UEFA: Decision time! Russia qualifies!

The nine group winners and the best second place are now known and will travel to Poland/Ukraine for the final phase of UEFA EURO 2012. The remaining eight second-placed teams will enter a play-off phase to be held on November 11 and 12 and the return legs on November 15. Russia's six-nil thrashing of Andorra sends shock waves reverberating through Europe as Advocaat's side takes Group B by storm.

Standings

Group A

Germany 3  Belgium 1

Turkey 1 Azerbaijan 0

Kazakhstan 0 Austria 0

Country Games Points Goals

Germany             10  30 34-7

Turkey                10  17 13-11

Belgium              10  15 21-15

Austria                10  12 16-17

Azerbaijan          10    7 10-26

Kazakhstan        10    4  6-24

Germany qualifies automatically, Turkey enters the play-offs

Group B

Russia 6 Andorra 0

Rep. Ireland 2 Armenia 1

Macedónia 1 Slovakia 1

Country Games Points Goals

Russia              10 23 17-4

Rep. Ireland     10 21 15-7

Armenia            10 17 22-10

Slovakia            10 15   7-10

Macedonia       10   8   8-14

Andorra             10   0   1-25

Russia qualifies automatically, Rep. Ireland enters the play-offs

Group C

Slovenia 1 Serbia 0

Italy 3 Northern Ireland 0

Italy                 10   26 20-2

Estonia             10   16 15-14

Serbia              10   15 13-12

Slovenia          10   14 11-7

N. Ireland        10     9   9-13

Faroe Islands  10     4  6-26

Italy qualifies automatically, Estonia enters the play-offs

Group D

France 1 Bosnia 1

Albania 1 Romania 1

France                 10    21 15-4

Bosnia-H.            10    20 176-8

Romania              10    14 13-9

Belarus                10    13   8-7

Albania                 10      9   7-14

Luxemburg           10      4   3-21

France qualifies automatically, Bosnia enters the play-offs

Group E

Sweden 3 Netherlands 2

Hungary 0 Finland 0

Moldavia 4 San Marino 0

Netherlands            10 27 37-8   

Sweden                    10 24 31-11

Hungary                   10 19 22-14

Finland                     10  10 16-16

Moldavia                  10  9   12-16

S. Marino                  10   0   0-53

Netherlands and Sweden both qualify directly

Group F

Georgia 1 Greece 2

Croatia 2 Latvia 0

Malta 0 Israel 2

Greece             10 24 14-5

Croatia             10 22 18-7

Israel                10 16 13-11

Latvia               10 11   9-12

Georgia            10 10   7-9

Malta               10   1   4-21

Greece qualifies automatically, Croatia enters the play-offs

Group G

Bulgaria 0 Wales 1

Switzerland 2 Montenegro 0

England            8 18 17-5

Montenegro     8 12   7-7

Switzerland     8  11 12-10

Wales              8   9   6-10

Bulgaria         8   5   3-13

England qualifies automatically, Montenegro enters the play-offs

Group H

Denmark 2 Portugal 1

Norway 3 Cyprus 1

Denmark            8 19 15-6

Portugal            8 16 21-12

Norway              8 16 10-7

Iceland             8  4   6-14

Cyprus             8  2   7-20

Denmark qualifies automatically, Portugal enters the play-offs

Group I

Spain 3 Scotland 1

Lithuania 1 Czech Republic 4

Spain               8  24 26-6

Czech Rep.      8  13  12-8

Scotland          8   11  9-10

Lithuania         8    5  4-13

Liechtenstein  8    4  3-17

Spain qualifies automatically, Czech Republic enters the play-offs

UEFA Rules for qualifying:

"Qualifying group stage
The 51 entrants were drawn into nine groups, six of six teams and three of five. Matches are played on a home-and-away basis between 3 September 2010 and 11 October 2011. The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record against the top five sides in their pool qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up enter the play-offs.

Play-offs
The four sides with the best UEFA national team coefficient ranking will be seeded and will play the second legs on 15 November 2011 at home. The first legs will be played on 11 or 12 November. The teams which score the greater aggregate of goals qualifies for the finals, with away goals and then penalties used to determine the winner in the event of a draw".

(Source: UEFA.com)

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru