EURO 2008

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, will take place in Austria and Switzerland, from 7 June to 29 June 2008. It is the second successful joint bid in the competition's history, alongside the 2000 European Football Championship, hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands. Austria and Switzerland will automatically qualify as hosts. The remaining 14 teams will be determined in a qualifying tournament that started in August 2006.

The two countries jointly bid to host the games, and faced major competition from Greece/Turkey, Scotland/Ireland, Russia, Hungary and Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina. Austria had already bid with another country before, which was Hungary for Euro 2004. They had eventually lost to Portugal.

Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Turkey, and Hungary were recommended before the final vote. Greece and Turkey were rejected and let Hungary and Austria/Switzerland battle for the win. But the final vote went to Austria and Switzerland, who had been the favourites in many people's eyes all along.

Qualifying Round

The draw for the UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying round took place in Montreux, Switzerland on 27 January 2006 at 12:00 CET.

The qualifying process commenced a month after the 2006 World Cup. Austria and Switzerland have already qualified for the tournament finals as host nations.

The Qualifying Format has been changed compared to previous tournaments. The winners and runners-up from seven groups will automatically qualify for the Championship, with the hosts filling the other two slots in the 16-team tournament. The change means there will be no play-offs between teams finishing in second place in the groups. Six of the qualifying groups will contain seven teams, and the other eight.