# UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying

This page describes the qualifying procedure for UEFA Euro 1988.

## Qualified teams

| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| West Germany | Host | 14 March 1985 | 4 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984) |
| Denmark | Group 6 winner | 14 October 1987 | 2 (1964, 1984) |
| Soviet Union | Group 3 winner | 28 October 1987 | 4 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972) |
| England | Group 4 winner | 11 November 1987 | 2 (1968, 1980) |
| Republic of Ireland | Group 7 winner | 11 November 1987 | 0 (debut) |
| Italy | Group 2 winner | 14 November 1987 | 2 (1968, 1980) |
| Spain | Group 1 winner | 18 November 1987 | 3 (1964, 1980, 1984) |
| Netherlands | Group 5 winner | 9 December 1987 | 2 (1976, 1980) |
* ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

## Seedings

| Pool 1 | Pool 2 | Pool 3 | Pool 4 | Pool 5 |
| France (title holders) England Denmark Spain Netherlands Portugal Belgium | Soviet Union Romania Northern Ireland Sweden Hungary Wales Bulgaria | Austria Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia East Germany Poland Switzerland Republic of Ireland | Scotland Greece Norway Finland Italy Turkey Albania | Iceland Malta Cyprus Luxembourg |

## Summary

| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 |
| Spain | Italy | Soviet Union | England | Netherlands | Denmark | Republic of Ireland |
| Romania Austria Albania | Sweden Portugal Switzerland Malta | East Germany France Iceland Norway | Yugoslavia Northern Ireland Turkey | Greece Hungary Poland Cyprus | Czechoslovakia Wales Finland | Bulgaria Belgium Scotland Luxembourg |

## Tiebreakers

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
* Drawing of lots

## Groups

The qualifying draw took place on 14 February 1986, in Frankfurt. West Germany qualified automatically as hosts of the competition. 32 teams entered the draw.
The qualifiers, consisting of 32 teams divided into seven groups; three of four teams and four of five teams, were played in 1986 and 1987. Each group winner progressed to the finals.

### Group 1

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Spain | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 10 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Romania | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 9 | | 3–1 | — | 4–0 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Austria | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 5 | | 2–3 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 |
| 4 | Albania | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 17 | −15 | 0 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — |

### Group 2

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Italy | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 4 | +12 | 13 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Sweden | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 10 | | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Portugal | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 8 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 7 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 4–1 |
| 5 | Malta | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 21 | −17 | 2 | | 0–2 | 0–5 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |

### Group 3

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 13 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | East Germany | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 11 | | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | France | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 6 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 4 | Iceland | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 6 | | 1–1 | 0–6 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 |
| 5 | Norway | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 4 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — |

### Group 4

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | England | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 1 | +18 | 11 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 8–0 |
| 2 | Yugoslavia | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 8 | | 1–4 | — | 3–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Northern Ireland | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 3 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Turkey | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 16 | −14 | 2 | | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | — |

### Group 5

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Netherlands | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 14 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Greece | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 9 | | 0–3 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Hungary | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 8 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | — | 5–3 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Poland | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 8 | | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | — | 0–0 |
| 5 | Cyprus | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 1 | | 0–2 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — |
* ↑ The Netherlands v Cyprus match originally finished as an 8–0 win for the Netherlands, but the match was marred by crowd violence. The Cypriot goalkeeper Andreas Charitou was injured by a homemade bomb which exploded close to him. Therefore the result was annulled and the match was ordered to be replayed behind closed doors.

### Group 6

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Denmark | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 8 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 7 | | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Wales | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 6 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 |
| 4 | Finland | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 3 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | — |

### Group 7

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Republic of Ireland | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 11 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Bulgaria | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 10 | | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Belgium | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 9 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 4–1 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Scotland | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 9 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 23 | −21 | 1 | | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–6 | 0–0 | — |

