Here are the results from European qualifying on Saturday, 17th November.
The teams which have confirmed their place in next summer’s European Championships are
Group B – Italy and France.
Group D– Germany and Czech Republic.
Group E– Croatia through. Battle between England and Russia for the other spot.
A loss to Russia away means that England’s dreams of European qualification are now hanging by a thread. The race in Group E has come down to three teams- Croatia, England and Russia, out of which only two can qualify. Four minutes of madness at the Luzhniki Stadium made what seemed to be three points sealed into nothing at all. And if Russia and Croatia have anything to say, Steve McLaren could become the first English manager since Graham Taylor to fail to qualify for a major international event.
Result : Russia 2-1 England ( Roman Pavyluchenko*2/ Wayne Rooney)
Saturday night was witness to some crucial games in European qualifying. Here are the results from those games.
Group A :
Armenia 0-0 Serbia
Poland 3-1 Kazakhstan ( Ebi Smolarek*3/ Dmitriy Byakov)
A hattrick from Racing Santander forward Smolarek sees the Poles take all three points and retain their spot at the top of Group A.
Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal ( Bruno Alves, Hugo Almeida)