Contents

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

Tournament details
Dates	7 September 2014 – 17 November 2015
Teams	53
Tournament statistics
Matches played	268
Goals scored	694 (2.59 per match)[note 1]
Attendance	5,735,330 (21,400 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Robert Lewandowski (13 goals)
← 2012 2020 →

The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2016 final tournament.^[1][2]

A total of 53 national teams participated in this qualifying process, with Gibraltar taking part for the first time. The draw took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis, Nice, on 23 February 2014.^[3][4]

Qualified teams[edit]

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament[A]
France	Host	28 May 2010	8 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
England	Group E winner	5 September 2015	8 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012)
Czech Republic[B]	Group A winner	6 September 2015	8 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Iceland	Group A runner-up	6 September 2015	0 (debut)
Austria	Group G winner	8 September 2015	1 (2008)
Northern Ireland	Group F winner	8 October 2015	0 (debut)
Portugal	Group I winner	8 October 2015	6 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Spain	Group C winner	9 October 2015	9 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Switzerland	Group E runner-up	9 October 2015	3 (1996, 2004, 2008)
Italy	Group H winner	10 October 2015	8 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Belgium	Group B winner	10 October 2015	4 (1972, 1980, 1984, 2000)
Wales	Group B runner-up	10 October 2015	0 (debut)
Romania	Group F runner-up	11 October 2015	4 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2008)
Albania	Group I runner-up	11 October 2015	0 (debut)
Germany[C]	Group D winner	11 October 2015	11 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Poland	Group D runner-up	11 October 2015	2 (2008, 2012)
Russia[D]	Group G runner-up	12 October 2015	10 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Slovakia[B]	Group C runner-up	12 October 2015	3 (1960, 1976, 1980)
Croatia	Group H runner-up	13 October 2015	4 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Turkey	Best third-placed team	13 October 2015	3 (1996, 2000, 2008)
Hungary	Play-off winner	15 November 2015	2 (1964, 1972)
Republic of Ireland	Play-off winner	16 November 2015	2 (1988, 2012)
Sweden	Play-off winner	17 November 2015	5 (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Ukraine	Play-off winner	17 November 2015	1 (2012)

Format[edit]

All UEFA member associations were eligible to compete in the qualifying competition, with the host team France qualifying directly to the finals tournament.^[1] The other 53 teams were drawn into eight groups of six teams (Groups A–H) and one group of five teams (Group I).^[6] The group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team (with the results against the sixth-placed team discarded) directly qualified to the finals. The eight remaining third-placed teams contested two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.^[7][8][9]

Seeding system[edit]

Sides were seeded according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings, which were announced along with the draw procedure and final tournament match schedule after the 23–24 January Executive Committee meeting in Nyon.^[7] For the qualifying group stage, the teams were seeded into six pots (Pots 1–5 with 9 teams and Pot 6 with 8 teams) for the qualifying group stage draw according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings, with the title holders (Spain) automatically seeded into Pot 1. Each nation's coefficient was generated by calculating:

• 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying stage.
• 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage and final tournament.
• 20% of the average ranking points per game earned in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying stage and final tournament.

UEFA stated that nations with the largest markets in terms of contribution to the European Qualifiers revenue would be drawn into one of the groups containing six teams.^[9] They included England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.^[6] UEFA also stated in their regulations that "the teams drawn into the group of five teams will have France added to their group for the purpose of playing centralized friendlies".^{[9][10][11][12]} However, these friendlies did not count in the qualifying group standings.^[13][14]

For the play-offs the four ties were determined by draw, including the order of the two legs of each tie. The teams were seeded for the play-off draw according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings updated after the completion of the group stage. Each nation's coefficient was generated by calculating:

• 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying group stage.
• 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying stage and final tournament.
• 20% of the average ranking points per game earned in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage and final tournament.

