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
2018 NRL Finals Series series. South Sydney qualified for their first finals series since 2015. Cronulla-Sutherland qualified for their 4th straight finals series. Penrith qualified for their 3rd straight finals series. St George Illawarra qualified for their first finals series since 2015. Brisbane qualified for their 7th straight finals series. New Zealand qualified for their first finals series since 2011. The matches of the 2018 NRL finals series were contested at four venues in three different states around the country. Melbourne's AAMI Park hosted 2 matches, Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium hosted one match and Sydney hosted the remaining 6 matches, which were played at Allianz