Qualifying for UEFA Euro 1996 took place throughout 1994 and 1995. Forty-seven teams were divided into eight groups, with each team playing the others in their group both home and away. The winners of each group and the six best runners-up qualified automatically, while the two worst runners-up were involved in a play-off at a neutral venue. England qualified automatically as hosts of the event. This was the first European Championship qualifying phase in which three points were awarded for each win, as opposed to the two points that had been awarded previously. Qualified teams {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Team ! Qualified as ! Qualified on ! data-sort-type="number"|Previous appearances in tournament |- | || || || 4 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992) |- | || Group 2 winner || || 4 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988) |- | || Group 8 winner || || 6 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992) |- | || Group 3 winner || || 0 (debut) |- | || Group 4 winner || || 0 (debut) |- | || || || 1 (1992) |- | || || || 0 (debut) |- | || Group 7 winner || || 6 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) |- | || Group 1 winner || || 1 (1984) |- | || || || 0 (debut) |- | || || || 4 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992) |- | || Group 5 winner || || 3 (1960, 1976, 1980) |- | || || || 3 (1968, 1980, 1988) |- | || || || 3 (1960, 1984, 1992) |- | || Group 6 winner || || 1 (1984) |- | || || || 4 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992) |} Seedings The draw was made on 22 January 1994 in Manchester. Denmark were seeded first as title holders, while the remaining 46 teams were divided into six pots. Yugoslavia did not enter qualifying as they were suspended due to United Nations Security Council Resolution 757. Teams in bold eventually qualified for the final tournament, teams in bold italic qualified for the final tournament through the play-offs, and teams in italic participated in the play-offs but did not qualify for the final tournament. New entrants New teams that joined UEFA's qualification games after the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA): From the former Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine From the former Czechoslovakia: Czech Republic and Slovakia From the former Yugoslavia: