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 Group C tournament. In their final match, the Republic of Ireland wore black armbands to commemorate the 18th anniversary of the Loughinisland massacre. This was criticised by some unionists and members of the UVF. However, the victims' families fully supported the gesture. In the quarter-finals, <section begin=c1 /><section end=c1 /> <section begin=c2 /><section end=c2 /> <section begin=c3 /><section end=c3 /> <section begin=c4 /><section end=c4 /> <section begin=c5 /><section end=c5 /> <section begin=c6 /><section end=c6 /> UEFA Euro 2012 Group C Group C of UEFA Euro 2012 began on 10 June 2012 and ended on 18 June 2012. The pool consisted of Spain,