Euro 2012 Qualifiers End with Surprising Results

When the qualifying rounds started last August, Poland and Ukraine were given automatic final spots in the competition for hosting on their home grounds come June 2012. Sixteen national teams across Europe are hoping to be crowned champions when the tournament comes to a conclusion on 1 July, but only twelve have qualified thus far, leaving four more to fight for their spot this summer. Split up into nine groups, six of six and three of five, the 51 national teams from all across the continent began their campaigns, hoping to come out on top and have their name be in the finals drawing this December.

Three time title winners Germany had no problem taking the lead in Group A, comfortably winning each of their matches to put them at the top, while Belgium and Turkey fought for second after Turkey took the lead, but Belgium clawed their way back into second place going into the final match. Austria held in the middle of the table while Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan found themselves quickly at the bottom after a streak of losses. After an unchallenged winning running, Germany was uncatchable on 2 September of this year. Their eighth consecutive win in Group A came with a 6-2 domination over their neighbours Austria to make them the first team to qualify for Euro 2012. Belgium and Turkey found themselves within two points of each other for second place and Belgium was set to take their play-off spot if Turkey could draw or lose in Istanbul, but a 3-1 loss for Georges Leekens’ side to Germany on Tuesday night put Turkey in second as Burak Yilmaz's 60 minute mark goal slid them narrowly passed Azerbaijan for a 1-0 win and play-off qualification.

Not far behind Germany was Italy in Group C. They started their campaign unbeaten, while Estonia, Serbia, and Slovenia were all looking to grab second place from each other. Northern Ireland fought valiantly, but ultimately ended fifth in their group just above the Faroe Islands. Italy's eight wins made them qualifiers four days after Germany when a late goal from Giampaolo Pazzini secured a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in Florence and doomed the Slovenes to a third place finish. Serbia sought to take second place early by gaining a win against Italy, but a 1-1 draw made it anybody's game. Estonia's 2-1 win over Northern Ireland put them in second after the draw. Serbia only needed a win against Slovenia to beat Estonia in the table, but Dare Vršič’s goal against the Serbian side right before the half crushed their hopes of a play-off spot and secured Estonia’s position.

Current holders Spain also qualified the same night as Italy after a six game winning streak made them unbeatable in Group I. Spain eased into their qualifying spot after a 6-0 win over Liechtenstein, who finished bottom of the group, just one point short of Lithuania. Scotland and the Czech Republic battled for second with the Scots lagging just two points behind the Czechoslovakians before the final game. A win would have clinched if the Czechs could lose or draw in Kaunas, but Scotland had no hopes of winning as they entered their final match of qualifiers against Spain, ending in a 3-1 defeat for the Scots. The Czech Republic cruised to a 4-1 victory over Lithuania and earned themselves a spot in the play-offs next month.

Also boasting a perfect winning streak was the Netherlands in Group E. The World Cup runners-up made a strong start in the competition, crushing their fellow group members and being the fourth side to qualify for Euro 2012 in September after the Oranje won 2-0 to Finland in Helsinki. The victory came four days after their record breaking match against San Marino, who lost 11-0 in Eindhoven to the Dutch. This surpassed the team’s previous high win of 9-0, recorded twice in their history, once against Finland in 1912 and then Norway in 1972. Arsenal striker Robin van Persie showed his quality and scored four goals that night, coming off a string of crushing defeats at his Premier League team, making him the first Dutch player in over two decades to score that many in a single international match. But like the World Cup 2010, the Oranje proved unable to take home a perfect winning streak as they conceded a 2-1 lead to Sweden and ended their campaign with a 3-2 loss, effectively destroying their domination of the entire competition, although they walk away with the highest scoring record in any group. Hungary was hoping for another Netherlands victory over the Swedes while the Hungarians beat Finland in Budapest to earn them second, but neither happened. Sweden’s victory ensured them of second place in Group E and their finals place as best runners-up, while Hungary’s 0-0 draw placed them third, and San Marino was the only one of the 51 national teams to end their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign goalless.

England was the fifth to qualify after often struggling with Montenegro for first place in Group G. Wales and Bulgaria began weak in the group, but ultimately Wales was able to beat Switzerland to get off the bottom of the table and secure a fourth place victory with a 1-0 win over Bulgaria. England had just managed to overtake Montenegro two matches before their final game four days before the rest of the group. The English only needed to draw away at Montenegro to clinch their qualifying spot, whereas a loss would have put them in second if Montenegro went on to beat the Swiss. The victory looked guaranteed early on after Ashley Young and Darren Bent both found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead after 31 minutes. Montenegro quickly responded right before the half-time whistle as Elsad Zverotić shot one passed Joe Hart to let the Three Lions know the game, and first place in the group, was far from won. Wayne Rooney’s red card sixteen minutes from full time gave Montenegro an advantage and Andrija Delibašić’s goal crushed England’s hope of ending their campaign with a win. The 2-2 draw was enough for Fabio Capello’s side to qualify and Branko Brnović’s to end second in Group G after a loss in Switzerland on Tuesday night.

