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Euro 2020 play-off draw and main draw

Now that the Euro 2020 qualifiers have been completed, we know the 20 qualified teams and the 16 teams in the play-offs. The draw for the play-offs and the main draw will not be straightforward. There will be decisions which may make you scratch your head and wonder why they did that. This note is intended to explain how the draws will work.

The Play-offs

The teams in the play-offs, listed in order of their Nations League rankings, are :-

League A

League B

League C

League D

Nations League Group Winners

Bosnia & H

Scotland

Norway

Serbia

Georgia

North Macedonia

Kosovo

Belarus

Not Group Winners

Iceland

Slovakia

Rep Ireland

N. Ireland

Bulgaria

Israel

Hungary

Romania

The countries shown in red are Euro 2020 host countries.

The play-offs are drawn in reverse order : D, C, B, A. The rules are :-

a. A group winner cannot form a path with a team from a higher-ranked league in the overall UEFA Nations League rankings.

b. If four or more teams from a league enter the play-offs, a path with four teams from the league in question must be formed.

c. Additional conditions may be applied, subject to approval by the UEFA Executive Committee, including seeding principles and the possibility of final tournament host associations having to be drawn into different paths.

Once the 4 teams in each play-off are determined, the semi-final pairings are 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 based on their positions in the Nations League rankings. These are single-legged ties hosted by the first named team. For each play-off path, there will be a random draw to see which semi-final will provide the hosts for the final, which is also a single-legged tie.

Play-off D

As there are exactly 4 teams qualified for the play-offs, there is no need for a draw. The pairings are

Georgia v Belarus
North Macedonia v Kosovo

Play-off C

The 3 Nations League group winners must be in this play-off – Rule (a).

UEFA would also like to keep all host countries apart in the play-offs – Rule (c). But, with 4 host countries in the play-offs, this is not possible. I am expecting that UEFA will leave 2 host countries in the League C play-offs : Scotland plus either Hungary or Romania. The other host country would be moved to a higher League. This is not definite : UEFA could move both Hungary and Romania to a higher League. If UEFA only move one of them then the play-offs will be

Scotland v Hungary or Romania
Norway v Serbia

Play-off B

As there are exactly 4 teams qualified for the play-offs, a pathway must be formed from League B teams – Rule (b).

Bosnia & Herzegovina v N. Ireland
Slovakia v Rep Ireland

Play-off A

There is no draw as there are only 4 remaining teams. The pairings are

Iceland v Hungary or Romania
Bulgaria v Israel

The Main Euro 2020 Draw

Regarding the main draw, the draw pots are :-

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot 3

Pot 4

Belgium

Italy

England

Germany

Spain

Ukraine

France

Poland

Switzerland

Croatia

Netherlands

Russia

Portugal

Turkey

Denmark

Austria

Sweden

Czech Rep

Wales

Finland

Play-off A

Play-off B

Play-off C

Play-off D

The countries shown in red are the teams which could be drawn into Group D, England's group.

Some of the teams must be placed into certain groups. These are indicated below. Teams which are not placed in groups will be drawn into groups at random.

Pot 1

A - must be Italy as a host country

D - must be England as a host country

E - must be Spain as a host country

F - must be Germany as a host country

C - must be Ukraine as they cannot be placed in Group B with Russia (prohibited clash/venue)

B - must be Belgium as they're the only country left

Pot 2

B - must be Russia as a host country

C - must be Netherlands as a host country

Pot 3

B - must be Denmark as a host country

Pot 4

I am assuming in these notes that the League C play-offs will have 2 host countries.

F or C - will include the play-off A place marker, depending on whether Hungary or Romania are in the League A play-off.

E - will include the play-off B place marker because Rep Ireland are in the League B play-off.

The play-off C place marker will be in either Group D (because Scotland are in the League C play-off) or F/C, depending on whether Hungary or Romania are also in this play-off. Whichever group doesn't get the play-off C place marker will get the play-off D place marker instead : this is so that they can be swapped next April if the “wrong” team wins the Nations League C play-off.

48 Replies

  • Will Arnold
    Legend. I had done my own rough workings during the games today and had come to the same conclusions.

    Interesting that one group is pretty much already confirmed (Belgium, Russia, Denmark plus Finland or Wales).

