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.^[1] Group H consisted of six teams: Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Malta,^[2] where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.^[3]

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 v t e	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[a]	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	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Croatia were deducted one point after charges for racist behaviour in the home match against Italy.

Matches

The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 in Nice.^[4] Times are CET/CEST,^{[note 1]} as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

9 September 2014 (2014-09-09)

18:00
(21:00 UTC+5)

Azerbaijan	1–2	Bulgaria
Nazarov 54'	Report	Mitsanski 14' V. Hristov 87'

Bakcell Arena, Baku

Attendance: 11,000

Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)

9 September 2014 (2014-09-09)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Croatia	2–0	Malta
Modrić 46' Kramarić 81'	Report

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 8,333

Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Russia)

9 September 2014 (2014-09-09)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	0–2	Italy
	Report	Zaza 16' Bonucci 62'

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 26,265

Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)

---

10 October 2014 (2014-10-10)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	0–1	Croatia
	Report	Bodurov 36' (o.g.)

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

Attendance: 29,733^[5]

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

10 October 2014 (2014-10-10)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Italy	2–1	Azerbaijan
Chiellini 44', 82'	Report	Chiellini 76' (o.g.)

Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo

Attendance: 33,000^[6]

Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (Turkey)

10 October 2014 (2014-10-10)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Malta	0–3	Norway
	Report	Dæhli 22' King 26', 49'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 8,067^[7]

Referee: Antony Gautier (France)

---

13 October 2014 (2014-10-13)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Croatia	6–0	Azerbaijan
Kramarić 11' Perišić 34', 45' Brozović 45+1' Modrić 57' (pen.) Sadygov 61' (o.g.)	Report

Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek

Attendance: 16,021^[8]

Referee: Stephan Studer (Switzerland)

13 October 2014 (2014-10-13)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Malta	0–1	Italy
	Report	Pellè 24'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 16,942

Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

13 October 2014 (2014-10-13)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	2–1	Bulgaria
T. Elyounoussi 13' Nielsen 72'	Report	Bodurov 43'

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 18,990

Referee: Olegário Benquerença (Portugal)

---

16 November 2014 (2014-11-16)

18:00
(21:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	0–1	Norway
	Report	Nordtveit 25'

Bakcell Arena, Baku

Attendance: 9,200^[9]

Referee: Yevhen Aranovskiy (Ukraine)

16 November 2014 (2014-11-16)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+2)

Bulgaria	1–1	Malta
Galabinov 6'	Report	Failla 49' (pen.)

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

Attendance: 3,300^[10]

Referee: Martin Strömbergsson (Sweden)

16 November 2014 (2014-11-16)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)

Italy	1–1	Croatia
Candreva 11'	Report	Perišić 15'

San Siro, Milan

Attendance: 63,222

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

---

28 March 2015 (2015-03-28)

18:00
(21:00 UTC+4)

Azerbaijan	2–0	Malta
Huseynov 4' Nazarov 90+2'	Report

Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 14,600

Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)

28 March 2015 (2015-03-28)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+1)

Croatia	5–1	Norway
Brozović 30' Perišić 53' Olić 65' Schildenfeld 87' Pranjić 90+4'	Report	Tettey 80'

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 23,920

Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)

28 March 2015 (2015-03-28)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+2)

Bulgaria	2–2	Italy
I. Popov 11' Mitsanski 17'	Report	Y. Minev 4' (o.g.) Éder 84'

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

Attendance: 6,000^[11]

Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

---

12 June 2015 (2015-06-12)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Croatia	1–1[note 2]	Italy
Mandžukić 11'	Report	Candreva 36' (pen.)