It all came down to the final day for Groups B, D, F, and H. In Group B, Russia and the Republic of Ireland began the competition last September fighting for first the whole way through, while Armenia, Slovakia, and the Former Yugoslavic Republic of Macedonia struggled for middle with FYROM falling behind after several losses, and Andorra found themselves firmly grounded at the bottom of the table. This would prove to be Russia’s ticket to qualification as a 6-0 victory against Andorra in Moscow put them two points ahead of the Republic of Ireland in the end. Ireland secured their second place play-off spot after a 2-1 win against Armenia. The Boys in Green found themselves with an advantage after Armenia’s goalkeeper Berezovski was sent off and Valeri Aleksanyan kicked in a fatal own goal. Ireland’s Richard Dunne added to the lead at 59 minutes in. Armenia came back to score five minutes later, but the damage was done. If Armenia had beaten the Republic of Ireland, they would have finished with a play-off spot, but Aleksanyan’s mistake ensured a win for the home side that night in Dublin.

Group D saw two time winners France start the qualifying stages strongly with a four match winning streak after an initial loss on match day one had them at the bottom of their group. Bosnia and Herzegovina were not going to let the French side cruise to qualification though. Bosnia put the pressure on France, and nearing the end with two matches to go, Laurent Blanc’s side found themselves hanging onto first place by one point. France’s 3-0 victory over Albania and Bosnia’s 5-0 victory over Luxembourg sent Albania and Luxembourg into fifth and sixth place respectively. Romania and Belarus could no longer catch the top two sides. Belarus’ 1-1 draw with Romania four days before the Romanian’s final match against Albania put the Belarusians in fourth and Romania in third despite the outcome in Albania. It all came down to the top two meeting in Paris on 11 October. France started the match shaky as Bosnia and Herzegovina quickly dominated possession, creating scoring chance after scoring chance before Les Bleus could even touch the ball long enough to send it down toward Bosnia’s goal. France looked weak and beaten at the half after Manchester City striker Edin Džeko put one passed Hugo Lloris’ far post. The game was not all but lost for France as they entered the second half with a sense of urgency and retook control from the visiting side. Bosnia’s lead didn’t last much longer as Spahić fouled Džeko’s Manchester City teammate Samir Nasri in the box and referee Craig Thomson awarded Nasri the penalty kick that would equalise the game twelve minutes before the final whistle. The 1-1 draw sent France through to the finals and put Bosnia and Herzegovina in second, once again just one point short of ending France’s flimsy control of Group D.

In Group F, Greece and Croatia had been playing leap frog for most of the competition, leaving Israel, Georgia, Latvia, and Malta unable to catch them after the first few rounds. Israel’s 2-0 victory over Malta ended their losing streak in the group to complete the qualifying stages in third place and keep Malta in sixth. Croatia’s win over Latvia and Greece’s win over Georgia sent the two to fourth and fifth place, one point apart, but the 2-1 win in Georgia for the Greeks was enough to leap ahead of Croatia, who won 2-0 against Latvia the same night, once again and take first for the final time.

Finally, Group H saw Denmark, Norway, and Portugal all vying for first when they were tied going into the final rounds. Iceland and Cyprus sat at the bottom of Group H after Portugal beat Iceland 5-3 and Denmark beat Cyprus 4-1 on 7 October. Denmark edged Norway out of contention for first with a 2-0 victory thanks to Nicklas Bendtner’s double strikes before the end of the first-half on 6 September. The race was on, but Norway was out after a 3-1 win against Cyprus failed to give them enough of a goal difference from Denmark and Portugal to slip into second. Denmark snatched qualification away from the Portuguese side with an early goal in the first thirteen minutes from Michael Krohn-Dehli and once again Nicklas Bendtner pushed the Danes to victory with a goal at the 63 minute mark. Cristiano Ronaldo’s stoppage time goal wasn’t enough to win, but Portugal ended their match with a point on the scoreboard and a second place play-off spot.

The eight second place winners take a month long break before suiting up again for their countries as they battle it out the second and third week of November for the four remaining tournament spots. Currently, Portugal has scored the most goals of any second place winner going into the play-offs, but they also have the second worst against record, having conceded twelve goals, just two less than Group C’s Estonia. Croatia has the best win record with seven out of their ten won, only one drawn, and two lost, while once again Estonia has the largest loss record of four out of their ten played. With only four places left in Poland and Ukraine this summer, some teams clearly have more work to do than others if they hope to be one of the last names going into the finals drawing on 2 December in Kyiv.

All standings and fixtures can be found on www.uefa.com