UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group I

Armenia vs Portugal match in Yerevan, 13 June 2015

The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group I was one of the nine groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals tournament.^[1] Group I consisted of five teams: Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia, and Albania,^[2] where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.^[3]

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

France were also partnered with the five-team Group I, which enabled the 2016 tournament hosts to play centralized friendlies against these countries on their 'spare' dates.^[4] However, these friendlies did not count in the qualifying group standings.^[5][6][7][8]

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	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			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[a]	8	2	1	5	8	13	−5	4			1–2	0–3[a]	1–3	—	2–0
5	Armenia	8	0	2	6	5	14	−9	2			2–3	0–3	0–0	1–1	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:

1. 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.

Matches

The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 in Nice.^[9] Times are CET/CEST,^{[note 1]} as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

7 September 2014 (2014-09-07)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Denmark	2–1	Armenia
Højbjerg 65' Kahlenberg 80'	Report	Mkhitaryan 50'

Telia Parken, Copenhagen

Attendance: 20,141

Referee: Alexandru Tudor (Romania)

7 September 2014 (2014-09-07)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	0–1	Albania
	Report	Balaj 52'

Estádio Municipal, Aveiro

Attendance: 23,205

Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

---

11 October 2014 (2014-10-11)

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Armenia	1–1	Serbia
Arzumanyan 73'	Report	Z. Tošić 89'

Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan

Attendance: 8,500^[10]

Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (Norway)

11 October 2014 (2014-10-11)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Albania	1–1	Denmark
Lenjani 38'	Report	Vibe 81'

Elbasan Arena, Elbasan^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 11,330^[11]

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

---

14 October 2014 (2014-10-14)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Denmark	0–1	Portugal
	Report	Ronaldo 90+5'

Telia Parken, Copenhagen

Attendance: 36,562

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Main article: Serbia v Albania (UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying)

14 October 2014 (2014-10-14)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Serbia	0–3 Awarded[note 3]	Albania
	Report

Partizan Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 25,200

Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)

---

14 November 2014 (2014-11-14)

20:45
(19:45 UTC±0)

Portugal	1–0	Armenia
Ronaldo 72'	Report

Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé

Attendance: 21,042

Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece)

14 November 2014 (2014-11-14)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Serbia	1–3	Denmark
Z. Tošić 4'	Report	Bendtner 60', 85' Kjær 62'

Partizan Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 0^{[note 4]}

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

---

29 March 2015 (2015-03-29)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Albania	2–1	Armenia
Mavraj 77' Gashi 81'	Report	Mavraj 4' (o.g.)

Elbasan Arena, Elbasan^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 12,300

Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

29 March 2015 (2015-03-29)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	2–1	Serbia
Carvalho 10' Coentrão 63'	Report	Matić 61'

Estádio da Luz, Lisbon

Attendance: 58,430

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

---

13 June 2015 (2015-06-13)

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Armenia	2–3	Portugal
Pizzelli 14' Mkoyan 72'	Report	Ronaldo 29' (pen.), 55', 58'

Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan

Attendance: 14,527^[19]

Referee: Serge Gumienny (Belgium)

13 June 2015 (2015-06-13)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Denmark	2–0	Serbia
Y. Poulsen 13' J. Poulsen 87'	Report

Telia Parken, Copenhagen

Attendance: 30,887^[20]

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

---

4 September 2015 (2015-09-04)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Denmark	0–0	Albania
	Report

Telia Parken, Copenhagen

Attendance: 35,648^[21]

Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

4 September 2015 (2015-09-04)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Serbia	2–0	Armenia
Hayrapetyan 22' (o.g.) Ljajić 53'	Report

Karađorđe Stadium, Novi Sad

Attendance: 0^{[note 4]}

Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)

---

7 September 2015 (2015-09-07)

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Armenia	0–0	Denmark
	Report

Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan

Attendance: 7,500^[22]

Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

7 September 2015 (2015-09-07)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Albania	0–1	Portugal
	Report	Veloso 90+2'

Elbasan Arena, Elbasan^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 12,121^[23]

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

---

8 October 2015 (2015-10-08)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Albania	0–2	Serbia
	Report	Kolarov 90+1' Ljajić 90+4'

Elbasan Arena, Elbasan^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 12,330^[24]

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

8 October 2015 (2015-10-08)

20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)

Portugal	1–0	Denmark
Moutinho 66'	Report

Estádio Municipal, Braga

Attendance: 29,860^[25]

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England)

---

11 October 2015 (2015-10-11)

18:00
(20:00 UTC+4)

Armenia	0–3	Albania
	Report	Hovhannisyan 9' (o.g.) Djimsiti 23' Sadiku 76'

Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan

Attendance: 4,700^[26]

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

11 October 2015 (2015-10-11)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Serbia	1–2	Portugal
Z. Tošić 65'	Report	Nani 5' Moutinho 78'

Partizan Stadium, Belgrade

Attendance: 7,485^[27]

Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

Goalscorers

Cristiano Ronaldo, leading goalscorer with five goals

There were 39 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 1.95 goals per match.^{[note 5]}