Tiebreakers[edit]

If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:^[9]

1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
2. Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
5. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.^[a] If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 applied;
6. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
9. Fair play conduct in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
10. Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system;

To determine the best third-placed team, the results against the teams in sixth place were discarded. The following criteria were applied:

1. Higher number of points obtained;
2. Superior goal difference;
3. Higher number of goals scored;
4. Higher number of away goals scored;
5. Fair play conduct in all group matches;
6. Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system;

For each play-off tie, the team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs qualified for the final tournament. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time was played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e., if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out.

Notes

Schedule[edit]

This was the first qualifying tournament after UEFA announced centralized rights deals for both UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup qualifying. UEFA had proposed the "Week of Football" concept for the scheduling of qualifying matches as follows:^[15][16][17]

• Matches took place from Thursday to Tuesday.
• Kick-off times were largely set at 18:00 and 20:45 CET on Saturdays and Sundays, and 20:45 CET on Thursdays, Fridays, Mondays, and Tuesdays.
• On double-header match weeks, teams played on Thursday and Sunday, or Friday and Monday, or Saturday and Tuesday.
• Matches in the same group were played on the same day.^[9]

There were ten matchdays for the qualifying group stage, and two matchdays for the play-offs:^[7]

Unlike previous qualifying campaigns where group fixtures were determined by negotiation between the national federations, UEFA themselves decided each group's fixture list, released the same day as the draw.^[6][9]

Draw[edit]

The draw took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis, Nice, on 23 February 2014, 12:00 CET. Groups A–H each contain one team from each of Pots 1–6, while Group I contains one team from each of Pots 1–5. For television rights reasons, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands were drawn into groups of six teams. Before the draw UEFA confirmed that, for political reasons, Armenia would not be drawn against Azerbaijan (due to the dispute concerning territory of Nagorno-Karabakh) and Gibraltar would not be drawn against Spain (due to the disputed status of Gibraltar). France (Coeff: 30,992; Rank: 11), the 2016 tournament hosts, were partnered with the five-team Group I, allowing them to play friendlies against these countries on their 'spare' dates that did not count in the qualifying group standings.^[18]

Seeding[edit]

The seeding pots were announced on 24 January 2014. The teams in bold qualified to the final tournament.^[19][20]

Pot 1 Team Coeff Rank  Spain 42,158 1  Germany 41,366 2  Netherlands 38,541 3  Italy 35,343 4  England 34,885 5  Portugal 34,314 6  Greece 33,540 7  Russia 32,946 8  Bosnia and Herzegovina 31,416 9	Pot 2 Team Coeff Rank  Ukraine 31,156 10  Croatia 30,652 12  Sweden 30,111 13  Denmark 29,660 14   Switzerland 29,572 15  Belgium 28,732 16  Czech Republic 28,234 17  Hungary 27,802 18  Republic of Ireland 26,733 19	Pot 3 Team Coeff Rank  Serbia 25,985 20  Turkey 25,955 21  Slovenia 25,834 22  Israel 25,442 23  Norway 25,341 24  Slovakia 25,333 25  Romania 25,038 26  Austria 24,572 27  Poland 23,095 28
Pot 4 Team Coeff Rank  Montenegro 22,991 29  Armenia 22,861 30  Scotland 22,234 31  Finland 22,001 32  Latvia 20,771 33  Wales 20,551 34  Bulgaria 20,391 35  Estonia 19,988 36  Belarus 19,646 37	Pot 5 Team Coeff Rank  Iceland 19,243 38  Northern Ireland 19,201 39  Albania 19,151 40  Lithuania 19,026 41  Moldova 18,301 42  Macedonia 17,376 43  Azerbaijan 16,901 44  Georgia 16,766 45  Cyprus 14,235 46	Pot 6 Team Coeff Rank  Luxembourg 14,050 47  Kazakhstan 13,961 48  Liechtenstein 12,220 49  Faroe Islands 11,751 50  Malta 10,740 51  Andorra 8,560 52  San Marino 7,420 53  Gibraltar 0 54

Summary[edit]

