Irish Euro 2016 Qualification Campaign – Group DThe Republic of Ireland was drawn as a second seed in Group D of the Euro 2016 qualification competition. The finals will be held in France. The Irish would have to prevail against top seeds and World Champions Germany, as well as Scotland, Poland, Georgia and newcomers Gibraltar, to qualify automatically for the 2016 Euro Championship finals. It was not the worst outcome for new Irish manager Martin O’Neill and his assistant Roy Keane however Scotland and Poland would provide stiff opposition for the second automatic qualification place. O’Neill’s initial reaction to the draw was that it was a “difficult” group. Ireland and Germany were pitted against each other in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers with the Germans winning both group matches by an aggregate score of 9-1. Ireland last encountered Georgia during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers during the Giovanni Trapattoni reign as Republic of Ireland manager. Ireland won both home and away matches by a 2-1 score line. The last time Ireland played Scotland in a competitive match was a 1-0 win in Hampden Park during the Euro 1988 qualifiers. Mark Lawrenson scored the winning goal which was crucial to Ireland’s breakthrough qualification for the Euro 1988 finals in Germany, under the guidance of manager Jack Charlton. The 1992 Euro qualifiers saw Ireland play Poland in their last competitive meetings. Both matches ended in a draw with Ireland surrendering a two goal lead in the last 15 minutes of the match in Poland. Gibraltar had not been eligible to participate in previous European Championship qualifiers so Ireland and Gibraltar had never met before. On the day (23 February 2014) of the draw for the Euro 2016 qualification groups the World rankings of the teams drawn in Group D were as follows:
For the first time the fixture list was determined by the demands of the major European TV companies with qualifying matches spread over six days rather than being played on just Fridays and Tuesdays. Ireland’s Fixtures & Results for Euro 2016 Qualification
Euro 2016 Qualifying Campaign – Group Table
Euro 2016 Qualifying Campaign Results
Bosnis & Herzegovina Euro 2016 Play-Off Irish World Cup Qualifying Group Results
Number of Appearances and Goals Scored in Irish World Cup Qualifying Campaigns
Irish European Championship Qualifying Group Results
Number of Appearances and Goals Scored in Irish Euro Championship Finals Qualifying Campaigns
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