The road to Germany and Euro 2024 continues in September. Here’s the state of play…
The Euro 2024 qualifying groups
Group A: Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus.
Group B: Netherlands, France, Republic of Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar.
Group C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta.
Group D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey, Latvia.
Group E: Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands, Moldova.
Group F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia.
Group G: Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania.
Group H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino.
Group I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra.
Group J: Portugal, Bosnia, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein.
State of play
Group A
Scotland moved a step closer to booking their spot at Euro 2024 as they maintained their perfect record in qualifying with a 2-0 win over Georgia in June.
They now visit bottom-of-the-table Cyprus looking to cement their position at the top of Group A.
Group B
France boast a 100 per cent record after four games while the Netherlands cannot afford to drop points against second-placed Greece when they meet this week.
The Republic of Ireland make the dauting trip to face Les Bleus at the Parc des Princes before hosting the Netherlands three days later. Two defeats could spell the end to their hopes of qualifying for next summer’s tournament.
Group C
England face Ukraine at the Stadion Miejski in Wroclaw, Poland, on Saturday looking to extend their perfect record to five wins from five matches.
Qualification for next summer’s tournament would already appear a formality for Gareth Southgate’s men since beating Italy on the opening night, but victory over second-placed Ukraine would see the Three Lions go nine points clear at the top of Group C.
Group D
Wales‘ shock 4-2 home loss by Armenia in June has dented their hopes – having drawn in Croatia and beaten Latvia in March.
They then lost 2-0 away in Turkey and need a good result away against bottom-of-the table Latvia this week after the friendly against South Korea on Thursday in Cardiff.
Group E
Group E is wide open with the Czech Republic leading the way but only six points separate themselves and the Faroe Islands at the foot of the table. The Czechs can strengthen their grip on top spot with victory over Albania on Thursday.
Group F
It already looks a two-way tussle for top spot between Austria and Belgium in Group F with Sweden needing nothing less than three points when they go to Estonia on Saturday.
Belgium will be looking to wrestle control of the group with victories against Azerbaijan and Estonia over the next fortnight.
Group G
Serbia and Hungary are both locked on seven points and face each other in Belgrade on Thursday. Montenegro can enter the equation with victory in Lithuania on the same night.
Group H
This is a ferociously open six-nation group. Two points separate Finland in top spot and Slovenia in fourth. Kazakhstan have the same number of points as the Finns in second place.
Denmark in third have the fortune of facing whipping boys San Marino at home but fifth-placed Northern Ireland need to realistically win in Slovenia to make a late dash for a play-off spot. Even then, however, we would only be at the halfway point of this marathon group qualifying campaign.
Group I
There is greater clarity to Group I with Switzerland leading Romania by two points as the only remaining nations unbeaten. Both play Kosovo over the next week while Israel could leapfrog Romania with victory in Bucharest on Saturday.
Group J
Portugal are virtually assured of a place at Euro 2024 after taking maximum points so far. Slovakia will hope to burst their bubble with victory in Bratislava when the two nations meet on Friday.
Dark horses Luxembourg have taken seven points from their opening four matches and host Iceland on the same evening.
What every country needs to do to qualify
The top two countries from each qualifying group – seven of which include just five countries – will qualify.
Scotland have been grouped with Spain and Norway while Wales will face Croatia.
But the Republic of Ireland seemingly face a tough challenge after being drawn with Netherlands and France.
Two teams from each of the three groups with six countries will also qualify for Euro 2024.
Northern Ireland, also in a six-country group, will play Denmark, Finland and Slovenia.
Germany, as hosts, have qualified automatically for the tournament while three countries will qualify from the play-offs.
The qualifiers will conclude next November.
Who qualifies for Euro 2024?
Two teams – the group winners and runners-up – will qualify automatically from each of the 10 groups.
Three teams will then qualify via the play-offs.
Germany, as hosts, are the only country currently certain to be one of the 24 nations in action at next summer’s tournament.
What are the key Euro 2024 dates?
The first round of qualifiers takes place between March 23-25 2023, while the final matches are on November 19-21 2023.
However, the four Nations League finalists will not be in action on either matchday three or four as they will be competing in the finals of that tournament.
What about the play-offs?
Each country that won their Nations League group make it automatically into the play-offs, unless they progress to the tournament itself by finishing in the top two of their qualifying group.
In that situation, the next best nation in the respective league will take their play-off place, with this decided by the following criteria: position in the group, points and goal difference.
The draw for the play-offs takes place in November 2023, with the play-off semi-finals and finals being played between March 21 and 26, 2024.
When is the tournament?
The final tournament draw will take place in December 2023 at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
The teams will be seeded in accordance with the overall European Qualifiers rankings. Germany will be automatically seeded into pot 1 as hosts, and placed in position A1.
The three play-off winners will not be known at the time of the draw but will be placed into pot 4 for the draw.
The opening game of Euro 2024 is June 14 with the final taking place on July 14 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin.
Who are the Euro 2024 hosts?
Germany, the team of the EURO 2024 host association, qualify automatically for the final tournament and therefore did not take part in the qualifying draw.