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 2012 statistics if the UEFA disciplinary committee had judged the offence as warranting it. In keeping with the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (UDR), UEFA did not allow for appeals of red cards except in the case of mistaken identity. The FDC further stipulated that if a player was sent off during his team's final Euro 2012 match, the suspension would carry over to his team's next competitive international(s), which in this case would be the qualification matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Any player who was suspended due to a red card that was earned in Euro