The top two teams, the Czech Republic and Iceland, qualified directly for the finals. Turkey's win over Iceland, combined with Kazakhstan's win over Latvia on the final day of matches, also allowed Turkey to qualify directly as thebest ranked third-placed team of the qualifiers. As Turkey earned 6 points against Kazakhstan and 2 points against Latvia through their home and away fixtures, and as Kazakhstan's win over Latvia ensured that Latvia finished in last place in the group based on head-to-head record, not Kazakhstan, it then meant that only 2, not 6, of Turkey's total of 18 points earned would not count towards their third-placed ranking (as results against the team finishing in last place in the group were not included when ranking third-placed teams because one group had fewer teams than the others).[4][5][6][7][8]
The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 inNice.[9] Times areCET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).
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 the fifth and any subsequent yellow card (yellow card suspensions were carried forward to the playoffs, but not the finals or any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during the qualifying matches:
vs Iceland (16 November 2014)
vs Kazakhstan (6 September 2015)
vs Netherlands (10 October 2014)