Euro 2016 Qualifying Table: Latest Scores and Updated Projections
The first day of qualifiers for Euro 2016 is in the books, and fans were immediately treated to a number of close fixtures that underlined the smaller nations of European football are quickly closing the gap with the favourites for the title.
Germany and Finland had to battle in order to beat opponents punters assumed they would handle with ease, and Portugal lost a shocker at home against Albania on a wacky first day of competition.
Here are the full results for Sunday's fixtures, as well as updated group tables:
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| Georgia | 1-2 | Ireland |
| Germany | 2-1 | Scotland |
| Gibraltar | 0-7 | Poland |
| Hungary | 1-2 | Northern Ireland |
| Faroe Islands | 1-3 | Finland |
| Greece | 0-1 | Romania |
| Denmark | 2-1 | Armenia |
| Portugal | 0-1 | Albania |
| 1 | Poland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| 2 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Georgia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 4 | Scotland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 6 | Gibraltar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -7 | 0 |
| 1 | Finland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | N.Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Romania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Hungary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 5 | Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 6 | Faroe Islands | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| 1 | Denmark | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Albania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Serbia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Armenia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 5 | Portugal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
Scotland came close to an upset of world champions Germany, but two goals from the inevitable Thomas Muller gave the win to the hosts, cancelling out Ikechi Anya's second-half score.
The Scots took the match to the hosts, playing fearless football, and they deserved the equaliser from Anya midway through the second half. Muller had given Germany an early lead, and unsurprisingly, it was the Bayern Munich man who came to the rescue in the 70th minute.
As shared by WhoScored.com, Muller's efficiency in front of goal has been incredible of late:
Germany's win was overshadowed by a late injury to Marco Reus, which appeared identical to the one that forced him to pass on the 2014 World Cup. Bleacher Report UK shared the Vine:
The star forward left the pitch under his own power (albeit heavily limping), so fans will hope the damage isn't as severe as initially feared.
Ireland are widely expected to have the inside track to the second spot in Group D, but they needed a last-minute strike from Aiden McGeady to take all three points in Georgia, winning 2-1.
McGeady had opened the score after 24 minutes, but the Irish failed to build on their momentum and were forced to start over when Tornike Okriashvili equalised for the hosts just before half-time.
Ireland failed to muster more than a handful of chances in the second half, and it appeared the squad would start their campaign on a sour note. Until the last minute of regulation, when McGeady did this, per Football_Tweet:
Goal's Peter Staunton showered the forward with praise:
Debutants Gibraltar were never expected to put up much of a fight against Poland, and while they put in a great effort during the first half, they were completely overrun by the Polish team in the second, losing 7-0.
Albania recorded the upset of the day, beating Group I favourites Portugal on their home soil 1-0 thanks to a superb finish from Bekim Balaj.
As shared by 433Live, his screaming volley is an early contender for goal of the opening matchday:
The Portuguese suffered through a miserable 2014 World Cup campaign and were without star forward Cristiano Ronaldo for this match, but few will have expected them to lose their home opener against a feisty Albanian squad.
Denmark nearly saw their worst fears come true as well as they trailed Armenia following a stunning goal from Borussia Dortmund's Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Thomas Kahlenberg turned the situation around in the second half, giving the hosts the three points and perfect start in Group I.
Greece failed to convince during the 2014 World Cup and continued that trend against Romania, losing 1-0 at home. Ciprian Marica scored the only goal from the penalty spot after 10 minutes and grabbed all of the headlines with a red card in the second half as well.
Finland struggled against lowly Faroe Islands, recording a close 3-1 win, while Northern Ireland started their campaign with a 2-1 victory in Hungary.
