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.
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.
Qualified teams
Team Qualified as Qualified onPrevious appearances in tournament 8 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 8 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012) 8 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 0 (debut) 1 (2008) 0 (debut) 6 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 9 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 3 (1996, 2004, 2008) 8 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 4 (1972, 1980, 1984, 2000) 0 (debut) 4 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2008) 0 (debut) 11 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 2 (2008, 2012) 10 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012) 3 (1960, 1976, 1980) 4 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012) 3 (1996, 2000, 2008) 2 (1964, 1972) 2 (1988, 2012) 5 (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 1 (2012)
Format All UEFA member associations were eligible to compete in the qualifying competition, with the host team France qualifying directly to the finals tournament. The other 53 teams were drawn into eight groups of six teams (Groups A–H) and one group of five teams (Group I). 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.
Seeding system 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. 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, including England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. 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". However, these friendlies did not count in the qualifying group standings.
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 If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:
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 had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 applied; 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 were discarded. The following criteria were 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 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
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:
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.
There were ten matchdays for the qualifying group stage, and two matchdays for the play-offs:
StageMatchdayDatesQualifying 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 2015Play-offs 1st leg 12–14 November 2015 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.
Draw 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.
Seeding The seeding pots were announced on 24 January 2014. The teams in bold qualified to the final tournament.
+ Pot 1 Team 42,158 1 41,366 2 38,541 3 35,343 4 34,885 5 34,314 6 33,540 7 32,946 8 31,416 9+ Pot 2 Team 31,156 10 30,652 12 30,111 13 29,660 14 29,572 15 28,732 16 28,234 17 27,802 18 26,733 19+ Pot 3 Team 25,985 20 25,955 21 25,834 22 25,442 23 25,341 24 25,333 25 25,038 26 24,572 27 23,095 28+ Pot 4 Team 22,991 29 22,861 30 22,234 31 22,001 32 20,771 33 20,551 34 20,391 35 19,988 36 19,646 37+ Pot 5 Team 19,243 38 19,201 39 19,151 40 19,026 41 18,301 42 17,376 43 16,901 44 16,766 45 14,235 46+ Pot 6 Team 14,050 47 13,961 48 12,220 49 11,751 50 10,740 51 8,560 52 7,420 53 0 54
Summary
Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I
Groups
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Ranking of third-placed teams 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.
Play-offs
The eight remaining third-placed teams contested two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals. The teams were seeded for the play-off draw according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings updated after the completion of the qualifying group stage. The draw for the play-offs was held on 18 October 2015, 11:20 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
Seedings
Matches The first legs were played on 12–14 November, and the second legs were played on 15–17 November 2015. The four play-off winners (Ukraine, Sweden, Republic of Ireland and Hungary) qualified for the final tournament.
Goalscorers
Branding UEFA unveiled the branding for the qualifiers on 15 April 2013. It shows a national jersey inside a heart, and represents Europe, honour and ambition. The same branding was also used for the European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.
Notes
References
External links
UEFA Euro 2016 at UEFA.com