UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
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Tournament details
Dates	7 September 2014 – 17 November 2015
Teams	53 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	266
Goals scored	694 (2.61 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Robert Lewandowski; (13 goals)
	← 2012 2020 → All statistics correct as of 17 November 2015.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 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 hosts 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] 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.^[5]

Qualified teams

Team qualified for UEFA Euro 2016

Team failed to qualify

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament^{[upper-alpha 1]}
France	Host	28 May 2010	8 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
England	Group E winner	5 September 2015	8B (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012)
Czech Republic^{[upper-alpha 2]}	Group A winner	6 September 2015	8B (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^{[upper-alpha 3]}	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^{[upper-alpha 4]}	Group G runner-up	12 October 2015	10 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012)
Slovakia	Group C runner-up	12 October 2015	0 (debut)
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)

↑ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
↑ From 1960 to 1992, the Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.
↑ From 1960 to 1988, Germany competed as West Germany.
↑ From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Format

All UEFA member associations are eligible to compete in the qualifying competition, with the hosts (France) qualifying directly to the finals tournament.^[6] The other 53 teams are drawn into eight groups of six teams (Groups A–H) and one group of five teams (Group I).^[7] The group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team (with the results against the sixth-placed team discarded) directly qualify to the finals. The eight remaining third-placed teams contest two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.^[5]^[8]^[9]

Seeding system

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 is 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 include England, Spain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.^[7] UEFA has 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 centralised friendlies".^[9]

For the play-offs the four ties are determined by draw, including the order of the two legs of each tie. The teams are 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 is 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

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

Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
Superior goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question;
If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.^{[lower-alpha 1]} If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
Superior goal difference in all group matches;
Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
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);
Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system;

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

Higher number of points obtained;
Superior goal difference;
Higher number of goals scored;
Higher number of away goals scored;
Fair play conduct in all group matches;
Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system;

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

Notes

↑ When there are two or more teams tied in points, criteria 1 to 4 are applied. After these criteria are applied, they may define the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there is a three-way tie on points, the application of the first four criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure is resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that are still tied.

Schedule

Official matchball of the UEFA Euro qualifiers

This is the first qualifying tournament after UEFA announced centralised rights deals for both UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup qualifying. UEFA has proposed the "Week of Football" concept for the scheduling of qualifying matches:^[10]

Matches take place from Thursday to Tuesday.
Kick-off times are 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 matchweeks, teams play on Thursday and Sunday, or Friday and Monday, or Saturday and Tuesday.
Matches in the same group are played on the same day.^[9]

There are ten matchdays for the qualifying group stage, and two matchdays for the play-offs:^[5]

Stage	Matchday	Dates
Qualifying group stage	Matchday 1	7–9 September 2014
	Matchday 2	9–11 October 2014
	Matchday 3	12–14 October 2014
	Matchday 4	14–16 November 2014
	Matchday 5	27–29 March 2015
	Matchday 6	12–14 June 2015
	Matchday 7	3–5 September 2015
	Matchday 8	6–8 September 2015
	Matchday 9	8–10 October 2015
	Matchday 10	11–13 October 2015
Play-offs	1st leg	12–14 November 2015
Play-offs	2nd leg	15–17 November 2015

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.^[7]^[9]

Qualifying group stage

Seeding

The seeding pots were announced on 24 January 2014.^[11]^[12] Teams in bold have qualified for the finals.

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

The draw took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis, Nice, on 23 February 2014, 12:00 CET.^[3] The following draw procedure was applied:^[13]

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 6 teams.
For political reasons, Azerbaijan and Armenia (due to the disputed status of Nagorno-Karabakh), as well as Spain and Gibraltar (due to the disputed status of Gibraltar) could not be drawn in the same group. Unlike the previous UEFA qualifying tournament, Russia and Georgia had agreed to play each other if they were drawn together.^[14]
France (Coeff: 30,992; Rank: 11) are partnered with the five-team Group I, which enables the 2016 tournament hosts to play friendlies against these countries on their 'spare' dates. These friendlies do not count in the qualifying group standings.

Summary

Group winners, runners-up, and the best ranked third-placed team qualified directly for the UEFA Euro 2016

The remaining third-placed teams advanced to the second round (play-offs)

Other teams were eliminated after the first round

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