Tag Archives: EURO2016

In an earlier post we listed the 20 countries that have qualified for the 2016 UEFA European Championships. However, there are still four places to be filled. Eight teams will play two matches each. The winners will clinch a spot in the tournament. Below are fixtures and match dates:

Norway v Hungary: 12th and 15th November

Bosnia and Herzegovina v Republic of Ireland: 13th & 16th November

Ukraine v Slovenia: 14th & 17th November

Sweden v Denmark: 14th & 17th November

According to UEFA, the highlight of the playoffs is the match between nordic rivals Sweden and Denmark. We agree!

Sweden versus Denmark statistics

• Sweden and Denmark have faced each other 104 times. Sweden has 45 wins and Denmark 40. However, Denmark has won the last four matches against Sweden.
• When Denmark won the 1992 European Championships (in Sweden), they got a spot in the tournament thanks to former republic of Yugoslavia being disqualified because of the civil war. Then, Sweden were the only team that managed to beat Denmark.
• The last match that Sweden won was an odd one: In the qualifiers for the 2008 European Championships, the teams met in Copenhagen. Sweden went ahead by 3-0, but Denmark tied the game 3-3 in the second half. At the end of the game, the referee was assaulted by a drunken fan when he awarded a penalty kick to Sweden. This caused the game to be decided a Swedish 3-0 win. Sweden then qualified for the Euro 2008.
• Denmark is ranked 28 and Sweden 45 by FIFA (October).
• Sweden’s staring lineup is worth approximately 450 million SEK (48 million EURO) and Denmark’s 600 million SEK (64 million EURO).
• In the U21 European Championships this summer, Sweden won the gold. The Swedish U21-team defeated Denmark in the semifinal.
• In the qualifiers, Denmark scored 8 goals in 10 games. Sweden scored 15. Denmark only let in 5 goals though, and Sweden 9.
• Sweden has Zlatan Ibrahimovic 🙂

The last round of the qualifiers to the UEFA European Championships 2016 has been played and after a lot of drama, 20 countries are now ready to play in the tournament. They will be accompanied by an 4 additional teams after the playoffs have been decided.

Qualified countries

France (host country), Iceland, Czech Republic, England, Austria, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Wales, Albania, Romania, Germany, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Croatia, Slovakia.

Se comments under final standings below.

Play offs (seeded | unseeded)

Ukraine, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Sweden, Hungary | Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia.

The seeded teams will be drawn against the unseeded teams Sunday, October 18th. Each pair of teams will face each other two times, home and away. The first play off matches are played 12-14 November and the second three days later. The four winning teams will get a spot in the European Championships 2016.

Final standings

The first and second placed teams are directly qualified to the UEFA European Championships in France 2016, together with the best third placed team. The remaining third placed teams will play for a place in the tournament through play offs.

Group A

Czech Republic 22p
Iceland 20p
Turkey 18p
—
Netherlands 13p
Kazakhstan 5p
Latvia 5p

Comment: By far the most surprising results of the qualifiers. Who could have guessed that Iceland would clinch a spot in the EURO 2016 beforehand? And what a catastrophe for Netherlands, who won bronze in the 2014 World Cup. Turkey clinched a place in the tournament as the best third placed team.

Group B

Belgium 23p
Wales 21p
Bosnia & Herzegovina 17p
—
Israel 13p
Cyprus 12p
Andorra 0p

Comment: Belgium and Wales have placed themself on the top of FIFA’s world ranking during the qualifiers. This has been a tough group. At Chicken Swedes we have placed a few bets against Cyprus this season, and lost..

Group C

Spain 27p
Slovakia 22p
Ukraine 19p
—
Belarus 11p
Luxembourg 4p
Macedonia 4p

Comment: This group turned out pretty much as expected, with Spain at the top. Slovakia has done a solid performance throughout the qualifiers.

