Group G
Romania and the Netherlands qualified for the finals comfortably, leaving Bulgaria out in the cold despite losing just once in their Group G campaign.
Repeat performance
Victor Piţurcă successfully led Romania through qualifying for UEFA EURO 2000™ before being dismissed before the final tournament, and in his second spell as national team coach, he once more proved his ability. His side secured their return to the finals of the UEFA European Championship with two games to spare after having missed out on a place at UEFA EURO 2004™ in Portugal.
'Hard toil'
"It has taken seven years' hard toil to achieve this qualification," said goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont after the decisive 2-0 win in Luxembourg which sealed their passage. "I dedicate this victory to all those who believed in us, who stuck with us and will stay with us. I am sorry for not having qualified for previous tournaments, but from now on we will reach all our goals."
Constanta victory
While victory in Luxembourg was to be the final push for Piţurcă's men, the critical result came in their previous game when they beat the Netherlands 1-0 in Constanta, with Dorin Goian scoring the only goal on a rain-lashed night. With the two sides having drawn 0-0 earlier in the campaign, it was to prove decisive in the final reckoning.
Sole defeat
Up until that game in Constanta, the only points either Romania or the Netherlands had dropped were in a 0-0 draw against each other and in games against Bulgaria. In their opening qualifier, Romania drew 2-2 at home against the side then coached by Hristo Stoitchkov while Marco van Basten's men drew 1-1 in Sofia but won the return leg 2-0 in Amsterdam – Bulgaria's only defeat of the qualifying campaign.
Three coaches
Starting out under Stoitchkov, Bulgaria's only unforced errors in the entire campaign were draws at home and away against Albania. Following Stoitchkov's decision to leave his post to coach Spanish side RC Celta de Vigo, Stanimir Stoilov took temporary command and then Dimitar Penev – who masterminded their fourth-placed finish at the 1994 FIFA World Cup – returned to the helm, but not even a 1-0 win against already-qualified Romania in their penultimate qualifier could lift them back into contention.
Late aberration
While Romania surrendered their unbeaten record in Sofia, the Netherlands could also afford a late aberration, losing 2-1 in Minsk to Belarus who finished fourth in the section – albeit 12 points adrift of third-placed Bulgaria.
Standings
| Group G | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Romania | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 7 | 29 |
 Netherlands | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 5 | 26 |
 Bulgaria | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 25 |
 Belarus | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 17 | 23 | 13 |
 Albania | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 11 |
 Slovenia | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 11 |
 Luxembourg | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 23 | 3 |
- Key:
- Pld
- Matches played
- W
- Won
- D
- Drawn
- L
- Lost
- GF
- Goals for
- GA
- Goals against
- Pts
- Points
Matches
- Key:
Group - Top scorers
| 6 | Berbatov - Bulgaria |
| 6 | M. Petrov - Bulgaria |
| 6 | Mutu - Romania |
| 5 | Kapllani - Albania |
| 5 | Marica - Romania |
| 4 | Dică - Romania |
| 4 | Lavrič - Slovenia |
| 4 | Romashchenko - Belarus |
| 4 | Van Persie - Netherlands |
| 3 | Kornilenko - Belarus |
| 3 | Kutuzov - Belarus |
| 2 | Contra - Romania |
| 2 | D.Niculae - Romania |
| 2 | Goian - Romania |
| 2 | Kalachev - Belarus |
| 2 | Korythko - Belarus |
| 2 | Novakovič - Slovenia |
| 2 | Skela - Albania |
| 2 | Sneijder - Netherlands |
| 2 | Tamaş - Romania |
| 2 | Van Nistelrooy - Netherlands |
| 1 | Bogdani - Albania |
| 1 | Bozhinov - Bulgaria |
| 1 | Bulyga - Belarus |
| 1 | C. Sagramola - Luxembourg |
| 1 | Cesar - Slovenia |
| 1 | Curri - Albania |
| 1 | F. Leweck - Luxembourg |
| 1 | Georgiev - Bulgaria |
| 1 | Hasi - Albania |
| 1 | Haxhi - Albania |
| 1 | Huntelaar - Netherlands |
| 1 | K. Duro - Albania |
| 1 | Koevermans - Netherlands |
| 1 | Koren - Slovenia |
| 1 | Kovba - Belarus |
| 1 | Kuyt - Netherlands |
| 1 | Mathijsen - Netherlands |
| 1 | Nicoliţă - Romania |
| 1 | Petre - Romania |
| 1 | Roşu - Romania |
| 1 | Telkiyski - Bulgaria |
| 1 | Tunchev - Bulgaria |
| 1 | V. Dimitrov - Bulgaria |
| 1 | Van Bronckhorst - Netherlands |
| 1 | Van der Vaart - Netherlands |
| 1 | Vasilyuk - Belarus |
| 1 | Vršič - Slovenia |
| 1 | Yankov - Bulgaria |