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H	Group I
Czech Republic Iceland	Belgium Wales	Spain Slovakia	Germany Poland	England Switzerland	Northern Ireland Romania	Austria Russia	Italy Croatia	Portugal Albania
Turkey	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ukraine	Republic of Ireland	Slovenia	Hungary	Sweden	Norway	Denmark
Netherlands Kazakhstan Latvia	Israel Cyprus Andorra	Belarus Luxembourg Macedonia	Scotland Georgia Gibraltar	Estonia Lithuania San Marino	Finland Faroe Islands Greece	Montenegro Liechtenstein Moldova	Bulgaria Azerbaijan Malta	Serbia Armenia

Groups[edit]

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Czech Republic	10	7	1	2	19	14	+5	22	Qualify for final tournament		—	2–1	0–2	2–1	2–1	1–1
2	Iceland	10	6	2	2	17	6	+11	20			2–1	—	3–0	2–0	0–0	2–2
3	Turkey	10	5	3	2	14	9	+5	18			1–2	1–0	—	3–0	3–1	1–1
4	Netherlands	10	4	1	5	17	14	+3	13			2–3	0–1	1–1	—	3–1	6–0
5	Kazakhstan	10	1	2	7	7	18	−11	5[a]			2–4	0–3	0–1	1–2	—	0–0
6	Latvia	10	0	5	5	6	19	−13	5[a]			1–2	0–3	1–1	0–2	0–1	—

Group B[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Belgium	10	7	2	1	24	5	+19	23	Qualify for final tournament		—	0–0	3–1	3–1	5–0	6–0
2	Wales	10	6	3	1	11	4	+7	21			1–0	—	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–0
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	5	2	3	17	12	+5	17	Advance to play-offs		1–1	2–0	—	3–1	1–2	3–0
4	Israel	10	4	1	5	16	14	+2	13			0–1	0–3	3–0	—	1–2	4–0
5	Cyprus	10	4	0	6	16	17	−1	12			0–1	0–1	2–3	1–2	—	5–0
6	Andorra	10	0	0	10	4	36	−32	0			1–4	1–2	0–3	1–4	1–3	—

Group C[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	10	9	0	1	23	3	+20	27	Qualify for final tournament		—	2–0	1–0	3–0	4–0	5–1
2	Slovakia	10	7	1	2	17	8	+9	22			2–1	—	0–0	0–1	3–0	2–1
3	Ukraine	10	6	1	3	14	4	+10	19	Advance to play-offs		0–1	0–1	—	3–1	3–0	1–0
4	Belarus	10	3	2	5	8	14	−6	11			0–1	1–3	0–2	—	2–0	0–0
5	Luxembourg	10	1	1	8	6	27	−21	4[a]			0–4	2–4	0–3	1–1	—	1–0
6	Macedonia	10	1	1	8	6	18	−12	4[a]			0–1	0–2	0–2	1–2	3–2	—

Group D[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	10	7	1	2	24	9	+15	22	Qualify for final tournament		—	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	4–0
2	Poland	10	6	3	1	33	10	+23	21			2–0	—	2–1	2–2	4–0	8–1
3	Republic of Ireland	10	5	3	2	19	7	+12	18	Advance to play-offs		1–0	1–1	—	1–1	1–0	7–0
4	Scotland	10	4	3	3	22	12	+10	15			2–3	2–2	1–0	—	1–0	6–1
5	Georgia	10	3	0	7	10	16	−6	9			0–2	0–4	1–2	1–0	—	4–0
6	Gibraltar	10	0	0	10	2	56	−54	0			0–7	0–7	0–4	0–6	0–3	—

Group E[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	England	10	10	0	0	31	3	+28	30	Qualify for final tournament		—	2–0	3–1	2–0	4–0	5–0
2	Switzerland	10	7	0	3	24	8	+16	21			0–2	—	3–2	3–0	4–0	7–0
3	Slovenia	10	5	1	4	18	11	+7	16	Advance to play-offs		2–3	1–0	—	1–0	1–1	6–0
4	Estonia	10	3	1	6	4	9	−5	10[a]			0–1	0–1	1–0	—	1–0	2–0
5	Lithuania	10	3	1	6	7	18	−11	10[a]			0–3	1–2	0–2	1–0	—	2–1
6	San Marino	10	0	1	9	1	36	−35	1			0–6	0–4	0–2	0–0	0–2	—

