The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group H was one of the nine groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals tournament.[1] Group H consisted of six teams: Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Malta,[2] where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.[3]

The top two teams, Italy and Croatia, qualified directly for the finals. As third-placed Norway weren't the highest-ranked among all third-placed teams, they advanced to the play-offs, where they lost to Hungary and thus failed to qualify.

Standings

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy Croatia Norway Bulgaria Azerbaijan Malta
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 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Croatia were deducted one point after charges for racist behaviour in the home match against Italy.

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).

Azerbaijan 1–2 Bulgaria
  • Nazarov 54'
 Report
Bakcell Arena, Baku
Attendance: 11,000
Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)
Croatia 2–0 Malta
 Report
Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
Attendance: 8,333
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Russia)
Norway 0–2 Italy
Report
Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
Attendance: 26,265
Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)
Bulgaria 0–1 Croatia
Report
Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 29,733[5]
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Italy 2–1 Azerbaijan
 Report
Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
Attendance: 33,000[6]
Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (Turkey)
Malta 0–3 Norway
Report
National Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 8,067[7]
Referee: Antony Gautier (France)
Croatia 6–0 Azerbaijan
 Report
Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek
Attendance: 16,021[8]
Referee: Stephan Studer (Switzerland)
Malta 0–1 Italy
Report
National Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 16,942
Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)
Norway 2–1 Bulgaria
 Report
Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
Attendance: 18,990
Referee: Olegário Benquerença (Portugal)
Azerbaijan 0–1 Norway
Report
Bakcell Arena, Baku
Attendance: 9,200[9]
Referee: Yevhen Aranovskiy (Ukraine)
Bulgaria 1–1 Malta
 Report
Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 3,300[10]
Referee: Martin Strömbergsson (Sweden)
Italy 1–1 Croatia
 Report
San Siro, Milan
Attendance: 63,222
Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Azerbaijan 2–0 Malta
 Report
Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku
Attendance: 14,600
Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)
Croatia 5–1 Norway
 Report
Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
Attendance: 23,920
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
Bulgaria 2–2 Italy
 Report
Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 6,000[11]
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
Croatia 1–1[note 2] Italy
 Report
Stadion Poljud, Split
Attendance: 0[note 3]
Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)
Malta 0–1 Bulgaria
Report
National Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 3,924
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (Macedonia)
Norway 0–0 Azerbaijan
Report
Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
Attendance: 21,228
Referee: Paweł Gil (Poland)
Azerbaijan 0–0 Croatia
Report
Bakcell Arena, Baku
Attendance: 10,000[15]
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)
Bulgaria 0–1 Norway
Report
Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 12,913[16]
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands)
Italy 1–0 Malta
 Report
Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
Attendance: 12,551[17]
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)
Malta 2–2 Azerbaijan
 Report
National Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 5,266[18]
Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)
Norway 2–0 Croatia
 Report
Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
Attendance: 26,751[19]
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Italy 1–0 Bulgaria
 Report
Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
Attendance: 21,000[20]
Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)
Azerbaijan 1–3 Italy
 Report
National Stadium, Baku
Attendance: 48,000[21]
Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)
Norway 2–0 Malta
 Report
Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
Attendance: 27,120[22]
Referee: Arnold Hunter (Northern Ireland)
Croatia 3–0 Bulgaria
 Report
Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
Attendance: 0[note 4]
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)
Bulgaria 2–0 Azerbaijan
 Report
Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 2,500[23]
Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)
Italy 2–1 Norway
 Report
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 30,000[24]
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Malta 0–1 Croatia
Report
National Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 5,835[25]
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England)

Goalscorers

There were 68 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.27 goals per match.

