# UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

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 on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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) |
* ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
* 1 2 From 1960 to 1980, both the Czech Republic and Slovakia competed as Czechoslovakia.
* ↑ From 1972 to 1988, Germany competed as West Germany.
* ↑ From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as CIS.

## 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

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

## 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:
| Stage | Matchday | Dates |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 1 | 7–9 September 2014 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 2 | 9–11 October 2014 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 3 | 12–14 October 2014 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 4 | 14–16 November 2014 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 5 | 27–29 March 2015 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 6 | 12–14 June 2015 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 7 | 3–5 September 2015 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 8 | 6–8 September 2015 |
| Qualifying group stage | Matchday 9 | 8–10 October 2015 |
| Qualifying group stage | 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.

## 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 :
| Pot 1 TeamCoeffRank  Spain42,1581  Germany41,3662  Netherlands38,5413  Italy35,3434  England34,8855  Portugal34,3146  Greece33,5407  Russia32,9468  Bosnia and Herzegovina31,4169 | Pot 2 TeamCoeffRank  Ukraine31,15610  Croatia30,65212  Sweden30,11113  Denmark29,66014  Switzerland29,57215  Belgium28,73216  Czech Republic28,23417  Hungary27,80218  Republic of Ireland26,73319 | Pot 3 TeamCoeffRank  Serbia25,98520  Turkey25,95521  Slovenia25,83422  Israel25,44223  Norway25,34124  Slovakia25,33325  Romania25,03826  Austria24,57227  Poland23,09528 |
| Pot 4 TeamCoeffRank  Montenegro22,99129  Armenia22,86130  Scotland22,23431  Finland22,00132  Latvia20,77133  Wales20,55134  Bulgaria20,39135  Estonia19,98836  Belarus19,64637 | Pot 5 TeamCoeffRank  Iceland19,24338  Northern Ireland19,20139  Albania19,15140  Lithuania19,02641  Moldova18,30142  Macedonia17,37643  Azerbaijan16,90144  Georgia16,76645  Cyprus14,23546 | Pot 6 TeamCoeffRank  Luxembourg14,05047  Kazakhstan13,96148  Liechtenstein12,22049  Faroe Islands11,75150  Malta10,74051  Andorra8,56052  San Marino7,42053  Gibraltar054 |

## Summary

| 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
### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| 3 | Turkey | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 18 | Qualify for final tournament | 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 | | 2–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 |
| 6 | Latvia | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 19 | −13 | 5 | | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — |
* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Kazakhstan 4, Latvia 1.

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 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

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 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 | | 0–4 | 2–4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | North Macedonia | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 18 | −12 | 4 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–2 | — |
* 1 2 Tied on head-to-head points (3) and head-to-head goal difference (0). Head-to-head away goals: Luxembourg 2, North Macedonia 0.

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 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

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 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 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Lithuania | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 10 | | 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 | — |
* 1 2 Tied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.

### Group F

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 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 | | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | — | 2–1 |
| 6 | Greece | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 6 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — |
* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Faroe Islands 6, Greece 0.

### Group G

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 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 | 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 | — |
* ↑ The Montenegro v Russia match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Russia after being abandoned at 0–0 due to crowd violence and a scuffle between players.

### Group H

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 20 | Qualify for final tournament | 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 | — |
* ↑ Croatia were deducted one point after charges for racist behaviour in the home match against Italy.

### Group I

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualify for final tournament | 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 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 4 | | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | — | 2–0 |
| 5 | Armenia | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 2 | | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — |
* 1 2 The Serbia v Albania match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Albania, and Serbia were also deducted three points, after the match was abandoned at 0–0 because home fans invaded the pitch and attacked Albania players when a drone carried a pro-Albanian flag over the stadium.