Stadion Poljud, Split

Attendance: 0^{[note 3]}

Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)

12 June 2015 (2015-06-12)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Malta	0–1	Bulgaria
	Report	I. Popov 56'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 3,924

Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (Macedonia)

12 June 2015 (2015-06-12)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Norway	0–0	Azerbaijan
	Report

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 21,228

Referee: Paweł Gil (Poland)

---

3 September 2015 (2015-09-03)

18:00
(21:00 UTC+5)

Azerbaijan	0–0	Croatia
	Report

Bakcell Arena, Baku

Attendance: 10,000^[15]

Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

3 September 2015 (2015-09-03)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	0–1	Norway
	Report	Forren 57'

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

Attendance: 12,913^[16]

Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands)

3 September 2015 (2015-09-03)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Italy	1–0	Malta
Pellè 69'	Report

Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence

Attendance: 12,551^[17]

Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)

---

6 September 2015 (2015-09-06)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Malta	2–2	Azerbaijan
Mifsud 55' Effiong 71'	Report	Amirguliyev 36', 80'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 5,266^[18]

Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

6 September 2015 (2015-09-06)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Norway	2–0	Croatia
Berget 51' Ćorluka 69' (o.g.)	Report

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 26,751^[19]

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

6 September 2015 (2015-09-06)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Italy	1–0	Bulgaria
De Rossi 6' (pen.)	Report

Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo

Attendance: 21,000^[20]

Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)

---

10 October 2015 (2015-10-10)

18:00
(21:00 UTC+5)

Azerbaijan	1–3	Italy
Nazarov 31'	Report	Éder 11' El Shaarawy 43' Darmian 65'

National Stadium, Baku

Attendance: 48,000^[21]

Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

10 October 2015 (2015-10-10)

18:00
(18:00 UTC+2)

Norway	2–0	Malta
Tettey 19' Søderlund 52'	Report

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Attendance: 27,120^[22]

Referee: Arnold Hunter (Northern Ireland)

10 October 2015 (2015-10-10)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Croatia	3–0	Bulgaria
Perišić 2' Rakitić 42' N. Kalinić 81'	Report

Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Attendance: 0^{[note 4]}

Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

---

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)

Bulgaria	2–0	Azerbaijan
M. Aleksandrov 20' Rangelov 56'	Report

Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia

Attendance: 2,500^[23]

Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Italy	2–1	Norway
Florenzi 73' Pellè 82'	Report	Tettey 23'

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Attendance: 30,000^[24]

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

20:45
(20:45 UTC+2)

Malta	0–1	Croatia
	Report	Perišić 25'

National Stadium, Ta' Qali

Attendance: 5,835^[25]

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England)

Goalscorers

There were 68 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.27 goals per match.

6 goals

• Ivan Perišić

3 goals

• Dimitrij Nazarov
• Graziano Pellè
• Alexander Tettey

2 goals

• Rahid Amirguliyev
• Iliyan Mitsanski
• Ivelin Popov
• Marcelo Brozović
• Andrej Kramarić
• Luka Modrić
• Antonio Candreva
• Giorgio Chiellini
• Éder
• Joshua King

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:^[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 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)[note 5]	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)[note 5]	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)[26]	vs Croatia (10 October 2015) vs Azerbaijan (13 October 2015)
Croatia	Josip Šimunić	Discriminatory behaviour vs Iceland (19 November 2013)[27]	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)[note 6]	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)[note 6]	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)[29]	vs Azerbaijan (10 October 2015) vs Norway (13 October 2015)
Malta	Steve Borg	vs Croatia (9 September 2014)[30]	vs Norway (10 October 2014) vs Italy (13 October 2014) vs Bulgaria (16 November 2014)
	Michael Mifsud	vs Italy (13 October 2014)[31]	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)

Notes

1. CET (UTC+1) for matches on 16 November 2014 and 28 March 2015, and CEST (UTC+2) for all other matches.
2. Croatia were deducted one point after charges for racist behaviour (display of a Nazi symbol) in this match. In addition, the Croatian Football Federation were ordered to play their next two home matches of UEFA competition behind closed doors and not to play any of its remaining qualifying games at Stadion Poljud. A fine of €100,000 was also imposed.^[12] The Croatian Football Federation appealed against the decision and a hearing was scheduled for 17 September 2015. Croatia's appeal was rejected.^[13]
3. Played behind closed doors due to punishment handed to Croatia by UEFA for crowd trouble in their home match against Norway. The Croatian FA were also fined €50,000 because of that incident.^[14]
4. Played behind closed doors and away from Stadion Poljud due to a sanction imposed on Croatia after charges for racist behaviour in their home match against Italy.
5. The suspension was carried over from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.
6. The suspension was carried over from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.^[28]