The Slovaks reached their first-ever major finals after claiming a 1-0 victory over Poland in a snowy Chorzow. An own goal by Polish defender Seweryn Gancarczyk after only three minutes proved enough to secure top spot for Vladimir Weiss’ side.
Slovenia earned second in the group after seeing off San Marino 3-0, meaning group favourites Czech Republic and Northern Ireland miss out – the two playing out a drab 0-0 draw in Prague.
Swiss make their point in Basel
Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Switzerland earned the point they needed to finish top of Group 2, and a second successive finals spot. An under-strength Swiss outfit rarely tested Israel goalkeeper Dudu Aoutae, but the nervy 0-0 draw in Basel did the job – the result also ending faint Israel hopes of qualification. Greece earned runners-up spot after edging out Luxembourg 2-1 while Latvia, who also held faint hopes of second, ended their campaign with a 3-2 victory over Moldova.
Portugal, Ukraine also Confirmed in Play-offs
The eight teams to make up November’s two-legged play-offs have also been decided. Portugal eased to their expected defeat over lowly-ranked Malta to earn second spot in Group 1, the 4-0 win means Sweden, 4-1 victors over Albania, miss out.
The other remaining issue was in Group 6, where Ukraine retained second spot with a 6-0 success against Andorra, meaning Croatia, 2-1 winners in Kazakhstan, miss out on the finals.
The sides to make up Monday’s draw for the play-offs are: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, France, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republic of Ireland and Ukraine. Norway, who finished second in Group 9, which was dominated by Holland, miss out due to their record as the worst second-placed side.
Before the qualification campaign began, UEFA had suggested the play-off fixtures be determined by an open draw, although this has since been changed within the last month – a decision criticised by Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni, amongst others. The ties will now be decided based on a seeding system taken from FIFA’s official world rankings, with Portugal, France, Russia and Greece likely to be seeded – and thus avoid playing each other in a bid to win one of Europe’s four remaining FIFA World Cup places. Incidentally a second draw will be made to determine which side plays at home first.
European Qualification Overview
Spain – 5-2 winners in Bosnia and Herzegovina – and Holland are the only sides who finished the European qualifying campaign with 100% records, while England, with 34 goals from 10 matches, were the top scorers. Incidentally, performance of the night was from Alberto Gilardino, who hit a hat-trick in the last 13 minutes for already qualified Italy in their 3-2 comeback win over Cyprus.
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