Russia and Slovakia became the latest teams to book their place in Euro 2016 after posting comfortable victories yesterday.
The Russians notched a 2-0 victory over Montenegro at the Otkrytie Arena in Moscow, ensuring they were spared the drama of a play-off.
Oleg Kuzmin scored his first goal for his country after 33 minutes and they went 2-0 up when Vladimir Rodic sent Dmitry Kombarov tumbling in the penalty area four minutes later and Alexander Kokorin stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way.
Russia qualified in second place from the group, behind unbeaten Austria, with Sweden finishing third and heading for a two-legged playoff.
“This was a very important match and I am delighted we have won. We were feeling the pressure in the first half an hour.
“We came out to win and we were lucky that we managed to score first,” Kuzmin said.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his eighth goal in eight as Sweden beat Moldova 2-0 in Stockholm , but his side have more work to do if they are to reach the finals.
Undefeated group winners Austria thumped Liechtenstein 3-0 to finish on 28 points, eight more than Russia and 10 ahead of the Swedes, who will find out their opponents when the playoff draw is made in Nyon on Sunday.
Making his first competitive start at a half-full Friends Arena, striker John Guidetti struck the woodwork in the fourth minute and it took the Swedes a further 20 to open the scoring.
Captain Ibrahimovic beat the offside trap and latched on to a long ball from Andreas Granqvist before coolly rounding Ilie Cebanu and rolling the ball into an empty net.
He was also involved in Sweden’s second, chasing down another long ball which Cebanu rushed out to meet but could only clear as far as Guidetti, who rolled the ball unselfishly to Erkan Zengin to chip into the top corner.
Slovakia scored their first goals since June as they booked their place at next summer’s European Championships with a 4-2 victory over Luxembourg.
Jan Kozak’s side, who had not found the net since their 2-1 win against Macedonia four months ago, clinched automatic qualification thanks to Marek Hamsik’s brace and further goals from Adam Nemec and Robert Mak.
It was not all plain sailing for the visitors however, with Luxembourg scoring twice in four second-half minutes to give their opponents a scare.
Slovakia’s victory meant that Ukraine were consigned to the play-offs after losing 1-0 at home to reigning champions Spain in their final Group C match.
Fullback Mario Gaspar scored with a header on his debut to put Spain ahead in the 22nd minute and Cesc Fabregas, captaining the side on his 100th international appearance, won a penalty moments later but had his effort saved by Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.
Perfect record
England became only the sixth team to end a European qualifying campaign with a 100 per cent record when they beat Lithuania 3-0 in their final Group E match.
England put themselves into a commanding position after scoring two goals which went in off the same right-hand post inside the opening 35 minutes.
Ross Barkley – EnglandFirst, after 29 minutes, a powerful long-range strike from Ross Barkley took a deflection off a defender and went in off the post.
Six minutes later another well-struck shot from Harry Kane hit the post and struck the back of keeper Giedrius Arlauskis who conceded an own goal as the ball rebounded into the net.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain blasted England’s third at Arlauskis’s near-post after 62 minutes as they emphatically made it 10 wins out of 10, the only team in this qualifying competition to win all of their matches.
Results
Group C
Belarus 0
Macedonia 0
Luxembourg 2
Mutsch 61; Gerson 65 pen.;
Slovakia 4
Hamsik 24, 90; Nemec 29; Mak 30;
Ukraine 0
Spain 1
Gaspar 22;
Missed penalty: Fabregas (S) 25.
Group E
Estonia 0
Switzerland 1
Klavan 90og;
Lithuania 0
England 3
Barkley 29; Arlauskis 35 og; Chamberlain 62;
San Marino 0
Slovenia 2
Cesar 54; Pecnik 75;
Group G
Austria 3
Arnautovic 12; Janko 54, 57;
Liechtenstein 0
Russia 2
Kuzmin 33; Kokorin 37 pen.;
Montenegro 0
Sweden 2
Ibrahimovic 24; Zengin 47;
Moldova 0
Playing today
Group A
Latvia vs Kazakhstan - 20.45
Netherlands vs Czech Rep. - 20.45
Turkey vs Iceland - 20.45
Group B
Belgium vs Israel - 20.45
Cyprus vs Bosnia - 20.45
Wales vs Andorra - 20.45
Group H
Bulgaria vs Azerbaijan - 20.45
Italy vs Norway - 20.45
Malta vs Croatia - 20.45
Note
The nine group winners, the nine group runners-up and the best third-placed side qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining third-placed teams will contest play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.
Play-off match dates
First legs: Nov. 12/13/14.
Second legs: Nov. 15/16/17
Group A
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Iceland | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 20 |
| Czech Rep. | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 19 |
| Turkey | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 15 |
| Netherlands | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 13 |
| Latvia | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 5 |
| Kazakhstan | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 2 |
Group B
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Belgium | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 20 |
| Wales | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 18 |
| Bosnia | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 14 |
| Israel | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 13 |
| Cyprus | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| Andorra | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 34 | 0 |
Group C
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Spain | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 3 | 27 |
| Slovakia | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 22 |
| Ukraine | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 19 |
| Belarus | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 11 |
| Luxembourg | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 27 | 4 |
| Macedonia | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 4 |
Group D
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Germany | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 9 | 22 |
| Poland | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 33 | 10 | 21 |
| Ireland | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 7 | 18 |
| Scotland | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 12 | 15 |
| Georgia | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 9 |
| Gibraltar | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 56 | 0 |
Group E
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| England | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 30 |
| Switzerland | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 8 | 21 |
| Slovenia | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 11 | 16 |
| Estonia | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 10 |
| Lithuania | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 10 |
| San Marino | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 36 | 1 |
Group F
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| N. Ireland | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 21 |
| Romania | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 20 |
| Hungary | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 16 |
| Finland | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| F. Islands | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 6 |
| Greece | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 6 |
Group G
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Austria | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 5 | 28 |
| Russia | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 5 | 20 |
| Sweden | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 18 |
| Montenegro | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 11 |
| Liechtenstein | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 26 | 5 |
| Moldova | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 2 |
Group H
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Italy | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 21 |
| Norway | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 19 |
| Croatia (-1) | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 5 | 17 |
| Bulgaria | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 8 |
| Azerbaijan | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 6 |
| Malta | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 2 |
Group I
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Portugal | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 21 |
| Albania | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 14 |
| Denmark | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 12 |
| Serbia (-3) | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 4 |
| Armenia | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 2 |