Winners and Losers from Euro 2016 Qualifiers

UEFA Euro 2016 Matchday 5 came and went over the weekend of March 27-29, and many teams saw significant changes in their hopes of qualifying for the continent’s most prestigious international competition.

While winners like Spain and Croatia will be happy with their three-point gains, not all of Europe’s elite squads got the job done during the crucial midway point of qualification.

Some teams saw their tried-and-true formulas for success sputter and fail, leaving their hopes of reaching France 2016 in the dust.

Others even saw violent hooliganism spill over onto the pitch, marring "the beautiful game" and opening the door for dream-killing UEFA penalties.

But there were good surprises too. More than one grateful manager found new hope in young, emerging talents and old, stalwart talismans who refused to let age get in the way of their European dreams.

The weekend was a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the hooligan, but it was anything but predictable.

Here are the winners and losers from Matchday 5 of European qualification.

Winner: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The greatest artists in any medium continually evolve their craft to reach new heights of expression and creativity.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s artistic medium is soccer, and his ability to blow our minds with inconceivable goals time and time again is the reason why he is one of the greatest strikers of his generation.

Case in point: the above video.

That hilariously casual goal by the big Swede was the first in a brace against Moldova that led his country to a 2-0 win and second place in Group G.

Though Austria’s 5-0 win over Liechtenstein on March 27 kept them four points clear in first, Sweden are keeping things interesting with two wins and a draw from their last three games.

All signs point to Ibrah continuing his one-man wrecking-machine approach to ensuring Euro 2016 qualification, as he won’t want to be left out of two major international competitions in a row.

After Sweden failed to qualify for the last World Cup, he said, per The Guardian, “A World Cup without me is nothing to watch.” Though that might have been slightly overblown, any red-blooded fan of the beautiful game would certainly agree that a Euro 2016 without Zlatan would be a lesser competition.

When Zlatan scores goals like the one above, we’re all winners.

Losers: Serbia

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

What is wrong with Serbia these days? After four matches, the team sits bottom of Group I, six points off Albania and Denmark (who are level on points in second).

In October, per the BBC, UEFA deducted three points from Serbia for crowd trouble in their home match against Albania, but that setback was only the tip of the iceberg.

Despite boasting a talented roster that includes Matija Nastasic, Branislav Ivanovic, Aleksandar Kolarov, Stefan Mitrovic, Nemanja Matic, Lazar Markovic, Adem Ljajic and Dusan Tadic, Serbia have earned only one point from four matches.

The squad drew 1-1 with Armenia, lost 1-3 to Denmark and, most recently, lost 2-1 at Portugal on Sunday (despite a glorious bicycle kick by Matic). They missed their chance to make a huge statement against Portugal at the midway point in qualification, and unfortunately for the Serbians, their schedule isn’t going to get much easier.

Serbia still have to travel to Denmark and Albania before hosting Portugal on the final day of qualification. However, that last match could be a blessing in disguise if Portugal (currently two points clear atop the group) can secure qualification before the last day and therefore put out a lesser team with nothing on the line for them.

After their most recent defeat, Serbia now have only four matches left for redemption. Qualification isn’t out of the question, but with Portugal and Denmark playing well (and Albania with home-field advantage in their next head-to-head), things look bleak for the talented Serbians.

Winner: Alvaro Morata

Before Spain’s Friday qualifier against Ukraine, La Roja manager Vicente del Bosque put his young striker, Alvaro Morata, under pressure, per ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, saying, “We have trained with all the players we have here, putting them in the position in which they are going to play, and we have a lot of expectations placed on Morata.”

As if it wasn’t difficult enough to have to step into Diego Costa’s prolific boots after the Chelsea man suffered a hamstring injury, the manager was publicly tasking the 22-year-old with getting on the scoresheet in just his third senior cap.

Not one to shirk from a challenge, though, Morata stepped up and delivered the winning goal for Spain in the 28th minute (as you’ll see in the video above).

Spain were less than impressive in the second half, but La Roja escaped with all three points thanks to Morata’s strong first-half finish. The result was enough to push Spain into second—three points ahead of Ukraine and three behind Slovakia.

Spain may still have to go to Ukraine on October 12, but they also get to host Slovakia on September 5, meaning qualification is in their hands thanks to Morata’s memorable night.

Loser: Referee Deniz Aytekin

The German referee was unlucky to be the man in the middle for Russia vs. Montenegro, but luck has nothing to do with why he finds himself in the “losing” category of this list.

Instead of ending the match in the first minute when a Montenegrin fan struck and concussed Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev with a flare (see the above video), Aytekin allowed play to continue after a 33-minute delay.

As if having one of the players sent to the hospital because of fan violence wasn’t enough, there was also an 18-minute delay before the start of the second half (because of more fan misconduct) that should have stopped the match for good.

However, the German referee allowed the match to continue yet again. Only in the 67th minute did he finally abandon the contest after a Russian penalty was saved and fan misconduct reared its ugly head again.

Yes, officials are under pressure to ensure matches take place as scheduled, but this was ridiculous. Aside from a full-blown pitch invasion, there is no clearer sign to abandon a match than player injury resulting from fan-thrown projectiles.

European qualifiers are important but never more so than player safety. In this case, Aytekin lost sight of the real priority, and that’s why he makes the “Loser” column of this list.

Winner: Anyone Watching Group D

Peter Morrison/Associated Press

Who saw this one coming?

Thanks to Germany’s post-World Cup malaise, Group D is by far the most wide-open in all of Euro qualifying. With Poland (11 points), Germany (10), Scotland (10) and the Republic of Ireland (8) all within striking distance of one another, everything is poised for a riveting homestretch run to see who will finish in the top two.

