The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group F was one of the nine groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals tournament.[1] Group F consisted of six teams: Greece, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Northern Ireland, and Faroe Islands,[2] where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.[3]

The top two teams, Northern Ireland and Romania, qualified directly for the finals. As third-placed Hungary were not the highest-ranked among all third-placed teams, they advanced to the play-offs, where they won against Norway and thus qualified as well.

Group's qualified team Romania conceded the least goals from all the teams that played in the qualifications: only two goals were scored in Romania's net, both at home and on Arena Națională in Bucharest, against neighbours Hungary on October 11, 2014, and again against Finland one year later, on October 8, 2015. Greece, Euro 2004 winners, quarter-finalists at Euro 2012, and a team who played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup only three months before the group started, reaching the Round of 16, shockingly finished at the bottom of the group, scoring only 7 goals and conceding 14, losing twice against the Faroe Islands and having a single victory, a hard-obtained 4-3 victory over Hungary in Athens.

Standings

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Northern Ireland Romania Hungary Finland Faroe Islands Greece
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 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Faroe Islands 6, Greece 0.

Matches

The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 in Nice.[4] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

Hungary 1–2 Northern Ireland
  • Priskin 75'
 Report
Groupama Arena, Budapest
Attendance: 20,672
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany)
Faroe Islands 1–3 Finland
 Report
Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn
Attendance: 3,300
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (Wales)
Greece 0–1 Romania
Report
Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
Attendance: 0[note 2]
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England)
Romania 1–1 Hungary
 Report
Arena Națională, Bucharest
Attendance: 52,000[6]
Referee: William Collum (Scotland)
Finland 1–1 Greece
 Report
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 26,548
Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)
Northern Ireland 2–0 Faroe Islands
 Report
Windsor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 10,049[7]
Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)
Faroe Islands 0–1 Hungary
Report
Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)
Finland 0–2 Romania
Report
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 19,408
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)
Greece 0–2 Northern Ireland
Report
Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
Attendance: 18,726[8]
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)
Greece 0–1 Faroe Islands
Report
Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
Attendance: 16,821
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Hungary 1–0 Finland
 Report
Groupama Arena, Budapest
Attendance: 19,600[9]
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
Romania 2–0 Northern Ireland
 Report
Arena Națională, Bucharest
Attendance: 28,892
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Northern Ireland 2–1 Finland
 Report
Windsor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 10,264
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Romania 1–0 Faroe Islands
 Report
Ilie Oană Stadium, Ploiești
Attendance: 13,898
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)
Hungary 0–0 Greece
Report
Groupama Arena, Budapest
Attendance: 22,000
Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)
Finland 0–1 Hungary
Report
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 20,434
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
Faroe Islands 2–1 Greece
 Report
Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn
Attendance: 4,731[10]
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (Norway)
Northern Ireland 0–0 Romania
Report
Windsor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
Faroe Islands 1–3 Northern Ireland
 Report
Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn
Attendance: 4,513
Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)
Greece 0–1 Finland
Report
Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
Attendance: 17,358[11]
Referee: Serhiy Boyko (Ukraine)
Hungary 0–0 Romania
Report
Groupama Arena, Budapest
Attendance: 22,060[12]
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Finland 1–0 Faroe Islands
 Report
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,477[13]
Referee: Marcin Borski (Poland)
Northern Ireland 1–1 Hungary
 Report
Windsor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 10,200[14]
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)
Romania 0–0 Greece
Report
Arena Națională, Bucharest
Attendance: 38,153[15]
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)
Hungary 2–1 Faroe Islands
 Report
Groupama Arena, Budapest
Attendance: 16,500[16]
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (Austria)
Northern Ireland 3–1 Greece
 Report
Windsor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 11,700[17]
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands)
Romania 1–1 Finland
 Report
Arena Națională, Bucharest
Attendance: 47,987[18]
Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)
Faroe Islands 0–3 Romania
Report
Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn
Attendance: 3,941[19]
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)
Finland 1–1 Northern Ireland
 Report
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 14,550[20]
Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)
Greece 4–3 Hungary
 Report
Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
Attendance: 9,500[21]
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)

Goalscorers

Northern Ireland's Kyle Lafferty was the group's leading goalscorer with seven goals

There were 60 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.

