UEFA Euro 2012 in October 2011, the nine group winners qualified automatically, along with the highest ranked second placed team. The remaining eight-second placed teams contested two-legged play-offs, and the four winners qualified for the finals. Twelve of the sixteen finalists participated at the previous tournament in 2008. England and Denmark made their return to the Euro, having last participated in 2004, while Republic of Ireland returned after a twenty-four-year absence to make their second appearance at a European Championship. One of the co-hosts, Ukraine, made their debut as an independent nation (before 1992 Ukraine participated as part of the Soviet Union). With
UEFA Euro 2008 Group A UEFA Euro 2008 Group A Group A of UEFA Euro 2008 is one of four groups competing of nations at UEFA Euro 2008. The group's first round of matches was played on 7 June, with the final round played on 15 June. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Basel and Geneva. The group consisted of co-host Switzerland, UEFA Euro 2004 host and finalist Portugal, as well as Czech Republic and Turkey. Portugal won their first two games against Turkey and the Czech Republic, scoring five goals in the process, to qualify for the quarter-finals by