Traditional Contenders
These are the nations with the strongest recent Euro history and current UEFA ranking, the teams most likely to be in the qualifying conversation regardless of the draw.
Germany - Germany has won the European Championship three times (1972, 1980, 1996), tied for the second-most titles in tournament history, and has finished runner-up on three further occasions. As hosts of Euro 2024, Germany reached the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champions Spain in extra time. Their tournament identity has long been built on organization and game management, a profile that tends to travel well in knockout football even in cycles where their qualifying form looks unconvincing.
France - France has won two European Championships (1984, 2000) and reached the Euro 2016 final on home soil, losing 1-0 to Portugal after extra time. Alongside that tournament pedigree, France has fielded one of the deepest talent pools in world football for over a decade, built on a national academy system that consistently produces elite players across multiple positions at once. That depth gives France more room to absorb personnel turnover between cycles than most nations face.
Spain - Spain enters as the reigning European champion after Euro 2024, their fourth title overall (1964, 2008, 2012, 2024), more than any other nation in tournament history. Their recent tournament-winning sides have moved away from the purely possession-based approach of the 2008-2012 "tiki-taka" era toward a faster, more direct style while still controlling matches through midfield technical quality.
Portugal - Portugal's tournament history includes both a title (2016, won without a single group-stage victory, advancing on a run of draws before beating hosts France in the final) and a runner-up finish (2004, losing the final to Greece as hosts). That range, from grinding results out to being upset as favourites, reflects a program that's historically depended heavily on getting tournament moments right rather than dominating from the front.
Italy - Italy has won the European Championship twice (1968, 2020), with the 2020 win, played in 2021 due to pandemic delay, coming under a possession-based, attacking approach that marked a deliberate break from Italy's historically defensive reputation. That title was followed by the embarrassment of missing the 2022 World Cup entirely, a swing between tournament brilliance and qualifying inconsistency that's become the defining pattern of Italian football over the past several years.
Netherlands - The Netherlands won their only European Championship in 1988, playing an influential brand of "total football" that shaped tactical thinking well beyond that specific squad's generation. Despite producing multiple generations of elite attacking talent since, including deep runs at multiple World Cups, they haven't added a second European title, often exiting tournaments earlier than their talent level on paper would suggest.
Belgium - Belgium's so-called golden generation, a cohort of players who came through together in the early 2010s, reached the 2018 World Cup semi-final and briefly held the world's top FIFA ranking, but never converted that talent into a major title. Their best Euro finish remains runner-up at Euro 1980, a 2-1 loss to West Germany, and the core of that golden generation is now aging out of international football, leaving real questions about the next cycle's identity.
Croatia - Croatia, a nation of roughly four million people, reached the 2018 World Cup final and the 2022 World Cup semi-final, a remarkable sustained run for a country its size. Their Euro record is thinner than their World Cup history, but the same midfield-development pipeline that's fueled their World Cup success has been a consistent institutional strength across multiple squad generations, not a one-cycle fluke.
The Co-Hosts: A Genuinely Different Story
England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland face a situation no Euro hosts have faced before: full qualifying, with no guaranteed spot at their own tournament.
England - England has never won a European Championship despite reaching the final in both of the last two editions, Euro 2020 (lost to Italy on penalties) and Euro 2024 (lost 2-1 to Spain). As hosts of Euro 1996, they reached the semi-final before losing to Germany on penalties, a result still referenced in English football culture decades later. Requesting to go through full 2028 qualifying rather than accept an automatic berth was a deliberate call to stay competitive through meaningful matches rather than risk rust from a guaranteed spot.
Scotland - Scotland went over two decades without qualifying for a major tournament before reaching Euro 2020, then qualified again for Euro 2024, their first back-to-back major tournament qualification in the nation's history. Both appearances ended at the group stage without a win, so the real question heading into 2028 qualifying isn't just whether Scotland can qualify a third straight time, but whether they can finally convert qualification into actual tournament results.
Wales - Wales reached the Euro 2016 semi-final, the best major-tournament result in the nation's history, then qualified again for Euro 2020 via the playoff route, but missed Euro 2024 entirely. The core of that 2016 squad has largely aged out of international football, and Wales enters 2028 qualifying in a genuine rebuilding position rather than sustained tournament contention.
Republic of Ireland - Ireland last qualified for a European Championship in 2016, reaching the round of 16 before losing to France. Since then, they've missed three consecutive major tournaments: Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup, and Euro 2024. Missing their own co-hosted tournament in 2028 would be a genuine low point for the program; qualifying would represent their first major tournament appearance in over a decade.
If any of these four miss out through the group stage, UEFA's safety net reserves two spots for the best-ranked hosts among those who fall short. Full detail on how that works is on our Euro 2028 hub page.