“Facing a strong opponent like Spain is, of course, big motivation for us. Having said that, we’re focussed on the EURO 2016 qualifiers. We will give it our all in order to reach next summer’s European Championship” commented Italy coach Antonio Conte.   The nine group winners will qualify for the World Cup automatically; the best eight runners-up will play the playoffs. The qualifiers will start from 4th September 2016 until 10th October 2017. The play-offs are scheduled for November 2017. The Groups: GROUP A: The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus, Luxemburg
GROUP B: Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Faroe Island, Latvia, Andorra
GROUP C: Germany, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan, San Marino
GROUP D: Wales, Austria, Serbia, Ireland, Moldavia, Georgia
GROUP E: Romania, Denmark, Poland, Montenegro, Armenia, Kazakhstan
GROUP F: England, Slovakia, Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta
GROUP G: Spain, ITALY, Albania, Israel, Macedonia, Liechtenstein
GROUP H: Belgium, Bosnia, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus
GROUP I: Croatia, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland 5 settembre 2016 Israele – Italia
6 ottobre 2016 Italia – Spagna
9 ottobre 2016 Macedonia – Italia
12 novembre 2016 Liechtenstein – Italia
24 marzo 2017 Italia – Albania
11 giugno 2017 Italia – Liechtenstein
2 settembre 2017 Spagna – Italia
5 settembre 2017 Italia – Israele
6 ottobre 2017 Italia – Macedonia
9 ottobre 2017 Albania – Italia ]]>