Group D

Germany 22p
Poland 21p
Republic of Ireland 18p
—
Scotland 15p
Georgia 9p
Gibraltar 0p

Comment: FIFA World Cup 2014 winners Germany at the top, as expected. However, they weren’t dominating the group: A 7-1-2 record tells us that there has been some fierce battles and Polish resistance in group D.

Group E

England 30p
Switzerland 21p
Slovenia 16p
—
Estonia 10p
Lithuania 10p
San Marino 1p

Comment: England have prevailed since the failure in the 2014 World Cup. 10 straight wins sent them to France in 2016. It will be interesting to see how far they can go in the main tournament this year! At the other end of the spectrum we have San Marino. They scored their first away goal in 14 years and almost got the draw against Lithuania but lost in overtime.

Group F

Northern Ireland 21p
Romania 20p
Hungary 16p
—
Finland 12p
Faroe Islands 6p
Greece 6p

Comment: The biggest mystery here is: what happened to Greece? Did the economic crisis affected them? From winning the 2004 European Championships to a last spot in the qualifiers. Horrible! Northern Ireland and Romania goes through to the EURO 2016 in a group that didn’t really scare anyone.

Group G

Austria 28p
Russia 20p
Sweden 18p
—
Montenegro 11p
Liechtenstein 5p
Moldova 2p

Comment: Austria has made an excellent qualifier and our guess is that they will go far in the main tournament. Sweden almost got the second place but had a horrible match 7 and 8 with two straight losses against their top competitors. Now, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rest of the team will have to rely on a couple of wins in the play offs instead. In the play offs for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Sweden lost against Portugal. Russia was awarded the win in the away match against Montenegro after their goalie being hit by a firework from the crowd.

Group H

Italy 24p
Croatia 20p
Norway 19p
—
Bulgaria 11p
Azerbaijan 6p
Malta 2p

Comment: A tough group where Norway almost got the second spot in the last match, but failed to keep the lead against Italy. They might end up playing their neighbours Sweden in the play offs. Croatia clinched the second place in the group despite of getting a penalty for racist symbols at their home field in the match against Italy.

Group I

Portugal 21p
Albania 14p
Denmark 12p
—
Serbia 4p
Armenia 2p

Comment: Portugal came out strong as expected. Albania was the big surprise in this group where many thought that Denmark would qualify directly to the UEFA 2016. Instead, they have to go through the play offs, perhaps against Sweden. Sadly, we see another point deduction from a team from former Yugoslavia. Serbia got penalized for a pitch invasion in the match against Albania.

We will be back with predictions after the play offs have been drawn!

Former Swedish coach Lars Lagerbäck and Iceland made history this qualification round for the European Football Championships in France 2016. For the first time in the country’s history they have reached a major soccer tournament. After defeating Netherlands in the first match of the round, all Iceland needed was one point in the last three games. The first chance was at home, against Kazakstan. After playing a goalless tie, the point was secured and also a spot in the Euro 2016. Netherlands at the other side, continue to struggle in the qualifiers with another loss (3-0) against Turkey. This places Netherlands in fourth place in the group and if the results doesn’t go their way they can miss the play offs.

Sweden struggles after another defeat

While Lagerbäck is enjoying succés with his Iceland, his countrymen in the Swedish national team under coach Erik Hamrén is struggling after two straight defeats. Before this qualification round they had a second place in group G, with Russia chasing four points behind. After losses against Russia away (0-1) and Austria at home (1-4), Sweden is now in fourth place, two points after Russia, one point before Montenegro. With just two matches to go, they probably have to aim for the play off in November where eight third placed teams of the groups will battle for four spots in the Euro 2016. All the group winners, second placed teams and the best third placed team will directly qualify to join France for the Euro 2016.

Wayne Rooney celebrates 50 goals for Three Lions

After England’s victory over San Marino, Wayne Rooney was in shared lead with Sir Bobby Charlton (and Own Goals!) as Britains all time top scorer with 49 goals. In the last match of this qualification round, he is now alone in top with 50 goals after a penalty kick goal. England defeated Switzerland 2-0.