As a result of Germany’s shocking October—which included a 2-0 loss at Poland and a 1-1 draw at home to the Republic of Ireland—fans of Group D have been treated to an utterly unexpected run of exciting results through the first five matches.

Granted, every sane person on the planet worth his or her salt in soccer knowledge will expect Germany to recover their dominating form, but anything could happen between the other three teams near the top.

Sunday saw a continuation of the excitement, as the Republic of Ireland rescued a crucial point at home in the 91st minute against front-runners Poland (who still have to travel to Germany on September 4).

With the exception of Gibraltar winning a match (they’ve only scored one goal and conceded 27 in five “contests”), anything is possible in Group D—and that’s why the fans get the W on this one.

Losers: Greece

Szilard Koszticsak/Associated Press

Greece are well and truly off the pace, having drawn 0-0 at Hungary on Sunday to settle firmly at the bottom of Group F.

Through five qualifying matches, the Greeks have only managed to claim two points, leaving them six off Hungary (who currently occupy the third-place playoff spot).

The pragmatic playing style that helped them to an unlikely European crown in 2004 has not been paying dividends in this round of qualification. Their once-impressive defense have conceded five goals in five games, leading to an inexcusable 0-3 record at home.

At the other end of the pitch, the Greeks have managed only one goal to their name, and their 0-0 draw at Hungary on Sunday was more of the pedantic same.

Considering Romania are sitting atop the group with 13 points and Northern Ireland hold second with 12, it would seem all hope is lost for the Greeks. There are still 15 points up for grabs in the remaining five matches, but it would take a miracle turnaround in form to get Greece to France 2016.

Considering their utterly depressing goalscoring record, it’s probably better for the excitement of the competition if Greece just quietly bow out and start training strikers for Russia 2018.

Winners: England’s Youthful Strikers

Most countries would love to have a promising young striker scoring goals at the highest level. England now have two of them in the form of Danny Welbeck and Harry Kane—and they both showed their stuff in the Three Lions’ 4-0 victory over Lithuania.

While the debutant Kane may have stolen all the headlines with the third-quickest debut goal in England history (shown in the above video and put into context with this ESPN FC tweet), Welbeck had an equally heartening showing.

Welbeck’s ability to finish consistently has often come into question in recent years (h/t Bleacher Report’s Sean Fay), but the 24-year-old repaid England manager Roy Hodgson’s faith with an important goal on the stroke of half-time.

Giving captain Wayne Rooney an experienced strike partner in the form of Welbeck and a promising up-and-comer in Kane will be crucial to England’s chances in 2016.

If Kane can continue his meteoric rise and get even more battle-tested mettle in this summer’s U21s, then Hodgson will finally have a strike force that can do real damage in France.

Losers: France

Though Les Bleus—as hosts of Euro 2016—do not have to qualify for the tournament, they’ve still been seeking out tough international competition to keep their claws sharp in the absence of competitive matches.

Unfortunately for the home fans, France failed their latest friendly test against a dominant Brazil side in a rematch of the 1998 World Cup final.

France showed promise from set pieces (including Raphael Varane’s opening header goal) but conceded virtually everything else to the visitors. Brazil ran rampant at times, continuing their perfect post-World Cup run and making the hosts wish they had Paul Pogba anchoring their midfield.

The international break wasn’t all bad for France, though. Les Bleus recovered with a 2-0 victory over Denmark on Sunday, giving fans a better performance to celebrate against a potential Euro 2016 opponent.

Being the automatically qualifying hosts of an international tournament is both a blessing and a curse in that the lack of competitive matches can lead to a kind of complacency. Losing at home to Brazil may be excusable at times, but being played off the park in the second half is not something Didier Deschamps can accept from his men looking ahead to Euro 2016.

Winners: Portugal

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

Cristiano Ronaldo’s team took European qualification by the scruff of the neck with a solid 2-1 win over Serbia to go two points clear in Group I. Their first victory over Serbia was a crucial statement Portugal needed to make before heading into a tough run of matches to close out qualification.

Going to Armenia on June 13 shouldn’t be difficult, but going to Albania on September 7, hosting Denmark on October 8 and finishing off at Serbia on October 11 will be a true gauntlet for the Portuguese. 

Portuguese fans may find new hope, however, in the impressive work rate of their talisman, Ronaldo. The Real Madrid man, who is not often known for his work on the defensive side of the ball, could be seen tracking back on multiple occasions against Serbia to recover the ball (or at least put pressure on the breaking opponents).

The three points were important, but the statement Portugal made against Serbia was more important. The Portuguese showed themselves that they can win against a talented team and gave themselves a little breathing space headed into their toughest stretch of qualification.

Loser: Netherlands

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

Will the Netherlands qualify for Euro 2016? Yes—they have too much talent not to. However, the Dutch did everything in their power to get off to a slow start with losses to the Czech Republic and Iceland before drawing at home against Turkey on Saturday.

Despite being at home, the Netherlands had to hold their breath until Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s 92nd-minute equaliser saved their blushes.

The absence of Arjen Robben through injury was a notable setback, but even his presence wasn’t enough to help the Dutch overcome Iceland in that first meeting.

Simply put, the Oranje are still struggling to find their post-World Cup identity with new manager Guus Hiddink.

As it stands at the halfway point of qualification, the Netherlands are sitting third with seven points—two ahead of Turkey with five and behind the Czech Republic and Iceland with 13 and 12 respectively.

The Oranje have all the talent necessary to qualify for France 2016, but they’ll have to show up sooner rather than later against Iceland, Turkey and the Czech Republic as the clock winds down in the coming months.