The fast-moving contents of section “Qualifying Tournament” starts from the draw date according to the qualifying round rules of the European Championship. The qualifying tournament draw hold in January 2010.

Groups:

Group А	Group В	Group С
Germany Turkey Austria Belgium Kazakhstan Azerbaijan	Russia Slovakia Ireland Macedonia Armenia Andorra	Italy Serbia Northern Ireland Slovenia Estonia Faroe Islands
Group D	Group E	Group F
France Romania Bosnia and Herzegovina Belarus Albania Luxembourg	Netherlands Sweden Finland Hungary Moldova San Marino	Croatia Greece Israel Latvia Georgia Malta
Group G	Group H	Group I
England Switzerland Bulgaria Wales Montenegro	Portugal Denmark Norway Cyprus Iceland	Spain Chezh Republic Scotland Lithuania Liechtenstein

Thus, the qualifying round will start upon completion of the next World Championship and last for two years up to the finals of the European Championship in 2012. The groups of participants will be formed by the UEFA Committee drawing, which uses the team seeding method. The rule lies in seeding based on the qualifying round for the World Championship, with the team ratings allotment pursuant to the previous European Championship results being considered.

The team rank is formed as follows. The number of points scored by the teams in games is divided into the number of games. Then the average number of points per game is calculated. In case if the team hosted one or two previous tournaments, the results of the latest qualifying contest are used. Should two teams score equal average number of points per match, the Committee defines their rank taking into account the following:

1. The played matches rate.
2.Average difference in goals per match.
3.Average game effectiveness.
4.Average play-off matches. And,
5.Drawing.

The qualifying leg is held by using a group format. The group membership is defined through drawing among the teams.

Ukraine and Poland being the tournament hosts will not take part in qualifying matches. The EURO 2012 hosts fall into the games final automatically. Thus, their participation in the drawing is defined by the draw date of the European Championship final in 2012. This will happen in December 2011.