The top two teams, Northern Ireland and Romania, qualified directly for the finals. As third-placed Hungary were not the highest-ranked among all third-placed teams, they advanced to the play-offs, where they won against Norway and thus qualified as well.
Group's qualified team Romania conceded the least goals from all the teams that played in the qualifications: only two goals were scored in Romania's net, both at home and on Arena Națională in Bucharest, against neighbours Hungary on October 11, 2014, and again against Finland one year later, on October 8, 2015. Greece, Euro 2004 winners, quarter-finalists at Euro 2012, and a team who played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup only three months before the group started, reaching the Round of 16, shockingly finished at the bottom of the group, scoring only 7 goals and conceding 14, losing twice against the Faroe Islands and having a single victory, a hard-obtained 4-3 victory over Hungary in Athens.
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).
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:
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vs Finland (7 September 2014)
vs Hungary (8 October 2015)
vs Azerbaijan (11 October 2013)[note 3]