### 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.
| Pos | Grp | Teamvte | 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 | Advance to play-offs |
| 4 | H | Norway | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 13 | Advance to play-offs |
| 5 | I | Denmark | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 12 | Advance to play-offs |
| 6 | G | Sweden | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 12 | Advance to play-offs |
| 7 | D | Republic of Ireland | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 12 | Advance to play-offs |
| 8 | B | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 11 | Advance to play-offs |
| 9 | E | Slovenia | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 10 | Advance to play-offs |

## 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

The seedings were as follows:
Pot 1 (seeded) :
| Pot 1 (seeded) TeamCoeffRank  Bosnia and Herzegovina30,36713  Ukraine30,31314  Sweden29,02816  Hungary27,14220 | Pot 2 (unseeded) TeamCoeffRank  Denmark27,14021  Republic of Ireland26,90223  Norway26,43925  Slovenia25,44126 |

### 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.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ukraine | 3–1 | Slovenia | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Sweden | 4–3 | Denmark | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1–3 | Republic of Ireland | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Norway | 1–3 | Hungary | 0–1 | 1–2 |

## Goalscorers

There were 694 goals scored in 268 matches, for an average of 2.59 goals per match.
13 goals
* Robert Lewandowski
11 goals
* Zlatan Ibrahimović
9 goals
* Thomas Müller
8 goals
* Edin Džeko
* Artem Dzyuba
7 goals
* Marc Janko
* Wayne Rooney
* Kyle Lafferty
* Steven Fletcher
* Gareth Bale
6 goals
* Ivan Perišić
* Danny Welbeck
* Gylfi Sigurðsson
* Arkadiusz Milik
* Milivoje Novaković
* Andriy Yarmolenko
5 goals
* Kevin De Bruyne
* Eden Hazard
* Omer Damari
* Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
* Cristiano Ronaldo
* Robbie Keane
* Jonathan Walters
* Shaun Maloney
* Marek Hamšík
* Paco Alcácer
4 goals
* David Alaba
* Marouane Fellaini
* Nestoras Mitidis
* Bořek Dočkal
* Kamil Grosicki
* Xherdan Shaqiri
* Burak Yılmaz
3 goals
* Ildefons Lima
* Marko Arnautović
* Martin Harnik
* Dimitrij Nazarov
* Dries Mertens
* Demetris Christofi
* Georgios Efrem
* Harry Kane
* Theo Walcott
* Joel Pohjanpalo
* Tornike Okriashvili
* Mario Götze
* Max Kruse
* André Schürrle
* Kolbeinn Sigþórsson
* Tomer Hemed
* Graziano Pellè
* Yuriy Logvinenko
* Valērijs Šabala
* Robin van Persie
* Gareth McAuley
* Alexander Tettey
* Shane Long
* Aleksandr Kokorin
* Steven Naismith
* Zoran Tošić
* Adam Nemec
* Boštjan Cesar
* David Silva
* Erkan Zengin
* Josip Drmić
* Haris Seferović
* Selçuk İnan
* Artem Kravets
2 goals
* Zlatko Junuzović
* Rubin Okotie
* Rahid Amirguliyev
* Stanislaw Drahun
* Mikhail Gordeichuk
* Timofei Kalachev
* Sergei Kornilenko
* Radja Nainggolan
