The qualifying competition consisted of two rounds: •
Qualifying round: Apart from
Spain, which received a bye to the elite round as the team with the highest seeding coefficient, the remaining 52 teams were drawn into 13 groups of four teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The 13 group winners, the 13 runners-up, and the third-placed team with the best record against the first and second-placed teams in their group advanced to the elite round. •
Elite round: The 28 teams were drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The seven group winners qualified for the final tournament.
Tiebreakers If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of a mini-tournament, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings: • Higher number of points obtained in the mini-tournament matches played among the teams in question; • Superior goal difference resulting from the mini-tournament matches played among the teams in question; • Higher number of goals scored in the mini-tournament matches played among the teams in question; • If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 were reapplied exclusively to the mini-tournament matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 applied; • Superior goal difference in all mini-tournament matches; • Higher number of goals scored in all mini-tournament matches; • If only two teams had the same number of points, and they were tied according to criteria 1 to 6 after having met in the last round of the mini-tournament, their rankings were determined by a penalty shoot-out (not used if more than two teams had the same number of points, or if their rankings were not relevant for qualification for the next stage). • Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in the mini-tournament matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points); • Drawing of lots. To determine the best third-placed team from the qualifying round, the results against the teams in fourth place were discarded. The following criteria were applied: • Higher number of points; • Superior goal difference; • Higher number of goals scored; • Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points); • Drawing of lots. ==Qualifying round==