European Championship Qualifiers: Winners and Losers from Saturday's Games
Several nations took important steps toward qualification for Euro 2016 on Saturday, with England becoming the first country to officially qualify in the process.
Just three games remain in qualification for the sides who played over Saturday, with another round of games to come during the week.
With nine games to take into account over the course of the day, the slides focus on the teams themselves and what they have achieved—or missed out on—rather than individual players as we might usually do.
Winners: England, the 1st Side to Qualify for Euro 2016
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The setting of San Marino is hardly a glamorous or difficult one for teams to find three points and a telling performance in, but England had already done the hard work in their group—this was simply and coincidentally the fixture that secured their passage through to the finals in France next summer.
An easy game, low in tempo and excitement, saw England stroll to an eventual 6-0 scoreline in a match that saw Wayne Rooney (and all combined own goals) equal the all-time goalscoring record of the national team, moving onto 49 alongside Sir Bobby Charlton.
England have won seven from seven in Group E.
Losers: Sweden, Losing Their Talisman and the Match
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Sweden would have hoped for any kind of positive result away to Russia in the early fixtures, with even a draw being enough to keep Russia at bay in the battle for second place in Group G.
It simply didn't go their way, though, as they struggled to create scoring chances, lost key man Zlatan Ibrahimovic to injury at half-time and didn't have enough to come back after falling behind, eventually losing by the narrow 1-0 scoreline.
The result leaves Sweden above Russia but only by a single point with three matches left to play.
Winners: Austria, All but There
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Austria took their time in finding a way past Moldova, but their win at home over Group G's bottom nation means they are all but qualified for Euro 2016. A seven-point buffer to second place puts them in a very strong position with three games to go.
Zlatko Junuzovic scored the winner in the 1-0 result, though Austria also had a questionable decision go against them with a goal ruled out for offside.
A low-key win for top against bottom, but the three points were all that mattered. Austria are almost on their way to Euro 2016.
Losers: Macedonia, Beaten by a Minnow
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Macedonia aren't exactly one of the newer UEFA nations that have enjoyed relatively quick success, but they still showed signs of progression a few years ago—all of which seems to have disappeared in the past two qualification campaigns.
In Euro 2008 qualifying, they won four of their 12 matches and only conceded 12, ending with a goal difference of zero. World Cup 2010 was a close call to fight for a play-off spot—they finished fourth of five teams but only three points behind Scotland (third) and Norway (second).
After Saturday, however, they sit rock bottom of Group C in Euro 2016 qualifying after a humbling 1-0 defeat at lowly Luxembourg. It's six defeats from seven for FYROM now, and they trail two beatable sides, Belarus being the other, by a point with three games to go.
Winners: Spain's Attacking Maestros, Silva, Iniesta and Pedro
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Spain started like they meant business against Slovakia and took an early lead they rarely looked like giving up—the end scoreline of 2-0 was deserved and puts the European Championship holders level on points with Saturday's opponents at the top of Group C.
It's all very tight at the top and only two of the three teams there—Ukraine are the others—will go through automatically, but this was Spain's best performance in some time, and they will be confident of seeing out their qualification campaign strongly.
This victory was thanks in large part to the displays of David Silva and Andres Iniesta, both outstanding, while Pedro was also an important player down the flank in the first half.
Losers: Slovenia, Throwing It All Away
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Slovenia were so close: 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go in their game against Switzerland, three points were within touching distance—which would have pushed them to level on points with the second-placed Swiss.
Fast forward to the end of the game, and a complete collapse of the Slovenia defence had been witnessed, shipping three goals in the final stages and with them any realistic chance of an automatic passage to the finals.
It will now be a battle to even gain a play-off spot, as they sit a point behind Estonia, who beat Lithuania earlier in the day.
Winners: Switzerland
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Of course, on the flip side of Slovenia's collapse is Switzerland's own turnaround—they might have missed a great deal of chances earlier in the game, but their clinical edge was rediscovered just in time to snatch the vital points.
Mental strength and self-belief must also have been big factors in the Swiss comeback, with Josip Drmic, Valentin Stocker and Drmic again netting in quick succession to secure the 3-2 win.
Those points maintain an island of untouchability around Switzerland in second place: They trail leaders England by six points but are five ahead of Estonia in third. One more win and they've just about sealed their passage to the finals.
