England qualified automatically as hosts of the event.

Denmark were seeded first as title holders, while the remaining 46 teams were divided into six pots.

Yugoslavia did not enter qualifying as they were suspended due to United Nations Security Council Resolution 757.

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tiebreakers were used to determine the final ranking:[2] The runners-up of each of the eight groups were ranked in a table to decide which seven of them would qualify.

The bottom two runners-up, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands, took part in a play-off on a neutral ground, Anfield, to determine the last team to qualify for the final tournament.