UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying

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:

1. Greater number of points in all group matches
2. Goal difference in all group matches
3. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
4. Drawing of lots

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

Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 1

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

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Source: UEFA

Group 2

Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 2

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Pos	Team v t e	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	—

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Source: UEFA

Group 3

Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 3

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

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Source: UEFA

Group 4

Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 4

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

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Source: UEFA

Group 5

Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 5

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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[a]
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	—

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Source: UEFA
Notes:

1. The Netherlands v Cyprus match originally finished as an 8–0 win for the Netherlands, but the match was marred by crowd violence. Therefore the result was annulled and the match was ordered to be replayed behind closed doors.

Group 6

Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 6

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

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Source: UEFA

Group 7

Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 7

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

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Source: UEFA

There were 287 goals scored in 117 matches, for an average of 2.45 goals per match.^{[note 1]}

9 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal