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Group A

Azerbaijan beat Kazakhstan 3-2 in Baku, their second win of the qualifying tournament. Austria and Turkey left Vienna with a 0-0 draw.

Germany, who didn’t play, lead the group with a perfect 8 for 8, 24 points. Turkey are second with 14. Belgium are third with 12 points. Both, with two matches left, have to play Germany next month.

Group B

Another 0-0 draw was between Russia and Ireland, making for a very exciting finishing week in October. Macedonia beat Andorra 1-0 but the biggest result and real stunner was Armenia’s 4-0 victory over Slovakia in Bratislava.

Russia remain at first with 17 points, Ireland second with 15. Slovakia and Armenia are both still in the picture with 14 points. Next Month? Russia play Slovakia, Ireland host Armenia. It’ll fall down to the last day of matches probably.

Group C

Italy had another very unconvincing performance, beating Slovenia at home 1-0 with a late goal from Giampaolo Pazzini. Serbia beat the Faroe Islands 3-1 with goals by Milan Jovanovic, Zoran Tosic and Zdravko Kuzmanovic. Estonia beat Northern Ireland 4-1.

Italy are in the clear with 22 points, Serbia second with 14 points. Estonia still have a shot at third with 13 points, one match more than Serbia.

Group D

Bosnia beat Belarus 1-0, with a 87th minute goal from Zvjezdan Misimovic, leading up to a very intriguing finish to this group. Luxemborg got a rare win, beating Albania 2-1. France and Romania ended their match in the new Stadionul National in Bucharest in a 0-0 draw.

France are still in the lead with 17 points, Bosnia right behind them with 16. Romaina are still in the picture at third with 14 points. All three have easy home matches to begin with in October. Bosnia ends up in Paris to battle France for the top spot. A draw would suit the Romanians very well as they play in Albania.

Group E

With a 2-0 win in Finland, the Netherlands have qualified to the 2012 Euro. Youngsters Kevin Strootman and Luuk de Jong scored for the Dutch. Hungary won their match in Moldova 2-0 while Sweden easily defeated San Marino 5-0.

Sweden are second with 18 while Hungary, with the same amount of points, are third, having played one more match. Sweden have the head to head edge and need 3 points from their remaining matches in Finland and at home against The Netherlands.

Group F

Croatia beat Israel 3-1 to secure at least a playoff spot, with goals from Modric, and a brace from Eduardo despite going behind in the first half. Greece drew 1-1 in Latvia and 1-1 was also the result between Malta and Georgia. 

A two horse race between Greece and Croatia at the top, with both sides earning a spot in the playoffs. Croatia lead the group with 19 points, Greece are second with 18. The two meet in Pireus on October 7.

Group H

England struggled at home against Wales but a first half Ashley Young goal gave them the 1-0 win. Switzerland beat Bulgaria 3-1 through a Xherdan Shaqiri (Basel, 19 years old) hat-trick.

England Have 17 points after 7 matches, Montenegro 11 after six. Next month England play in Montenegro to end their qualifying campaign. A draw will be enough to secure their spot in the Euro.

Group I

Surprise surpise, Spain had no problem against Lichtenstein. A comfortable 6-0 win as Alvaro Negredo and David Villa both bagged braces, securing their qualification to the Euro, the competition they won in 2008. Scotland, still hurting from the 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic, beat Lithuania 1-0.

Spain are first after six matches with a perfect 18 points. The Czechs are second with 10 points, Scotland are third with 8 points. Both teams have to play Spain, with Scotland having the unfortunate pleasure of playing in Alicante.