Question: Over how many years did qualifying occur of the UEFA 1996 team colloquially known as Les Bleus ( The Blues ) ?

text: UEFA Euro 1996
Qualification -- Qualified teams
With the extended format , three teams were able to qualify for their first European Championship : Bulgaria , Switzerland and Turkey . Croatia , the Czech Republic and Russia competed for the first time in their own right since the dissolution of Yugoslavia , Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union ( though the Russian team is considered by FIFA to be the direct descendant of the Soviet Union and CIS teams that had appeared in six past tournaments and the Czech team is the descendant of the Czechoslovakia team ) . Seven of the eight participants at the previous tournament in 1992 were again present , with only Sweden – despite also having finished third in the World Cup two years earlier – missing out . The following sixteen teams qualified for the finals :
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 June 1996. It was the first European Championship to feature 16 finalists, following UEFA's decision to expand the tournament from eight teams. Games were staged in eight cities and, although not all games were sold out, the tournament holds the European Championship's second-highest aggregate attendance (1,276,000) and average per game (41,158) for the 16-team format, surpassed only in 2012. It was also the first European Championships where 3 points for a win were awarded during the qualification and group stages, following the previous system of 2 points being awarded for a win, reflecting the growing use of this system in domestic leagues throughout the world during the previous decade. Germany won the tournament, beating the Czech Republic 2-1 in the final with a golden goal during extra time; this was the first major competition to be decided using this method. This was also Germany's first major title won as a unified nation.
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament
England Host 5 May 1992 4 ( 1968 , 1980 , 1988 , 1992 )
Spain Group 2 winner 11 October 1995 4 ( 1964 , 1980 , 1984 , 1988 )
Russia Group 8 winner 11 October 1995 6 ( 1960 , 1964 , 1968 , 1972 , 1988 , 1992 )
Switzerland Group 3 winner 15 November 1995 0 ( debut )
Croatia Group 4 winner 15 November 1995 0 ( debut )
Scotland 4th best runner-up 15 November 1995 1 ( 1992 )
Bulgaria 2nd best runner-up 15 November 1995 0 ( debut )
Germany Group 7 winner 15 November 1995 6 ( 1972 , 1976 , 1980 , 1984 , 1988 , 1992 )
Romania Group 1 winner 15 November 1995 1 ( 1984 )
Turkey 3rd best runner-up 15 November 1995 0 ( debut )
Denmark 5th best runner-up 15 November 1995 4 ( 1964 , 1984 , 1988 , 1992 )
Czech Republic Group 5 winner 15 November 1995 3 ( 1960 , 1976 , 1980 )
Italy 1st best runner-up 15 November 1995 3 ( 1968 , 1980 , 1988 )
France 6th best runner-up 15 November 1995 3 ( 1960 , 1984 , 1992 )
Portugal Group 6 winner 15 November 1995 1 ( 1984 )
Netherlands Play-off winner 13 December 1995 4 ( 1976 , 1980 , 1988 , 1992 )