7 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[3]

The following suspensions were served during the qualifying matches:

Team Player Offence(s) Suspended for match(es)
 Faroe Islands Hallur Hansson Yellow card vs Finland (7 September 2014)
Yellow card vs Hungary (14 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Greece (14 November 2014)		 vs Romania (29 March 2015)
Yellow card vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2015)
Yellow card vs Finland (7 September 2015)		 vs Hungary (8 October 2015)
Atli Gregersen Yellow card vs Hungary (14 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Greece (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Greece (13 June 2015)
 vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2015)
Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Hungary (8 October 2015) vs Romania (11 October 2015)
Jóan Símun Edmundsson Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2015) vs Finland (7 September 2015)
Fróði Benjaminsen Yellow card vs Hungary (14 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Greece (13 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Finland (7 September 2015)		 vs Hungary (8 October 2015)
Brandur Olsen Yellow card vs Greece (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Greece (13 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Finland (7 September 2015)		 vs Hungary (8 October 2015)
 Finland Alexander Ring Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Romania (14 October 2014) vs Hungary (14 November 2014)
Tim Sparv Yellow card vs Greece (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Hungary (13 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Faroe Islands (7 September 2015)		 vs Romania (8 October 2015)
Markus Halsti Yellow card vs Hungary (13 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Faroe Islands (7 September 2015)
Yellow card vs Romania (8 October 2015)		 vs Northern Ireland (11 October 2015)
Përparim Hetemaj Yellow card vs Faroe Islands (7 September 2014)
Yellow card vs Greece (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Romania (8 October 2015)		 vs Northern Ireland (11 October 2015)
 Greece Vasilis Torosidis Yellow card vs Romania (7 September 2014)
Yellow card vs Finland (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Faroe Islands (13 June 2015)		 vs Finland (4 September 2015)
Kostas Manolas Yellow card vs Romania (7 September 2014)
Yellow card vs Faroe Islands (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Romania (7 September 2015)		 vs Northern Ireland (8 October 2015)
 Hungary Ákos Elek Yellow card vs Romania (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Finland (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Greece (29 March 2015)		 vs Finland (13 June 2015)
Zoltán Gera Yellow card vs Romania (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Faroe Islands (14 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Finland (13 June 2015)		 vs Romania (4 September 2015)
Dániel Tőzsér Yellow card vs Romania (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Finland (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Romania (4 September 2015)		 vs Northern Ireland (7 September 2015)
Leandro Yellow card vs Greece (29 March 2015)
Yellow card vs Romania (4 September 2015)
Yellow card vs Northern Ireland (7 September 2015)		 vs Faroe Islands (8 October 2015)
 Northern Ireland Jonny Evans Red card vs Azerbaijan (11 October 2013)[note 3] vs Hungary (7 September 2014)
Chris Baird Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Hungary (7 September 2015) vs Greece (8 October 2015)
Kyle Lafferty Yellow card vs Greece (14 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Romania (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Hungary (7 September 2015)		 vs Greece (8 October 2015)
Conor McLaughlin Yellow card vs Romania (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Faroe Islands (4 September 2015)
Yellow card vs Hungary (7 September 2015)		 vs Greece (8 October 2015)
 Romania Ciprian Marica Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Greece (7 September 2014) vs Hungary (11 October 2014)
Mihai Pintilii Yellow card vs Greece (7 September 2014)
Yellow card vs Northern Ireland (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Northern Ireland (13 June 2015)		 vs Hungary (4 September 2015)
Alexandru Chipciu Yellow card vs Hungary (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Northern Ireland (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Hungary (4 September 2015)		 vs Greece (7 September 2015)

Notes

  1. ^ CET (UTC+1) for matches on 14 November 2014, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
  2. ^ Greece played their home match against Romania behind closed doors as they were punished for previous crowd disturbances.[5]
  3. ^ The suspension was carried over from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

References

  1. ^ "UEFA EURO 2016 Qualifying Draw Procedure" (PDF). UEFA. p. 1. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Spain face Ukraine return in EURO 2016 qualifying". UEFA.com. 23 February 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  4. ^ "Qualifying fixtures" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  5. ^ "Ranieri suffers defeat behind closed doors for Greece". Reuters. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  6. ^ "Romania-Hungary". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Northern Ireland-Faroe Islands". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Greece-Northern Ireland". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Hungary-Finland". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  10. ^ "Faroe Islands-Greece". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Greece-Finland". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  12. ^ "Hungary-Romania". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Finald-Faroe Islands". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  14. ^ "Northern Ireland-Hungary". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  15. ^ "Romania-Greece". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  16. ^ "Hungary vs. Faroe Islands - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Northern Ireland vs. Greece - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Romania vs. Finland - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Faroe Islands vs. Romania - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  20. ^ "Finland vs. Northern Ireland - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  21. ^ "Greece vs. Hungary - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

External links

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
Categories