UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group F
Football tournament qualifying stage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 |  |
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| 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 | — |
- 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 |
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| Faroe Islands | 1–3 | Finland |
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| Northern Ireland | 2–0 | Faroe Islands |
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| Faroe Islands | 0–1 | Hungary |
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| Greece | 0–2 | Northern Ireland |
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| Romania | 2–0 | Northern Ireland |
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| Northern Ireland | 2–1 | Finland |
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| Romania | 1–0 | Faroe Islands |
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| Faroe Islands | 1–3 | Northern Ireland |
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| Greece | 0–1 | Finland |
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| Finland | 1–0 | Faroe Islands |
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| Northern Ireland | 1–1 | Hungary |
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| Hungary | 2–1 | Faroe Islands |
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| Romania | 1–1 | Finland |
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| Finland | 1–1 | Northern Ireland |
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| Greece | 4–3 | Hungary |
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Goalscorers
There were 60 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.
7 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Hallur Hansson- Christian Holst
- Róaldur Jakobsen
- Brandur Olsen
Paulus Arajuuri- Roman Eremenko
- Jarkko Hurme
- Berat Sadik
Christos Aravidis- Nikos Karelis
- Panagiotis Kone
- Kostas Mitroglou
- Sokratis Papastathopoulos
- Kostas Stafylidis
- Panagiotis Tachtsidis
Balázs Dzsudzsák- Zoltán Gera
- Richárd Guzmics
- Gergő Lovrencsics
- Tamás Priskin
- Zoltán Stieber
- Ádám Szalai
Craig Cathcart- Josh Magennis
- Niall McGinn
- Jamie Ward
Ovidiu Hoban- Claudiu Keșerü
- Ciprian Marica
- Alexandru Maxim
- Raul Rusescu
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[3]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions could be extended for serious offences)
- Receiving three yellow cards in three different matches, as well as after fifth and any subsequent yellow card (yellow card suspensions were carried forward to the play-offs, but not the finals or any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during the qualifying matches:
| Team | Player | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faroe Islands | Hallur Hansson |  vs Finland (7 September 2014) vs Hungary (14 October 2014) vs Greece (14 November 2014) | vs Romania (29 March 2015) |
| vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2015) vs Finland (7 September 2015) | vs Hungary (8 October 2015) | ||
| Atli Gregersen | vs Hungary (14 October 2014) vs Greece (14 November 2014) vs Greece (13 June 2015) | vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2015) | |
 vs Hungary (8 October 2015) | vs Romania (11 October 2015) | ||
| Jóan Símun Edmundsson | vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2015) | vs Finland (7 September 2015) | |
| Fróði Benjaminsen | vs Hungary (14 October 2014) vs Greece (13 June 2015) vs Finland (7 September 2015) | vs Hungary (8 October 2015) | |
| Brandur Olsen | vs Greece (14 November 2014) vs Greece (13 June 2015) vs Finland (7 September 2015) | vs Hungary (8 October 2015) | |
| Finland | Alexander Ring | vs Romania (14 October 2014) | vs Hungary (14 November 2014) |
| Tim Sparv | vs Greece (11 October 2014) vs Hungary (13 June 2015) vs Faroe Islands (7 September 2015) | vs Romania (8 October 2015) | |
| Markus Halsti | vs Hungary (13 June 2015) vs Faroe Islands (7 September 2015) vs Romania (8 October 2015) | vs Northern Ireland (11 October 2015) | |
| Përparim Hetemaj | vs Faroe Islands (7 September 2014) vs Greece (11 October 2014) vs Romania (8 October 2015) | vs Northern Ireland (11 October 2015) | |
| Greece | Vasilis Torosidis | vs Romania (7 September 2014) vs Finland (11 October 2014) vs Faroe Islands (13 June 2015) | vs Finland (4 September 2015) |
| Kostas Manolas | vs Romania (7 September 2014) vs Faroe Islands (14 November 2014) vs Romania (7 September 2015) | vs Northern Ireland (8 October 2015) | |
| Hungary | Ákos Elek | vs Romania (11 October 2014) vs Finland (14 November 2014) vs Greece (29 March 2015) | vs Finland (13 June 2015) |
| Zoltán Gera | vs Romania (11 October 2014) vs Faroe Islands (14 October 2014) vs Finland (13 June 2015) | vs Romania (4 September 2015) | |
| Dániel Tőzsér | vs Romania (11 October 2014) vs Finland (14 November 2014) vs Romania (4 September 2015) | vs Northern Ireland (7 September 2015) | |
| Leandro | vs Greece (29 March 2015) vs Romania (4 September 2015) vs Northern Ireland (7 September 2015) | vs Faroe Islands (8 October 2015) | |
| Northern Ireland | Jonny Evans |  vs Azerbaijan (11 October 2013)[note 3] | vs Hungary (7 September 2014) |
| Chris Baird | vs Hungary (7 September 2015) | vs Greece (8 October 2015) | |
| Kyle Lafferty | vs Greece (14 October 2014) vs Romania (14 November 2014) vs Hungary (7 September 2015) | vs Greece (8 October 2015) | |
| Conor McLaughlin | vs Romania (14 November 2014) vs Faroe Islands (4 September 2015) vs Hungary (7 September 2015) | vs Greece (8 October 2015) | |
| Romania | Ciprian Marica | vs Greece (7 September 2014) | vs Hungary (11 October 2014) |
| Mihai Pintilii | vs Greece (7 September 2014) vs Northern Ireland (14 November 2014) vs Northern Ireland (13 June 2015) | vs Hungary (4 September 2015) | |
| Alexandru Chipciu | vs Hungary (11 October 2014) vs Northern Ireland (14 November 2014) vs Hungary (4 September 2015) | vs Greece (7 September 2015) |