6 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own 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)
 Azerbaijan Maksim Medvedev Red card vs Russia (15 October 2013)[note 5] vs Bulgaria (9 September 2014)
Badavi Guseynov Red card vs Italy (10 October 2015) vs Bulgaria (13 October 2015)
 Bulgaria Petar Zanev Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Czech Republic (15 October 2013)[note 5] vs Azerbaijan (9 September 2014)
Svetoslav Dyakov Yellow card vs Italy (28 March 2015)
Yellow card vs Malta (12 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Italy (6 September 2015)		 vs Croatia (10 October 2015)
Yordan Minev Yellow card vs Norway (13 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Norway (3 September 2015)
Yellow card vs Italy (6 September 2015)		 vs Croatia (10 October 2015)
Iliyan Mitsanski Red card vs Italy (6 September 2015)[26] vs Croatia (10 October 2015)
vs Azerbaijan (13 October 2015)
 Croatia Josip Šimunić Discriminatory behaviour vs Iceland (19 November 2013)[27] vs Malta (9 September 2014)
vs Bulgaria (10 October 2014)
vs Azerbaijan (13 October 2014)
vs Italy (16 November 2014)
vs Norway (28 March 2015)
vs Italy (12 June 2015)
vs Azerbaijan (3 September 2015)
Ante Rebić Red card vs Mexico (23 June 2014)[note 6] vs Malta (9 September 2014)
Vedran Ćorluka Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Norway (28 March 2015) vs Italy (12 June 2015)
Darijo Srna Yellow card Yellow-red card vs Italy (12 June 2015) vs Azerbaijan (3 September 2015)
Mateo Kovačić Yellow card vs Italy (16 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Italy (12 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Azerbaijan (3 September 2015)		 vs Norway (6 September 2015)
Ivica Olić Yellow card vs Bulgaria (10 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Italy (12 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Norway (6 September 2015)		 vs Bulgaria (10 October 2015)
Duje Čop Red card vs Bulgaria (10 October 2015) vs Malta (13 October 2015)
 Italy Claudio Marchisio Red card vs Uruguay (24 June 2014)[note 6] vs Norway (9 September 2014)
Leonardo Bonucci Red card vs Malta (13 October 2014) vs Croatia (16 November 2014)
Daniele De Rossi Red card vs Bulgaria (6 September 2015)[29] vs Azerbaijan (10 October 2015)
vs Norway (13 October 2015)
 Malta Steve Borg Red card vs Croatia (9 September 2014)[30] vs Norway (10 October 2014)
vs Italy (13 October 2014)
vs Bulgaria (16 November 2014)
Michael Mifsud Red card vs Italy (13 October 2014)[31] vs Bulgaria (16 November 2014)
vs Azerbaijan (28 March 2015)
Paul Fenech Yellow card vs Bulgaria (16 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Bulgaria (12 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Italy (3 September 2015)		 vs Azerbaijan (6 September 2015)
 Norway Tarik Elyounoussi Yellow card vs Bulgaria (13 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Azerbaijan (16 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Croatia (28 March 2015)		 vs Azerbaijan (12 June 2015)

Notes

  1. ^ CET (UTC+1) for matches on 16 November 2014 and 28 March 2015, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
  2. ^ Croatia were deducted one point after charges for racist behaviour (display of a Nazi symbol) in this match. In addition, the Croatian Football Federation were ordered to play their next two home matches of UEFA competition behind closed doors and not to play any of its remaining qualifying games at Stadion Poljud. A fine of €100,000 was also imposed.[12] The Croatian Football Federation appealed against the decision and a hearing was scheduled for 17 September 2015. Croatia's appeal was rejected.[13]
  3. ^ Played behind closed doors due to punishment handed to Croatia by UEFA for crowd trouble in their home match against Norway. The Croatian FA were also fined €50,000 because of that incident.[14]
  4. ^ Played behind closed doors and away from Stadion Poljud due to a sanction imposed on Croatia after charges for racist behaviour in their home match against Italy.
  5. ^ a b The suspension was carried over from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.
  6. ^ a b The suspension was carried over from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[28]

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. ^ "Bulgaria vs. Croatia". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Italy vs. Azerbaijan". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Malta vs. Norway". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Croatia vs. Azerbaijan". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Azerbaijan vs. Norway". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  10. ^ "Bulgaria vs. Malta". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Bulgaria vs. Italy". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  12. ^ "Croatia deducted one European Qualifiers point". UEFA.com. 23 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Point deduction stands for Croatia". UEFA.com. 18 September 2015.
  14. ^ "Russia given abandoned Montenegro tie by forfeit after riot". BBC Sport. 8 April 2015.
  15. ^ "Azerbaijan vs. Croatia". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  16. ^ "Bulgaria vs. Norway". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  17. ^ "Italy vs. Malta". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  18. ^ "Malta vs. Azerbaijan". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  19. ^ "Norway vs. Croatia". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Italy vs. Bulgaria". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  21. ^ "Azerbaijan vs. Italy - 10 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  22. ^ "Norway vs. Malta - 10 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Bulgaria vs. Azerbaijan - 13 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  24. ^ "Italy vs. Norway - 13 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  25. ^ "Malta vs. Croatia - 13 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  26. ^ "УЕФА наказа Мицански чак до старта на световните квалификации". sportline.bg. 23 September 2015.
  27. ^ "Croatian player sanctioned for discriminatory behaviour". FIFA.com. 16 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
  28. ^ "Update on FIFA Disciplinary Committee decisions on World Cup cases". FIFA.com. 4 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014.
  29. ^ "Squad for European qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Norway to be announced on Saturday". vivoazzurro.it. 29 September 2015.
  30. ^ "Borg handed three-match suspension by UEFA". Times of Malta. 24 September 2014.
  31. ^ "Effiong feels he needs to prove himself to national team coach". Times of Malta. 3 March 2015.

External links

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
Categories