9	3	+6	13
9	Serbia and Montenegro	6	4	1	1	11	8	+3	13
7	Portugal	6	4	0	2	15	10	+5	12
3	Belarus	6	4	0	2	6	5	+1	12
4	Sweden	6	3	2	1	12	9	+3	11
8	Belgium	6	3	1	2	10	8	+2	10
1	Cyprus	6	3	0	3	9	5	+4	9
10	Russia	6	3	0	3	9	8	+1	9
6	Greece	6	2	2	2	8	6	+2	8

Play-offs

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Serbia and Montenegro	5–4	Norway	5–1	0–3
Germany	2–1	Turkey	1–0	1–1
Portugal	3–3 (4–1 p)	France	1–2	2–1
Denmark	1–1 (a)	Italy	1–1	0–0
Belarus	5–1	Poland	1–1	4–0
Sweden	3–1	Spain	2–0	1–1
Switzerland	3–3 (4–3 p)	Czech Republic	1–2	2–1
Croatia	2–1	Scotland	2–0	0–1