## Goalscorers

There were 287 goals scored in 117 matches, for an average of 2.45 goals per match.
9 goals
* John Bosman
7 goals
* Nico Claesen
6 goals
* Alessandro Altobelli
* Johnny Ekström
5 goals
* Lachezar Tanev
* Andreas Thom
* Gary Lineker
* Nikos Anastopoulos
* Ruud Gullit
4 goals
* Ulf Kirsten
* Gianluca Vialli
* Igor Belanov
* Georges Bregy
* Zlatko Vujović
3 goals
* Toni Polster
* Nasko Sirakov
* Ivo Knoflíček
* John Barnes
* Lajos Détári
* Carmel Busuttil
* Dariusz Dziekanowski
* Frank Stapleton
* Gheorghe Hagi
* José Mari Bakero
* Míchel
2 goals
* Manfred Linzmaier
* Jan Ceulemans
* Franky Vercauteren
* Hristo Kolev
* Jan Mølby
* Peter Beardsley
* Bryan Robson
* Chris Waddle
* Ari Hjelm
* Dimitris Saravakos
* Imre Boda
* György Bognár
* Ferenc Mészáros
* Hans Gillhaus
* Ronald Koeman
* Marco van Basten
* Jørn Andersen
* Marek Leśniak
* Jorge Plácido
* Paul McGrath
* Ștefan Iovan
* Victor Pițurcă
* Davie Cooper
* Paul McStay
* Oleksandr Zavarov
* Eloy Olaya
* Peter Larsson
* Ian Rush
* Faruk Hadžibegić
* Srečko Katanec
* Fadil Vokrri
1 goal
* Sokol Kushta
* Shkëlqim Muça
* Andreas Ogris
* Peter Crève
* Marc Degryse
* Eric Gerets
* Pier Janssen
* Enzo Scifo
* Ayan Sadakov
* Georgi Yordanov
* Evagoras Christofi
* Pavlos Savva
* Giorgos Savvidis
* Michal Bílek
* Ivan Hašek
* Petr Janečka
* Karel Kula
* Jens Jørn Bertelsen
* Preben Elkjær
* Thomas Doll
* Matthias Döschner
* Rainer Ernst
* Ralf Minge
* Tony Adams
* Viv Anderson
* Steve Hodge
* Gary Mabbutt
* Neil Webb
* Ismo Lius
* Petri Tiainen
* Philippe Fargeon
* Carmelo Micciche
* Yannick Stopyra
* José Touré
* Kostas Antoniou
* Kostas Batsinilas
* Andreas Bonovas
* Tasos Mitropoulos
* Lakis Papaioannou
* József Kiprich
* Zoltán Péter
* Tamás Preszeller
* István Vincze
* Atli Eðvaldsson
* Arnór Guðjohnsen
* Pétur Ormslev
* Pétur Pétursson
* Salvatore Bagni
* Giuseppe Bergomi
* Luigi De Agostini
* Roberto Donadoni
* Riccardo Ferri
* Giuseppe Giannini
* Armin Krings
* Robby Langers
* Dennis Mizzi
* Arnold Mühren
* Ronald Spelbos
* John van 't Schip
* Colin Clarke
* Jimmy Quinn
* Jan Kristian Fjærestad
* Per Edmund Mordt
* Tom Sundby
* Dariusz Marciniak
* Włodzimierz Smolarek
* Ryszard Tarasiewicz
* Roman Wójcicki
* José Coelho
* Manuel Fernandes
* Fernando Gomes
* Frederico Rosa
* Liam Brady
* Tony Galvin
* Mark Lawrenson
* Kevin Moran
* Ronnie Whelan
* László Bölöni
* Adrian Bumbescu
* Michael Klein
* Marius Lăcătuș
* Dorin Mateuț
* Nicolae Ungureanu
* Mo Johnston
* Gary Mackay
* Ally McCoist
* Sergei Aleinikov
* Oleg Blokhin
* Vagiz Khidiyatullin
* Hennadiy Lytovchenko
* Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko
* Oleh Protasov
* Vasyl Rats
* Tengiz Sulakvelidze
* Juan Carlos Arteche
* Ramón Calderé
* Lobo Carrasco
* Joaquín
* Francisco Llorente
* Manuel Sanchís
* Stig Fredriksson
* Glenn Hysén
* Mats Magnusson
* Glenn Strömberg
* Jean-Paul Brigger
* André Egli
* Andy Halter
* Martin Weber
* Hans-Peter Zwicker
* Yusuf Altıntaş
* Feyyaz Uçar
* Glyn Hodges
* Mark Hughes
* Andy Jones
* David Phillips
* Neil Slatter
* Ljubomir Radanović
* Dejan Savićević
* Dragan Stojković