* Milan Đurić
* Vedad Ibišević
* Haris Medunjanin
* Edin Višća
* Iliyan Mitsanski
* Ivelin Popov
* Marcelo Brozović
* Andrej Kramarić
* Luka Modrić
* Pavel Kadeřábek
* Václav Pilař
* Milan Škoda
* Nicklas Bendtner
* Yussuf Poulsen
* Ross Barkley
* Raheem Sterling
* Jack Wilshere
* Sergei Zenjov
* Jóan Símun Edmundsson
* Riku Riski
* Jaba Kankava
* Valeri Qazaishvili
* Mate Vatsadze
* İlkay Gündoğan
* Dániel Böde
* Krisztián Németh
* Tamás Priskin
* Birkir Bjarnason
* Aron Gunnarsson
* Tal Ben Haim II
* Nir Bitton
* Eran Zahavi
* Antonio Candreva
* Giorgio Chiellini
* Éder
* Islambek Kuat
* Fedor Černych
* Arvydas Novikovas
* Lars Krogh Gerson
* Aleksandar Trajkovski
* Fatos Bećiraj
* Stevan Jovetić
* Mirko Vučinić
* Arjen Robben
* Georginio Wijnaldum
* Steven Davis
* Joshua King
* Grzegorz Krychowiak
* Sebastian Mila
* João Moutinho
* James McClean
* Aiden McGeady
* Constantin Budescu
* Paul Papp
* Bogdan Stancu
* Adem Ljajić
* Juraj Kucka
* Róbert Mak
* Nejc Pečnik
* Sergio Busquets
* Santi Cazorla
* Pedro
* Marcus Berg
* Fabian Schär
* Arda Turan
* Yevhen Konoplyanka
* Yevhen Seleznyov
* Serhiy Sydorchuk
* Aaron Ramsey
1 goal
* Bekim Balaj
* Berat Djimsiti
* Shkëlzen Gashi
* Ermir Lenjani
* Mërgim Mavraj
* Armando Sadiku
* Robert Arzumanyan
* Henrikh Mkhitaryan
* Hrayr Mkoyan
* Marcos Pizzelli
* Marcel Sabitzer
* Javid Huseynov
* Michy Batshuayi
* Christian Benteke
* Nacer Chadli
* Laurent Depoitre
* Divock Origi
* Ermin Bičakčić
* Senad Lulić
* Mihail Aleksandrov
* Nikolay Bodurov
* Andrey Galabinov
* Ventsislav Hristov
* Dimitar Rangelov
* Nikola Kalinić
* Mario Mandžukić
* Ivica Olić
* Danijel Pranjić
* Ivan Rakitić
* Gordon Schildenfeld
* Constantinos Charalambidis
* Jason Demetriou
* Dossa Júnior
* Vincent Laban
* Constantinos Makrides
* Giorgos Merkis
* Vladimír Darida
* Ladislav Krejčí
* David Lafata
* David Limberský
* Tomáš Necid
* Tomáš Sivok
* Josef Šural
* Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
* Nicolai Jørgensen
* Thomas Kahlenberg
* Simon Kjær
* Jakob Poulsen
* Jannik Vestergaard
* Lasse Vibe
* Phil Jagielka
* Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
* Andros Townsend
* Ats Purje
* Konstantin Vassiljev
* Hallur Hansson
* Christian Holst
* Róaldur Jakobsen
* Brandur Olsen
* Paulus Arajuuri
* Roman Eremenko
* Jarkko Hurme
* Berat Sadik
* Nikoloz Gelashvili
* Karim Bellarabi
* Toni Kroos
* Marco Reus
* Lee Casciaro
* Jake Gosling
* Christos Aravidis
* Nikos Karelis
* Panagiotis Kone
* Kostas Mitroglou
* Sokratis Papastathopoulos
* Kostas Stafylidis
* Panagiotis Tachtsidis
* Balázs Dzsudzsák
* Zoltán Gera
* Richárd Guzmics
* László Kleinheisler
* Gergő Lovrencsics
* Zoltán Stieber
* Ádám Szalai
* Jón Daði Böðvarsson
* Rúrik Gíslason
* Eiður Guðjohnsen
* Ragnar Sigurðsson
* Moanes Dabour
* Gil Vermouth
* Leonardo Bonucci
* Matteo Darmian
* Daniele De Rossi
* Stephan El Shaarawy
* Alessandro Florenzi
* Simone Zaza
* Rinat Abdulin
* Samat Smakov
* Aleksandrs Cauņa
* Aleksejs Višņakovs
