The draw for the Euro 2016 qualifications took place, with France participating in the qualifiers for the first time as the hosting country. France is placed in Group I alongside Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Serbia, and Denmark. However, matches against France will not affect the group rankings or award points.
The qualification process will see the nine group winners, the nine second-placed teams, and the best third-placed team directly qualifying for the Euro 2016 final phase. The remaining eight third-placed teams will compete in play-offs for the last four places in the 24-team final phase.
A new feature of the competition is “Football Week,” where matches will be played from Thursday to Tuesday in weeks with two matches. Matches will be scheduled at standardized times: 6 p.m. or 8:45 p.m. on weekends and 8:45 p.m. on weekdays (French time).
Here are the groups and the schedule:
Group A: Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Latvia, Turkey, Czech Republic
Group B: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Andorra, Cyprus, Wales, Israel, Belgium
Group C: Spain, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Belarus, Slovakia, Ukraine
Group D: Germany, Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland, Poland, Ireland
Group E: England, San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Switzerland
Group F: Greece, Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Finland, Romania, Hungary
Group G: Russia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Austria, Sweden
Group H: Italy, Malta, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Norway, Croatia
Group I: Portugal, France, Albania, Armenia, Serbia, Denmark
The schedule for the qualifiers is as follows:
- Day 1: September 7-8-9, 2014
- Day 2: October 9-10-11, 2014
- Day 3: October 12-13-14, 2014
- Day 4: November 14-15-16, 2014
- Day 5: March 27-28-29, 2015
- Day 6: June 12-13-14, 2015
- Day 7: September 3-4-5, 2015
- Day 8: September 6-7-8, 2015
- Day 9: October 8-9-10, 2015
- Day 10: October 11-12-13, 2015
Play-off matches:
- First leg: November 12-13-14, 2015
- Second leg: November 15-16-17, 2015
