User:Mpejkrm/Sandbox/UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2016 is a football competition scheduled to be played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 teams to join France, who qualify automatically as hosts of UEFA Euro 2016.Fifty-three member associations will participate in the qualifying process for the tournament places, with Gibraltar taking part for the first time.

The draw took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis, Nice, on 9 February 2014. Sides were seeded according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings, which were announced along with the draw procedure and final tournament match schedule after the 23–24 January Executive Committee meeting in Nyon.

Format
All UEFA member associations are eligible to compete in the qualifying competition, with the hosts (France) qualifying directly to the finals tournament. The other 53 teams are drawn into three groups of six teams (Groups A–C) and seven groups of five teams (Groups D–J). The group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team (with the results against the sixth-placed team discarded) directly qualify to the finals. The eight remaining third-placed teams contest two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:
 * Tie-breaking
 * 1) Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
 * 2) Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question;
 * 3) Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
 * 4) Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played between the teams in question;
 * If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
 * 1) Superior goal difference in all group matches;
 * 2) Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
 * 3) Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
 * 4) Fair play conduct in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
 * 5) Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system;

To determine the best third-placed team, the results against the teams in sixth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied:
 * 1) Higher number of points obtained;
 * 2) Superior goal difference;
 * 3) Higher number of goals scored;
 * 4) Higher number of away goals scored;
 * 5) Fair play conduct in all group matches;
 * 6) Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system;

The four play-off ties are determined by draw, including the order of the two legs of each tie. The teams are seeded for the play-off draw according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings updated after the completion of the group stage. Each nation's coefficient is generated by calculating:
 * 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying group stage.
 * 40% of the average ranking points per game earned in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying stage and final tournament.
 * 20% of the average ranking points per game earned in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage and final tournament.

For each tie, the team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs qualifies for the final tournament. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e., the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time is played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e., if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out.

Schedule
There are ten matchdays for the group stage, and two matchdays for the play-offs:

Ranking of third-placed teams
The highest ranked third-placed team from the groups directly qualify for the tournament, while the remainder enter the play-offs. As some groups contain six teams and some five, matches against the sixth-placed team in each group are not included in this ranking. As a result, a total of eight matches played by each team count toward the purpose of the third-placed ranking table.