UEFA Euro 2012 two consecutive European Championships, and also three straight major tournaments (Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012). Spain had already gained entry to the 2013 Confederations Cup by winning the 2010 World Cup, so runners-up Italy qualified instead. As at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, both 2012 host nations were eliminated in the group stage. The hosting of the event was initially contested by five bids representing seven countries: Croatia–Hungary, Greece, Italy, Poland–Ukraine, and Turkey. In November 2005, after an initial consideration of the bid data by UEFA, both the Greek and Turkish bids were eliminated from the
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs from the outset that the draw for the play-offs would be seeded. The four runners-up with the best positions in the UEFA team coefficient ranking system were therefore seeded. Each nation's coefficient was generated by calculating: <section begin=Seeding /> The seedings were as follows: <section end=Seeding /> <section begin=Matches /> "Croatia won 3–0 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2012." "Republic of Ireland won 5–1 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2012." "Czech Republic won 3–0 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2012." "Portugal won 6–2 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2012." UEFA Euro 2012