Malta was drawn to face Italy in the Euro 2016 football qualifiers today. The two countries had also been drawn together in the World Cup qualifiers, with Malta losing twice 2-0. 

The matches will be played this October 13 and on September 3 next year.

Malta is in Group H with Italy, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Norway and Croatia. Malta had also faced Bulgaria in the last World Cup qualifiers. Malta lost in a friendly to Azerbaijan in the summer. Malta has faced Croatia several times.

The match against Norway will recall the infamous match in June 2007 which was allegedly rigged, triggering the biggest match-fixing scandal in the history of Maltese football. A Maltese player, Kevin Sammut was given a life ban by Uefa and has since appealed.

MFA CEO Bjorn Vassallo who attended the draw, said he was satisfied with the outcome.

“I am very pleased because we have managed to draw one of the top five teams. Apart from Italy, the other big guns in the qualifiers are Spain, Germany, England and the Netherlands and it was our wish to meet one of them,” he told timesofmalta.com.

The groups are the following:

Group A: The Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Latvia, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Group B: Bosnia, Andorra, Cyprus, Wales, Israel and Belgium.

Group C: Spain, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Belarus, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Group D: Germany, Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland, Poland and the Republic of Ireland.

Group E: England, San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Group F: Greece, Faeroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Finland, Romania and Hungary.

Group G: Russia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Austria and Sweden.

Group H: Italy, Malta, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Norway and Croatia.

Group I: Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Serbia and Denmark.

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