The play-offs were played in home-and-away two-legged format. The play-off winner qualified for the final tournament.[2]
Ranking of second-placed teams
Despite the fact that every groups had 5 teams, in order to determine the six best second-placed teams from the qualifying group stage which qualified directly for the final tournament and the two remaining second-placed teams which advanced to the play-offs, the results against the fifth-placed team were not included. As a result, six matches played by each second-placed team were counted for the purposes of determining the ranking.[3]