Euro 2016: 5 teams who took a major step towards qualification
While the ongoing Latin-American showpiece Copa America has been the main attraction this summer, back in Europe teams played out their crucial qualifiers for Euro 2016 to be held in France next summer. Six rounds of games have been played and the qualifiers are slowly taking shape.
Some teams have all but booked their tickets for the coveted championship while many others are still in contention. We take a look at five teams who won their respective games last weekend and took a giant leap towards the European tournament.
1) Portugal
A blistering hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo against Armenia on Saturday ensured Portugal maintain their slender 2-point advantage at the top of Group I. After a shock loss to minnows Albania on the opening day, the Seleccao have won the next 4 games, thanks largely to their talismanic captain Ronaldo, who has now scored 5 of the 7 goals in the group.
Being drawn against the likes of Serbia and Denmark, Portugal were thought to labour their way out of the group considering their erratic performances in the qualifiers but have however managed to get the better of both the sides and clinch the top spot. Although a reverse against both the aforementioned sides are yet to take place, Portugal just need to avoid a defeat in those games, provided they win at Elbasan in Spetember.
Portugal have booked their place in the last 3 major competitions only through the play-offs and looking at the way things are panning out for them this season, the Seleccao may finally escape the gruelling extra ties to secure a berth in the finals.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| 2 | Denmark | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Albania | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 7 |
| 4 | Serbia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 1 |
| 5 | Armenia | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 1 |
2) Austria
2008 Euro co-hosts Austria are edging closer and closer towards only their second appearance in Europe as their vital win over Russia in Moscow puts them firmly at the summit of Group G with 16 points after 6 qualifiers. After a dour start to the campaign with a 1-1 draw against Sweden, Das Team have won 5 games on the trot and are 4 points above Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden, who sit second.
In the remaining 4 games, the Austrians have just one tricky fixture left – an away trip to Sweden in September and are expected to saunter away with all 3 points in the games against Moldova, Lichtenstein and Montenegro. Mathematically though, just 5 points is all they need to ensure direct qualification.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austria | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 16 |
| 2 | Sweden | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| 3 | Russia | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | Montenegro | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 5 |
| 5 | Liechtenstein | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 5 |
| 6 | Moldova | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 2 |
3) Slovakia
Having failed to qualify for the World Cup last summer, Slovakia look determined to mark a return to the major international competitions as they made it 6 wins in 6 games with a marginal 2-1 victory over Macadonia this Sunday. Kornel Salata and Napoli star Marek Hamsik struck early on to put the tie out of the reach.
They were predicted to finish behind Ukraine and the mighty Spain when the draws were made, but proved that they were no pushovers when they pulled off shockers against Ukraine and Spain in the opening 3 games and sit atop the group with a 100% win record.
Ranked 17th in the world, it has been a dream run so far for Slovakia and will be hoping to continue in the same vein for the rest of the games. If they are able to rack up another 7 points out of a possible 12, then they will find themselves participating in Euro for the very first time in their history.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slovakia | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 18 |
| 2 | Spain | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 15 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| 4 | Belarus | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 11 | −7 | 4 |
| 5 | Macedonia | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 3 |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 17 | −14 | 1 |