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 2020 is a "romantic" one-off event to celebrate the 60th "birthday" of the European Championship competition. The winner will earn the right to participate in the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup. Wembley Stadium in London is planned to host the semi-finals and final for the second time, having done so before at the 1996 tournament. While some countries had already expressed an interest in bidding to host Euro 2020,<ref name="Irish/Scottish/Welsh bid report"></ref> then-UEFA President Michel Platini suggested at a press conference on 30 June 2012, a day before the UEFA Euro 2012 Final, that instead of having one host country (or joint