[1] A total of 52 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition, with Gibraltar as the only absentee.

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of a group, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):[3] To determine the four best runners-up from the qualifying group stage, the results against the teams in sixth place are discarded.

The following criteria are applied (Regulations Article 14.02):[3] In the play-offs, the team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs qualifies for the tournament final.

If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out (Regulations Articles 15.01 and 15.02).

[1] The draw for the qualifying group stage was held on 5 February 2015, 09:00 CET (UTC+1), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.