The qualifying tournament to determine the 23 national teams joining Euro 2016 hosts France took place from September 2014 to November 2015. A total of 53 national teams participated, with Gibraltar taking part for the first time. All UEFA member associations are eligible to compete in the competition with the hosts qualifying automatically. The draw for the Euro 2016 qualifying rounds took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis in Nice on the 24th February 2014, with the teams seeded according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings (announced on the day) which are calculated as follows
2014 FIFA WORL CUP - 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the qualifying stage.
UEFA EURO 2012 - 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the qualifying stage and final tournament.
2010 FIFA WORLD CUP - 20% of the average ranking points per game earned in the qualifying stage and final tournament.
The 53 teams are drawn into eight groups of six teams (Groups A–H) and one group of five teams (Group I). The group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team (with the results against the sixth-place team discarded) directly qualify to the finals. The eight remaining third-placed teams contest two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.