Uefa Euro 2016 Qualifying Group H
The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group H was one of the nine groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals tournament.
Group H consisted of six teams: Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Malta, where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.
The top two teams, Italy and Croatia, qualified directly for the finals. As third-placed Norway weren't the highest-ranked among all third-placed teams, they advanced to the play-offs, where they lost to Hungary and thus failed to qualify.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 24 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Croatia | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 20 | 1–1 | — | 5–1 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Norway | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 19 | Advance to play-offs | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 11 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | ||
| 5 | Azerbaijan | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 6 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 6 | Malta | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — |
Matches
The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 in Nice. Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).
| Azerbaijan | 1–2 | Bulgaria |
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| Italy | 2–1 | Azerbaijan |
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| Croatia | 6–0 | Azerbaijan |
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| Azerbaijan | 0–1 | Norway |
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| Azerbaijan | 2–0 | Malta |
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| Croatia | 5–1 | Norway |
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| Norway | 0–0 | Azerbaijan |
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| Azerbaijan | 0–0 | Croatia |
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| Malta | 2–2 | Azerbaijan |
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| Azerbaijan | 1–3 | Italy |
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| Bulgaria | 2–0 | Azerbaijan |
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Goalscorers
There were 68 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.27 goals per match.
6 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Javid Huseynov
Mihail Aleksandrov- Nikolay Bodurov
- Andrey Galabinov
- Ventsislav Hristov
- Dimitar Rangelov
Nikola Kalinić- Mario Mandžukić
- Ivica Olić
- Danijel Pranjić
- Ivan Rakitić
- Gordon Schildenfeld
Leonardo Bonucci- Matteo Darmian
- Daniele De Rossi
- Stephan El Shaarawy
- Alessandro Florenzi
- Simone Zaza
Alfred Effiong- Clayton Failla
- Michael Mifsud
Jo Inge Berget- Mats Møller Dæhli
- Tarik Elyounoussi
- Vegard Forren
- Håvard Nielsen
- Håvard Nordtveit
- Alexander Søderlund
1 own goal
- Rashad Sadygov (against Croatia)
- Nikolay Bodurov (against Croatia)
- Yordan Minev (against Italy)
- Vedran Ćorluka (against Norway)
- Giorgio Chiellini (against Azerbaijan)
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:
- 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azerbaijan | Maksim Medvedev |  vs Russia (15 October 2013) | vs Bulgaria (9 September 2014) |
| Badavi Guseynov | vs Italy (10 October 2015) | vs Bulgaria (13 October 2015) | |
| Bulgaria | Petar Zanev |   vs Czech Republic (15 October 2013) | vs Azerbaijan (9 September 2014) |
| Svetoslav Dyakov | vs Italy (28 March 2015) vs Malta (12 June 2015) vs Italy (6 September 2015) | vs Croatia (10 October 2015) | |
| Yordan Minev | vs Norway (13 October 2014) vs Norway (3 September 2015) vs Italy (6 September 2015) | vs Croatia (10 October 2015) | |
| Iliyan Mitsanski | vs Italy (6 September 2015) | vs Croatia (10 October 2015) vs Azerbaijan (13 October 2015) | |
| Croatia | Josip Šimunić | Discriminatory behaviour vs Iceland (19 November 2013) | vs Malta (9 September 2014) vs Bulgaria (10 October 2014) vs Azerbaijan (13 October 2014) vs Italy (16 November 2014) vs Norway (28 March 2015) vs Italy (12 June 2015) vs Azerbaijan (3 September 2015) |
| Ante Rebić | vs Mexico (23 June 2014) | vs Malta (9 September 2014) | |
| Vedran Ćorluka | vs Norway (28 March 2015) | vs Italy (12 June 2015) | |
| Darijo Srna | vs Italy (12 June 2015) | vs Azerbaijan (3 September 2015) | |
| Mateo Kovačić | vs Italy (16 November 2014) vs Italy (12 June 2015) vs Azerbaijan (3 September 2015) | vs Norway (6 September 2015) | |
| Ivica Olić | vs Bulgaria (10 October 2014) vs Italy (12 June 2015) vs Norway (6 September 2015) | vs Bulgaria (10 October 2015) | |
| Duje Čop | vs Bulgaria (10 October 2015) | vs Malta (13 October 2015) | |
| Italy | Claudio Marchisio | vs Uruguay (24 June 2014) | vs Norway (9 September 2014) |
| Leonardo Bonucci | vs Malta (13 October 2014) | vs Croatia (16 November 2014) | |
| Daniele De Rossi | vs Bulgaria (6 September 2015) | vs Azerbaijan (10 October 2015) vs Norway (13 October 2015) | |
| Malta | Steve Borg | vs Croatia (9 September 2014) | vs Norway (10 October 2014) vs Italy (13 October 2014) vs Bulgaria (16 November 2014) |
| Michael Mifsud | vs Italy (13 October 2014) | vs Bulgaria (16 November 2014) vs Azerbaijan (28 March 2015) | |
| Paul Fenech | vs Bulgaria (16 November 2014) vs Bulgaria (12 June 2015) vs Italy (3 September 2015) | vs Azerbaijan (6 September 2015) | |
| Norway | Tarik Elyounoussi | vs Bulgaria (13 October 2014) vs Azerbaijan (16 November 2014) vs Croatia (28 March 2015) | vs Azerbaijan (12 June 2015) |