The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 1992 was a series of parallel association football competitions to be held over 1990 and 1991 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 1992, to be held in Sweden. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 2 February 1990.
There were a total of seven groups. At the conclusion of qualifying, the team at the top of each group qualified for the final tournament, to join the hosts in completing the eight participants. This was the last European Championship to feature eight teams, as the competition was expanded to 16 teams for 1996.[1]
The draw took place on 2 February 1990. Sweden qualified automatically as hosts of the competition, and 34 teams entered the draw, with the Faroe Islands and San Marino participating in a European qualifying tournament for the first time.
As initially made, the draw placed East Germany and West Germany in the same qualifying group; this would have been the first time the two sides had met since the 1974 World Cup. However, following German reunification on 3 October 1990, the East German team was withdrawn and its fixtures scrapped, while the unified German team took over the fixtures of West Germany.
The qualifiers thus consisted of 33 teams divided into seven groups (two of four teams and five of five teams) were played in 1990 and 1991. Each group winner progressed to the finals. This was the last European Championship qualifying phase which awarded two points for a win; from 1996 onward, teams earned 3 points for a win.
If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:
Greater number of points in all group matches
Goal difference in all group matches
Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
^The Soviet Union team was replaced by CIS in the final tournament due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union just after the end of the qualifying stages.
^ abYugoslavia were to participate in the final tournament as FR Yugoslavia. However, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was placed under sanctions on 30 May 1992 by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 after the outbreak of Yugoslav Wars.[2] FIFA and UEFA therefore suspended FR Yugoslavia from competitive football on 31 May 1992, meaning they could not participate in the final tournament. Group runners-up Denmark instead took the spot at the final tournament.
East Germany were originally drawn into this group alongside West Germany, but after reunification, a single German team participated in the qualification process, taking over the fixtures of West Germany.
Subsequently, East Germany's game on 12 September 1990 against Belgium was reclassified as a friendly, and was also East Germany's final international match, which it won 2–0: the remaining seven fixtures of East Germany were scratched.[4]
^34 teams entered the competition: due to German reunification on 3 October 1990, West Germany's place was taken by unified Germany, while East Germany were withdrawn as they had ceased to exist.