Group F[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Northern Ireland	10	6	3	1	16	8	+8	21	Qualify for final tournament		—	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	3–1
2	Romania	10	5	5	0	11	2	+9	20			2–0	—	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0
3	Hungary	10	4	4	2	11	9	+2	16	Advance to play-offs		1–2	0–0	—	1–0	2–1	0–0
4	Finland	10	3	3	4	9	10	−1	12			1–1	0–2	0–1	—	1–0	1–1
5	Faroe Islands	10	2	0	8	6	17	−11	6[a]			1–3	0–3	0–1	1–3	—	2–1
6	Greece	10	1	3	6	7	14	−7	6[a]			0–2	0–1	4–3	0–1	0–1	—

Group G[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Austria	10	9	1	0	22	5	+17	28	Qualify for final tournament		—	1–0	1–1	1–0	3–0	1–0
2	Russia	10	6	2	2	21	5	+16	20			0–1	—	1–0	2–0	4–0	1–1
3	Sweden	10	5	3	2	15	9	+6	18	Advance to play-offs		1–4	1–1	—	3–1	2–0	2–0
4	Montenegro	10	3	2	5	10	13	−3	11			2–3	0–3[a]	1–1	—	2–0	2–0
5	Liechtenstein	10	1	2	7	2	26	−24	5			0–5	0–7	0–2	0–0	—	1–1
6	Moldova	10	0	2	8	4	16	−12	2			1–2	1–2	0–2	0–2	0–1	—

Group H[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	10	7	3	0	16	7	+9	24	Qualify for final tournament		—	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–0
2	Croatia[a]	10	6	3	1	20	5	+15	20			1–1	—	5–1	3–0	6–0	2–0
3	Norway	10	6	1	3	13	10	+3	19	Advance to play-offs		0–2	2–0	—	2–1	0–0	2–0
4	Bulgaria	10	3	2	5	9	12	−3	11			2–2	0–1	0–1	—	2–0	1–1
5	Azerbaijan	10	1	3	6	7	18	−11	6			1–3	0–0	0–1	1–2	—	2–0
6	Malta	10	0	2	8	3	16	−13	2			0–1	0–1	0–3	0–1	2–2	—

Group I[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	8	7	0	1	11	5	+6	21	Qualify for final tournament		—	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–0
2	Albania	8	4	2	2	10	5	+5	14			0–1	—	1–1	0–2	2–1
3	Denmark	8	3	3	2	8	5	+3	12	Advance to play-offs		0–1	0–0	—	2–0	2–1
4	Serbia[a]	8	2	1	5	8	13	−5	4			1–2	0–3[a]	1–3	—	2–0
5	Armenia	8	0	2	6	5	14	−9	2			2–3	0–3	0–0	1–1	—

Ranking of third-placed teams[edit]

The highest ranked third-placed team from the groups directly qualified for the tournament, while the remainder entered the play-offs. As Group I contained five teams and the rest contained six, matches against any sixth-placed team in each group were not included in this ranking. As a result, a total of eight matches played by each team count toward the purpose of the third-placed ranking table.

Turkey became the best third-placed team, after winning against Iceland in its last match, while at the same time Kazakhstan beat Latvia to finish fifth in Group A.^[21]

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A	Turkey	8	5	1	2	12	7	+5	16	Qualify for final tournament
2	F	Hungary	8	4	3	1	8	5	+3	15	Advance to play-offs
3	C	Ukraine	8	4	1	3	11	4	+7	13
4	H	Norway	8	4	1	3	8	10	−2	13
5	I	Denmark	8	3	3	2	8	5	+3	12
6	G	Sweden	8	3	3	2	11	9	+2	12
7	D	Republic of Ireland	8	3	3	2	8	7	+1	12
8	B	Bosnia and Herzegovina	8	3	2	3	11	12	−1	11
9	E	Slovenia	8	3	1	4	10	11	−1	10