    One question. Why do you think UEFA will forcibly try and keep two hosts in the Playoff C route? I had assumed they would just draw one of Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary and Romania to finish off Playoff C, and the rest go into A with Iceland. Either way there will be two hosts in one and one in another, so from a draw logistics point of view it makes no difference. Unless you think UEFA will want to increase the chances of one of the hosts qualifying by keeping two of them separate from Iceland?
  • David Lilley

    In reply to Will Arnold:

    Will Arnold
    One question. Why do you think UEFA will forcibly try and keep two hosts in the Playoff C route?

    Merely because the surplus host countries arose in League C. It's not a strong reason and I wouldn't put any money on it.

    The alternative would be 

    Scotland v Bulgaria or Israel
    Norway v Serbia

    Iceland v Romania
    Bulgaria or Israel v Hungary

  • Adrian Gunner

    Thankyou for the information David...Yes

  • Barry Pounder
    I've got a ticket in St Petersburg 17/6 who is likely to be playing same in Baku 21/6 ..

    I cant be bothered to work it out
  • David Lilley

    In reply to Barry Pounder:

    St Petersburg will stage matches in group B. The teams in group B will be Belgium, Russia, Denmark and either Wales or Finland.

    Baku will stage matches in group A. The teams in group A will be Italy, the other one of Finland or Wales, and two other teams to be drawn at random. Italy will definitely not be playing any group matches in Baku.

    The draw is on 30th November, so you'll have all your fixture questions answered then.
  • John Greenwood
    France, Portugal and Wales would be a tasty group for us!
  • Barry Pounder

    In reply to David Lilley:

    Cheers Dave just noticed Spain paying in Bilbao. That'll go down well..
  • David Lilley

    In reply to John Greenwood:

    We can't get Wales from pot 4.

    Scotland are in the League C play-offs and, as Glasgow is a host city in group D, our pot 4 "country" must be the League C play-off winner.

    If the League C play-offs include another host country as well as Scotland then there is a possibility we could get the League D play-off winner instead. These are the only 2 possibilities from pot 4.
  • Adrian Gunner

    In reply to Adrian Gunner:

    David.... Do you know how long would it takes for them to confirm the kick off times after the draw? Many Thanks
  • John Greenwood

    In reply to David Lilley:

    Yeah just realised that, they'll have to leave a spot in our group empty in case Scotland come through the playoffs.
  • John Greenwood

    In reply to Adrian Gunner:

    Hoping for afternoon kickoffs for the Sunday and Friday group games. Make it easier for us Northerners to get there and back on the train without having the added cost of hotels.
  • Adrian Gunner

    In reply to John Greenwood:

    Same here John... Fingers crossed.
  • damian kirkman

    In reply to John Greenwood:

    Subday will be afternoon surely but imagine the Friday will be 5pm or 7.30/8
  • David Lilley

    In reply to John Greenwood:

    John Greenwood
    they'll have to leave a spot in our group empty in case Scotland come through the playoffs.

    No, they won't keep a spot empty. The League C play-off winner will be assigned to group D to cater for the possibility that it might be Scotland. The identity of the play-off winner won't be known until the end of March but whoever it is, Scotland or one of the other three, that's who will be in England's group D.

    The only possibility of this not happening is if the League C play-off includes another host country, for example, Hungary who are hosts in group F. As UEFA can't assign the League C play-off winner to 2 groups, they will pick D or F. The other group will get the League D play-off winner so that they can be swapped in April if the "wrong" team wins the League C play-off in March. Example

    If UEFA put the League C play-off winner in group D, and Hungary win this play-off, the "wrong" team will have won. They will be moved to group F, and the League D play-off winner will move the other way. If any of the other 3 countries apart from Hungary wins the play-off, they will stay in group D.

    Similarly, if UEFA put the League C play-off winner in group F, and Scotland win this play-off, the "wrong" team will have won. They will be moved to group D, and the League D play-off winner will move the other way. If any of the other 3 countries apart from Scotland wins the play-off, they will stay in group F.

  • David Lilley

    In reply to Adrian Gunner:

    No, I don't know. But I would expect the decisions to be based on (a) time zone, and (b) potential TV revenues.

    On 14th June there are matches in Bucharest, Amsterdam and Wembley. Because these are in different time zones I would expect the kick off times to go from east to west, i.e. Bucharest 2:00 pm, Amsterdam 5:00 pm and Wembley 8:00 pm BST.

    On 19th June there are matches in Dublin, Glasgow and Wembley. These are all in the same time zone. From the point of view of TV audience, England might get the 8:00 pm slot again - possibly 5:00 pm.

    On 23rd June there are matches only in Glasgow and Wembley which must be simultaneous. At Euro 2016, where there were only 2 matches that day in the final round of group matches, the kick offs were 8:00 pm.

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