5 goals

• Cristiano Ronaldo

3 goals

• Zoran Tošić

2 goals

• Nicklas Bendtner
• João Moutinho
• Adem Ljajić

1 goal

• Bekim Balaj
• Berat Djimsiti
• Shkëlzen Gashi
• Ermir Lenjani
• Mërgim Mavraj
• Armando Sadiku
• Robert Arzumanyan
• Henrikh Mkhitaryan
• Hrayr Mkoyan
• Marcos Pizzelli
• Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
• Thomas Kahlenberg
• Simon Kjær
• Jakob Poulsen
• Yussuf Poulsen
• Lasse Vibe
• Ricardo Carvalho
• Fábio Coentrão
• Nani
• Miguel Veloso
• Aleksandar Kolarov
• Nemanja Matić

1 own goal

• Mërgim Mavraj (against Armenia)
• Levon Hayrapetyan (against Serbia)
• Kamo Hovhannisyan (against Albania)

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)
Albania	Ansi Agolli	vs Serbia (14 October 2014) vs Denmark (4 September 2015) vs Serbia (8 October 2015)	vs Armenia (11 October 2015)
Armenia	Hovhannes Hambardzumyan	vs Albania (29 March 2015)	vs Portugal (13 June 2015)
Portugal	Tiago	vs Armenia (13 June 2015)	vs Albania (7 September 2015)

Portugal coach Fernando Santos was to serve an eight-match touchline ban for unsporting conduct towards the match officials when he was in charge of Greece against Costa Rica in the 2014 FIFA World Cup round of 16 match.^[28] The ban was temporarily suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport until the final appeal.^[29] On 23 March 2015, the CAS ruled that his ban should be reduced to four games, with two suspended during a six-month probationary period, meaning he missed Portugal's matches against Serbia (29 March 2015) and Armenia (13 June 2015).^[30]

Notes

1. CET (UTC+1) for matches on 14 November 2014, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
2. Albania played their home matches at Elbasan Arena, Elbasan instead of their regular stadium, Qemal Stafa National Stadium, Tirana, as the national stadium would be reconstructed.
3. The Serbia v Albania match was abandoned with the score at 0–0 in the 42nd minute after "various incidents", which resulted in the Albania players refusing to return to the field. UEFA ruled that not only Albania had forfeited the match and awarded a 3–0 win to Serbia, but also deducted three points from Serbia for their involvement in the events. Serbia also had to play their next two home qualifying games behind closed doors, and both the Serbian and Albanian FAs were fined €100,000.^[12] The decision was appealed by both Serbia and Albania,^[13] but the decision was upheld by UEFA.^[14][15] Both associations then filed further appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,^[16][17] and on 10 July 2015, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal filed by the Serbian FA, and upheld in part the appeal filed by the Albanian FA, meaning the match is deemed to have been forfeited by Serbia with 0–3 and they are still deducted three points.^[18]
4. Played behind closed doors due to a sanction imposed on Serbia after the abandoned match against Albania.
5. The goal tally takes into account the original result of fixtures that were subsequently forfeited, not the awarded scoreline.

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. "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.
4. "Centralised friendlies" (PDF). UEFA.com.
5. "Centralised friendlies" (PDF). UEFA.com.
6. "European Championship hosts France to take part in qualification stages". The Guardian. Press Association. 23 January 2014. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
7. "Euro 2016: Hosts France to feature in qualifying". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
8. "UEFA sets fixture list of Euro 2016 host France". FOX Sports. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
9. "Qualifying fixtures" (PDF). UEFA.com.
10. "Armenia vs. Serbia". Soccerway. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
11. "Albania vs. Denmark". Soccerway. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
12. "Disciplinary decision on Serbia-Albania match". UEFA.com. 24 October 2014.
13. Likmeta, Besar (24 October 2014). "Albania, Serbia Appeal Against UEFA Ruling". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
14. "Decisions upheld for Serbia-Albania match". UEFA.com. 2 December 2014.
15. "Serbia, Albania lose drone incident appeals". ESPN.com. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
16. "The football associations of Albania and Serbia file appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)" (PDF). tas-cas.org. Court of Arbitration for Sport. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
17. "Albania, Serbia appeal UEFA sanctions". ESPN.com. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
18. "FOOTBALL: The CAS rejects the appeal filed by the Serbian FA, upholds in part the appeal filed by the Albanian FA: the match Serbia-Albania is deemed to have been forfeited by Serbia (0-3)" (PDF). Tribunal Arbitral du Sport / Court of Arbitration for Sport. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
19. "Armenia 2 - 3 Portugal Match report - 6/13/15 EC Qualification - Goal.com". goal.com.
20. "Denmark 2 - 0 Serbia Team line-ups 6/13/15 - EC Qualification - Goal.com". goal.com.
21. "Denmark vs. Albania - 4 September 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
22. "Armenia vs. Denmark - 7 September 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
23. "Albania vs. Portugal - 7 September 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
24. "Albania vs. Serbia - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
25. "Portugal vs. Denmark - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
26. "Armenia vs. Albania - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
27. "Serbia vs. Portugal - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
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. "CAS temporarily lifts Portugal coach Fernando Santos' eight-game ban". ESPNFC.com. 13 October 2014.
30. "Portugal boss Santos sees touchline ban halved". Goal.com. 23 March 2015.

External links

• https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/history/seasons/2016/qualifying/