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TheUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group I was one of the nine groups to decide which teams would qualify for theUEFA Euro 2016 finals tournament.[1] Group I consisted of five teams:Portugal,Denmark,Serbia,Armenia, andAlbania,[2] where they played against each other home-and-away in around-robin format.[3]
The top two teams, Portugal and Albania, qualified directly for the finals. As third-placed Denmarkweren't the highest-ranked among all third-placed teams, they advanced to the play-offs, where they lost toSweden 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]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 21 | Qualify forfinal 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 toplay-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 | — |
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).
| Denmark | 2–1 | Armenia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Armenia | 1–1 | Serbia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Denmark | 2–0 | Serbia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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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
Bekim BalajBerat DjimsitiShkëlzen GashiErmir LenjaniMërgim MavrajArmando SadikuRobert ArzumanyanHenrikh MkhitaryanHrayr MkoyanMarcos PizzelliPierre-Emile HøjbjergThomas KahlenbergSimon KjærJakob PoulsenYussuf PoulsenLasse VibeRicardo CarvalhoFábio CoentrãoNaniMiguel VelosoAleksandar KolarovNemanja Matić1 own goal
Mërgim Mavraj (against Armenia)Levon Hayrapetyan (against Serbia)Kamo Hovhannisyan (against Albania)A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[3]
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 coachFernando 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 theCourt 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]
