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 centralised friendlies against these countries on their 'spare' dates.[4] However, these friendlies did not count in the qualifying group standings.

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Portugal Albania Denmark Serbia Armenia
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[lower-alpha 1] 8 2 1 5 8 13 −5 4 1–2 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 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. 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.

Matches

The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 in Nice.[5] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

Denmark 2–1 Armenia
  • Højbjerg 65'
  • Kahlenberg 80'
 Report
Attendance: 20,141
Portugal 0–1 Albania
Report
Attendance: 23,205
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)
Armenia 1–1 Serbia
 Report
Attendance: 8,500[6]
Albania 1–1 Denmark
 Report
Attendance: 11,330[7]
Denmark 0–1 Portugal
Report
Attendance: 36,562
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Serbia 0–3
Awarded[note 3]		 Albania
Report Team did not officially score any goals but was awarded three goals after the match was abandoned.
Attendance: 25,200
Portugal 1–0 Armenia
 Report
Attendance: 21,042
Serbia 1–3 Denmark
 Report
Attendance: 0[note 4]
Albania 2–1 Armenia
 Report
Attendance: 12,300
Portugal 2–1 Serbia
 Report
Attendance: 58,430
Armenia 2–3 Portugal
 Report
Attendance: 14,527[15]
Denmark 2–0 Serbia
 Report
Attendance: 30,887[16]
Denmark 0–0 Albania
Report
Attendance: 35,648[17]
Serbia 2–0 Armenia
 Report
Attendance: 0[note 4]
Armenia 0–0 Denmark
Report
Attendance: 7,500[18]
Albania 0–1 Portugal
Report
Attendance: 12,121[19]
Albania 0–2 Serbia
Report
Attendance: 12,330[20]
Portugal 1–0 Denmark
 Report
Attendance: 29,860[21]
Armenia 0–3 Albania
Report
Attendance: 4,700[22]
Serbia 1–2 Portugal
 Report
Attendance: 7,485[23]

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

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

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)
 AlbaniaAnsi AgolliYellow card vs Serbia (14 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Denmark (4 September 2015)
Yellow card vs Serbia (8 October 2015)		vs Armenia (11 October 2015)
 ArmeniaHovhannes HambardzumyanYellow card Yellow-red card vs Albania (29 March 2015)vs Portugal (13 June 2015)
 PortugalTiagoYellow card Yellow-red card 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.[24] The ban was temporarily suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport until the final appeal.[25] 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).[26]

Notes

  1. ↑ CET (UTC+1) for matches on 14 November 2014, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
  2. 1 2 3 4 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 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.[8] Both the Serbian and Albanian football associations were looking to have the decision revisited,[9][10] but the decision was upheld by UEFA.[11] Both associations then filed further appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,[12] and on 10 July 2015 the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal filed by the Serbian FA, and upholds 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.[13] Serbian FA announced appeal at the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.[14]
  4. 1 2 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. 1 2 "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2014-16" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  4. ↑ "Centralised friendlies" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  5. ↑ "Qualifying fixtures" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  6. ↑ "Armenia vs. Serbia". Soccerway. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Albania vs. Denmark". Soccerway. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "Serbia and Albania disciplinary decision". UEFA. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  9. ↑ AFP (25 October 2014). "Albania to appeal UEFA punishment over Serbia fracas". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Serbia to appeal Uefa decision". Goal.com. 24 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Decisions upheld for Serbia-Albania match". UEFA.com. 2 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. ↑ "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)". Tribunal Arbitral du Sport / Court of Arbitration for Sport. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Fudbalski savez Srbije - zvanična web prezentacija". fss.rs.
  15. ↑ "Armenia 2 - 3 Portugal Match report - 6/13/15 EC Qualification - Goal.com". goal.com.
  16. ↑ "Denmark 2 - 0 Serbia Team line-ups 6/13/15 - EC Qualification - Goal.com". goal.com.
  17. ↑ "Denmark vs. Albania - 4 September 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "Armenia vs. Denmark - 7 September 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "Albania vs. Portugal - 7 September 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "Albania vs. Serbia - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Portugal vs. Denmark - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  22. ↑ "Armenia vs. Albania - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "Serbia vs. Portugal - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "Update on FIFA Disciplinary Committee decisions on World Cup cases". FIFA.com. 4 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014.
  25. ↑ "CAS temporarily lifts Portugal coach Fernando Santos' eight-game ban". ESPNFC.com. 13 October 2014.
  26. ↑ "Portugal boss Santos sees touchline ban halved". Goal.com. 23 March 2015.
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