The
preliminary competition match numbers include England's home and away
quarter-finals matches against Spain in the 1968 competition, which ended in 1-0 and 2-1
victories, and their home and away quarter-finals matches against West Germany in the 1972 competition, which finished in a 1-3 loss
and a 0-0 draw. Under the format then in place, these matches were played after preliminary group
qualification but before the final tournament.
The preliminary match
numbers also include England's home and away playoff matches
against Scotland in the 2000 competition, which ended in a 2-0 win and a 0-1 loss.
Under the format for that competition, the second place team with the best
record in the nine qualifying groups qualified for the final tournament and
the eight other second place teams were paired for the playoffs with the
four winning teams also advancing to the finals.
Six of the
eight of England's Final Tournament matches have gone into penalty-kicks.
As the scores on these six occasions finished level, they are recorded
here as draws.
To and including the 1992 final tournament, two points were awarded for a win
and one for a draw. In the later tournaments, a win earned three points
and a draw one. The table's points averages have been calculated on the
basis of two points for a win for all tournaments in order to allow comparison
between tournaments. The numbers which represent conversions from three
points per win to two points per win have been bracketed.