* Artūrs Zjuzins
* Franz Burgmeier
* Sandro Wieser
* Deivydas Matulevičius
* Saulius Mikoliūnas
* Lukas Spalvis
* Stefano Bensi
* Mario Mutsch
* Sébastien Thill
* David Turpel
* Besart Abdurahimi
* Arijan Ademi
* Agim Ibraimi
* Adis Jahović
* Alfred Effiong
* Clayton Failla
* Michael Mifsud
* Gheorghe Boghiu
* Eugeniu Cebotaru
* Alexandru Dedov
* Alexandru Epureanu
* Dejan Damjanović
* Stefan Savić
* Žarko Tomašević
* Ibrahim Afellay
* Jeffrey Bruma
* Stefan de Vrij
* Luciano Narsingh
* Wesley Sneijder
* Craig Cathcart
* Josh Magennis
* Niall McGinn
* Jamie Ward
* Jo Inge Berget
* Mats Møller Dæhli
* Tarik Elyounoussi
* Vegard Forren
* Markus Henriksen
* Håvard Nielsen
* Håvard Nordtveit
* Alexander Søderlund
* Jakub Błaszczykowski
* Kamil Glik
* Bartosz Kapustka
* Krzysztof Mączyński
* Sławomir Peszko
* Łukasz Szukała
* Ricardo Carvalho
* Fábio Coentrão
* Nani
* Miguel Veloso
* Robbie Brady
* Cyrus Christie
* Wes Hoolahan
* John O'Shea
* Ovidiu Hoban
* Claudiu Keșerü
* Ciprian Marica
* Alexandru Maxim
* Raul Rusescu
* Alan Dzagoev
* Sergei Ignashevich
* Dmitri Kombarov
* Oleg Kuzmin
* Fyodor Smolov
* Matteo Vitaioli
* Ikechi Anya
* Chris Martin
* James McArthur
* Matt Ritchie
* Aleksandar Kolarov
* Nemanja Matić
* Peter Pekarík
* Kornel Saláta
* Stanislav Šesták
* Miroslav Stoch
* Vladimír Weiss
* Robert Berić
* Valter Birsa
* Branko Ilić
* Josip Iličić
* Kevin Kampl
* Dejan Lazarević
* Andraž Struna
* Jordi Alba
* Juan Bernat
* Diego Costa
* Andrés Iniesta
* Isco
* Mario Gaspar
* Álvaro Morata
* Sergio Ramos
* Jimmy Durmaz
* Emil Forsberg
* Ola Toivonen
* Eren Derdiyok
* Johan Djourou
* Blerim Džemaili
* Breel Embolo
* Gökhan Inler
* Pajtim Kasami
* Michael Lang
* Admir Mehmedi
* Valentin Stocker
* Granit Xhaka
* Serdar Aziz
* Umut Bulut
* Hakan Çalhanoğlu
* Bilal Kısa
* Oğuzhan Özyakup
* Denys Harmash
* David Cotterill
* Hal Robson-Kanu
1 own goal
* Mërgim Mavraj (against Armenia)
* Levon Hayrapetyan (against Serbia)
* Kamo Hovhannisyan (against Albania)
* Rashad Sadygov (against Croatia)
* Alyaksandr Martynovich (against Ukraine)
* Nikolay Bodurov (against Croatia)
* Yordan Minev (against Italy)
* Vedran Ćorluka (against Norway)
* Dossa Júnior (against Andorra)
* Jordan Henderson (against Slovenia)
* Ragnar Klavan (against Switzerland)
* Akaki Khubutia (against Scotland)
* Mats Hummels (against Scotland)
* Jordan Perez (against Republic of Ireland)
* Yogan Santos (against Germany)
* Jón Daði Böðvarsson (against Czech Republic)
* Giorgio Chiellini (against Azerbaijan)
* Martin Büchel (against Russia)
* Franz Burgmeier (against Russia)
* Tome Pachovski (against Spain)
* Petru Racu (against Montenegro)
* Robin van Persie (against Czech Republic)
* Markus Henriksen (against Hungary)
* John O'Shea (against Scotland)
* Cristian Brolli (against England)
* Alessandro Della Valle (against England)
2 own goals
* Giedrius Arlauskis (against England & Switzerland)

## 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.