Qualified teams so far

After this round’s qualification matches we have a number of teams that will join the host nation France in 2016: Iceland, England, Czech Republic and Austria. The next set of qualifiers are played October 8 – 13. The play offs are played November 12-17.

After a 6-0 victory against San Marino, England is qualified for the 2016 UEFA European Championships in France next summer. Wayne Rooney scored his 49th goal for England through a penalty shot in the 13th minute. This takes him in shared lead as England’s top goal scorer of all times together with Sir Bobby Charlton, who won the World Cup 1966 as well as the Baloon d’Or the very same year. However, in the game against San Marino, another contester for top goalscorer also stroke: Own goals. The 3-0 goal against San Marino was the 49th own goal ever for England. Question is: how good are the three lions really if they are so dependent on the other teams scoring on themselves?

Iceland defeated Netherlands for the second time

Former Swedish coach, Lars Lagerbäck, and his Iceland took a great step towards the Euro 2016 by defeating Netherlands 1-0. That’s the second victory for Iceland against the bronze medalists from 2014 FIFA World Cup. Netherlands had a bad night, with Arjen Robben injured and a red card in the second half together with a penalty shot against them in the second half. Iceland won fair and square and now only has to take 1 point in the last three games against Kazahkstan, Turkey and Latvia. Netherlands are in trouble though. They are in third place in the group, behind Iceland and Czech Republic, and are chased by Turkey. The top two teams of each group together with the best third team are directly qualified for the European Championships, while the rest of the third placed teams need to play play offs. Our guess is that Netherlands will reach the Euro 2016 by play off, but then they need to play a better game of football than they did against Iceland.

Sweden lost against Russia

Sweden went to Moscow with hopes to get at least a draw against Russia who struggle four points behind them in third place of group G. However, they didn’t do very well and Russia could score 1-0 in the first half. Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic injured his back and was replaced by Ola Toivonen in the second half. Sweden could move up their positions and put some pressure on the offense, but failed to convert on their chances. Russia is now only 1 point behind Sweden. Sweden’s match against group leading Austria this Tuesday will be a key for how this group will end. Three points will probably be needed there if Sweden are to keep their second place and reach France 2016 without going through the play offs.
The qualifiers continues a few more days, 6-9th September. We will be back with more news after more matches are finished.

This week we are looking forward to some exciting International Soccer as the race to reach the finals of Euro 2016 continues. The 2016 European Championships are played in France in the summer of 2016 (June 10-July 10). As they are the host nation, “Les Bleus” are already qualified for the tournament. The rest of the European teams are battling for 23 spots. In the qualifiers, the 53 teams are divided into 9 groups. From each group, the first and second placed teams are directly qualified to the championships together with the best 3rd placed team. The other eight 3rd placed teams have to play play-offs from which the last 4 teams advances to Euro 2016.

The British teams

England, at the top of Group E after a victory against Switzerland, are looking to gain an advantage in their goal difference when they welcome San Marino to Wembley Thursday October 9th. Wales beat Andorra in the last round and they are facing Bosnia and Herzegovina who is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing defeat against Cyprus (!) In Group D, Scotland faces Georgia at Hampden Park, while the Republic of Ireland entertain Gibraltar in Dublin. Northern Ireland take on the Faroe Islands at Windsor Park. Against these opponents, the British teams should come out on top.

Sweden vs Russia

Another interesting match-up are Sweden against Russia at Friends Arena, Stockholm Sweden. The winner here gets a big advantage and will become favourites for the group victory. Sweden was the last team to beat Spain in a qualifier game, that was in 2008. Spain is facing Slovakia in Zilina. Will the swedes prevail or will it be a sad reminder of the Swedish king Charles XII defeat against Russia at Poltava in 1709? Hopefully they have what it takes to tame the Russian bear this time.

The qualifiers are played 9,10 and 11th of October so we have a great weekend of great international football to look forward to.