UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group D

The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group D was one of the nine groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals tournament.[1] Group D consisted of six teams: Germany, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Scotland, Georgia, and Gibraltar,[2] where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.[3]

The top two teams, Germany and Poland, qualified directly for the finals. As third-placed Republic of Ireland weren't the highest-ranked among all third-placed teams, they advanced to the play-offs, where they won against Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus qualified as well.

Background

The Germany national football team was looking to maintain its record of qualifying for every European Championship since 1972.[4][5] Scotland and the Republic of Ireland both proposed the expansion of the European Championship and it was considered "ironic" by the Republic of Ireland manager, Martin O'Neill, that the two were drawn in the same group.[5] The chairman of the Polish Football Association, Zbigniew Boniek, stated that he was happy with the draw.[6] Georgia national football team manager, Temur Ketsbaia, said that the new system would give Georgia the chance to qualify and said that Georgia would aim for third place in the group.[7]

The Gibraltar national football team competed in European Championship qualifying for the first time after becoming members of UEFA in May 2013. Gibraltar play their home matches at Estádio Algarve in Faro, Algarve, Portugal, as their home ground, Victoria Stadium, has an artificial pitch and does not meet UEFA international standards.[8] They were initially drawn in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group C, but with Spain—who claims the territory—already in that group, UEFA moved Gibraltar to Group D.[9]

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Germany Poland Republic of Ireland Scotland Georgia (country) Gibraltar
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 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 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Matches

The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 in Nice.[10] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

Georgia 1–2 Republic of Ireland
  • Okriashvili 38'
 Report
Attendance: 22,000
Germany 2–1 Scotland
 Report
Attendance: 60,209
Gibraltar 0–7 Poland
Report
Attendance: 1,620
Republic of Ireland 7–0 Gibraltar
 Report
Attendance: 35,123
Referee: Leontios Trattou (Cyprus)
Scotland 1–0 Georgia
 Report
Attendance: 34,719
Poland 2–0 Germany
 Report
Attendance: 56,934
Germany 1–1 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 51,204[12]
Gibraltar 0–3 Georgia
Report
Attendance: 281[13]
Poland 2–2 Scotland
 Report
Attendance: 55,197
Georgia 0–4 Poland
Report
Attendance: 25,635[14]
Germany 4–0 Gibraltar
 Report
Attendance: 43,520[15]
Scotland 1–0 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 59,239
Georgia 0–2 Germany
Report
Attendance: 51,000
Scotland 6–1 Gibraltar
 Report
Attendance: 34,255
Republic of Ireland 1–1 Poland
 Report
Attendance: 50,500
Poland 4–0 Georgia
 Report
Attendance: 56,512
Republic of Ireland 1–1 Scotland
 Report
Attendance: 49,063
Gibraltar 0–7 Germany
Report
Attendance: 7,467
Referee: Clayton Pisani (Malta)
Georgia 1–0 Scotland
 Report
Attendance: 23,000
Germany 3–1 Poland
 Report
Attendance: 48,500
Gibraltar 0–4 Republic of Ireland
Report
Attendance: 5,393
Poland 8–1 Gibraltar
 Report
Attendance: 27,763[16]
Republic of Ireland 1–0 Georgia
 Report
Attendance: 27,200[17]
Referee: István Vad (Hungary)
Scotland 2–3 Germany
 Report
Attendance: 50,753[18]
Georgia 4–0 Gibraltar
 Report
Attendance: 11,330[19]
Republic of Ireland 1–0 Germany
 Report
Attendance: 50,604[20]
Scotland 2–2 Poland
 Report
Attendance: 49,359[21]
Germany 2–1 Georgia
 Report
Attendance: 43,630[22]
Gibraltar 0–6 Scotland
Report
Attendance: 12,401[23]
Poland 2–1 Republic of Ireland
 Report
Attendance: 57,497[24]

Goalscorers
Poland's Robert Lewandowski was the group's highest goalscorer with 13 goals

There were 110 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 3.67 goals per match.

13 goals

9 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 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)
 PolandKamil GlikYellow card vs Gibraltar (7 September 2014)
Yellow card vs Germany (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Republic of Ireland (29 March 2015)		vs Georgia (13 June 2015)
 Republic of IrelandJames McCleanYellow card vs Scotland (14 November 2014)
Yellow card vs Scotland (13 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Georgia (7 September 2015)		vs Germany (8 October 2015)
Glenn WhelanYellow card vs Germany (14 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Scotland (13 June 2015)
Yellow card vs Georgia (7 September 2015)		vs Germany (8 October 2015)
 ScotlandCharlie MulgrewYellow card Yellow-red card vs Germany (7 September 2014)vs Georgia (11 October 2014)
James MorrisonYellow card vs Germany (7 September 2014)
Yellow card vs Georgia (11 October 2014)
Yellow card vs Germany (7 September 2015)		vs Poland (8 October 2015)

Notes
  1. CET (UTC+1) for matches on 14 November 2014, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
  2. Gibraltar played their home matches at Estádio Algarve in Portugal instead of their regular stadium, Victoria Stadium, in Gibraltar.
  3. Scotland played their first two home matches at other stadiums (against Georgia at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, and against Republic of Ireland at Celtic Park, Glasgow) instead of their regular stadium, Hampden Park, Glasgow, as it was only reopened for football in "late 2014" after hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[11]

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. "European Championship 1958-2008 All-Time Rankings". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  5. "Scotland begin Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in Germany". Evening Times. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  6. "Polacy i ich rywale zadowoleni z losowania. Boniek: coś tu jest nie tak" (in Polish). Sport.tvn24.pl. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  7. "ქეცბაია: "მესამე ადგილისთვის ბოლომდე ვიბრძოლებთ"" (in Georgian). Geosports.ge. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  8. Rose, Gary. "Euro 2016 qualifying draw: Gibraltar ready to prove their worth". BBC. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  9. Fifeld, Nicola (23 February 2014). "Gibraltar moves group in Euro 2016 qualifiers draw over political tensions". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  10. "Qualifying fixtures" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  11. Hampden Park to close for one year for Glasgow 2014 preparations insidethegames.biz
  12. "Germany vs. Republic of Ireland 1 - 1". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  13. "Gibraltar vs. Georgia 0 - 3". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  14. "Georgia vs. Poland 0 - 4". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  15. "Germany vs. Gibraltar 4 - 4". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  16. "Poland vs. Gibraltar 8 - 1". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  17. "Republic of Ireland vs. Georgia 1 - 0". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  18. "Scotland vs. Germany 2 - 3". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  19. "Georgia vs. Gibraltar - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  20. "Republic of Ireland vs. Germany - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  21. "Scotland vs. Poland - 8 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  22. "Germany vs. Georgia - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  23. "Gibraltar vs. Scotland - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  24. "Poland vs. Republic of Ireland - 11 October 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
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