Euro 2012 qualifying- A complete round up of a dramatic last day of qualifying

Sweden beat Holland and gained automatic qualification as the best 2nd placed team.

It was the last day of Qualifying for the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine next year and more than 10 teams still had hopes of making the finals. Here is a breakdown of the dramatic last day of qualifying, who qualified, who made the playoffs and who had their hearts broken.

Group A- Belgium needed to beat the Germans in Germany or hope that Turkey draws or loses to Azerbaijan at home. Germany ended with a 100% record after beating Belgium, and more importantly, Turkey got the only goal of their game, winning 1-0 and taking 2nd spot and a place in the playoffs from Belgium. With the team Belgium has and the array of young talent, its a shame, but they are a young bunch and will be better next time round when they start qualifying for the World Cup.

Group B- Russia drubbed Andorra 6-0, a result that wins them the group and books their place in Poland/Ukraine while Armenia needed to win in Ireland to get the playoff spot, but the home team were too strong and ran out 2-1 winners that booked their playoff spot.

Group C- Slovenia beat Serbia meaning Serbia are eliminated and surprise package Estonia, who didn’t play today and needed Slovenia to win, are now in the playoffs. Serbia needed to win and had a penalty, which Vidic took and missed, a very costly miss as Slovenia then scored off a freak goal when a cross turned into a shot, going straight in. Serbia fluffed another golden chance soon after and it was enough to eliminate them. What a fairytale story for Estonia. Italy had already won the group with a few games to spare.

Group D- France were 1 point above Bosnia going into the last game, where the French hosted Bosnia. The home team needed just a draw but Dzeko gave Bosnia the lead and hope to win the group and automatic qualification spot. 10 minutes before the end Nasri was fouled in the area, got up and converted the penalty that got France the 1-1 draw and books their spot in the Euros, while Bosnia have to go to the playoffs instead.

Group E- Hungary needed to win at home against Finland and hope for a Dutch win in Sweden, to get the playoff spot from Group E. Sadly Hungry could only manage a draw while the Swedes surprisingly beat Holland 3-2. Holland had already won the group but the Swedish win, meant that they secure the only automatic spot as the best second placed finisher in qualifying.

Group F- Greece and Croatia had already qualified from group F, but the small matter of who gets the automatic spot and who has to deal with a nerve wrecking playoff was still to be decided. Greece just needed to win in Georgia to secure top spot and they did it the hard way, having to come back from a goal down. Goals in the 79th minute and then the 85th minute secured the win and the automatic qualification spot. Croatia, who also won their game 2-0, had to be content with a the playoff spot.

Group G- The Swiss beat Montenegro but the latter’s last ditch goal against England a few days ago proved to be the most crucial as it was the difference between the Swiss reaching the playoffs or not. Montenegro secured the playoff spot with that draw agianst England, finishing just that 1 solitary point over the Swiss. England, with that draw against Montenegro a couple of days ago, had won the group and secured their place in the main event.

Group H- The closest group was Group H, before play started, Denmark was 2nd on Goal Difference to Portugal but were to host their nearest rivals, while Norway was 3rd and needed a miracle to get to the playoffs, as they needed a result in the Portugal-Denmark game and also win their game by 7 goals. Norway did win their game 3-1 and Denmark beat Portugal 2-1 meaning Portugal and Norway finished level on 16 points each, but Portugal, who had a vastly superior goal difference took the playoff spot.

Group I- Scotland needed to match or beat the Czech Republic result to get the playoff spot, but sadly for them, they had to face the defending European and World champions, Spain. Spain ran out easy winners by a margin or 3-1. In the other game, Lithuania were hosting the Czechs. Czechs raced to a 3-0 lead by halftime, and added another late off the penalty spot to ran out comfortable 4-1 winners and in the process nicked the playoff spot from Scotland.

So this is what the European qualifiers look like at the end of qualifying. 12 teams have already qualified for the Finals next year, namely Poland, Ukraine (by virtue of being hosts), Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Holland, Greece, England, Denmark and Spain (all group winners) and Sweden (by virtue of being the best 2nd placed team in qualifying)

All this leaves just 4 spots up for grabs, with 8 2nd placed teams going into a 2 legged match up, the winners of those 4 games getting to the finals next year. These are the 8 teams that are in the hat for the playoffs: Turkey, Rep of Ireland, Estonia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Portugal, Czech Republic. Playoffs are to be drawn next week.