The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national teams of Europe. The competition was expanded to 16 teams (from 12 teams in the previous edition). The Netherlands were declared as hosts by the UEFA Executive Committee on 4 December 2014. Germany's 22-year reign as champions of Europe was ended after losing 1–2 to Denmark in the quarter-finals. In addition it was only Germany's second loss in the finals since 1993. Another former winner, Norway, lost to both finalists, the Netherlands and Denmark, and ended without goals or points. The Netherlands won their first ever title by beating fellow first time finalists, Denmark, 4–2 in the final. Host selection Expressions of interest in hosting the tournament were received from seven associations. On 4 December 2014 The Netherlands were chosen as hosts for the first time having never previously staged the tournament. Qualification A total of 47 UEFA nations entered the competition (including Andorra which entered for the first time at senior women's level), and with the hosts Netherlands qualifying automatically, the other 46 teams competed in the qualifying competition to determine the remaining 15 spots in the final tournament. The qualifying competition, which took place from April 2015 to October 2016, consisted of three rounds: Preliminary round: The eight lowest-ranked teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the pre-selected hosts. The two group winners advanced to the qualifying group stage. Qualifying group stage: The 40 teams (38 highest-ranked teams and two preliminary round qualifiers) were drawn into eight groups of five teams. Each group was played in home-and-away round-robin format. The eight group winners and the six best runners-up (not counting results against the fifth-placed team) qualified directly for the final tournament, while the two remaining runners-up advanced to the play-offs. Play-offs: The two teams played home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last qualified team. Qualified teams The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. Five teams made their Women's Euro debuts. The only team that qualified in 2013 but did not qualify in 2017 was Finland. Notes Final draw The final draw was held on 8 November 2016, 17:30 CET (UTC+1), at the Luxor Theatre in Rotterdam. The 16