European Championship 2016 Qualifiers: Winners and Losers from Monday Games
The final spots at Euro 2016 are rapidly being claimed as the final qualification matches take place around the continent, with Monday's games yielding yet another couple of definite nations who will play in France next summer.
Nine games were played to close out another three groups, with scenes of celebration for some...and an anxious wait ahead for the play-off draw and the two-legged ties themselves.
Here are all our biggest winners and losers from around Europe from the matches on Monday.
Winners: Russia, Doing the Job and Reaching the Finals
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Russia went into the last match knowing their fate was in their hands, but they still needed to see out the group properly and take at least a point at home to Montenegro, who had already drawn with Sweden once and only narrowly lost to group winners Austria twice.
What could have been a nervy occasion was quickly settled with two goals inside five first-half minutes, with Russia eventually running out 2-0 winners.
The win left Sweden in third and headed for the play-offs despite their own win over Moldova.
Losers: The Minnows Again
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Probably not a surprise at this stage, but all four of the small football nations suffered defeat once more in the qualifiers on Monday night.
Earlier on, Liechtenstein lost 3-0 in Austria and Moldova were beaten in Sweden before San Marino were overcome by Slovenia. The one reasonable shout out from the group goes to Luxembourg, who mounted something of a comeback to lose 4-2 at home to Slovakia having initially been three goals down.
Between the four nations, they clocked up a total of one win during the qualifiers.
Winners: Perfect 10 for England
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England were already through and clear into Euro 2016, but Roy Hodgson and his players wanted to go through with a 100 percent record from the qualifiers—and that's what they achieved with a comfortable win in Lithuania.
Two fortuitous first-half goals put them well in the driving seat before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drilled in a third in the second half.
It's 10 games, 10 wins for England, and they head to France in as good competitive form as they could possibly have managed—but will they make it count during the tournament proper this time?
Phil Jagielka said after the game, live on ITV: "We knew it would be difficult to win all 10, but we managed to do it; the squad was mixed up, but it proved the depth and the goalscorers we have in the squad to do something special."
Losers: Sweden and Ukraine Will Have to Face Play-off Nightmare Again
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Sweden won their game on Monday night, beating Moldova 2-0, but it wasn't enough to snatch second place as they saw Russia win at the same time.
Draws ultimately cost Sweden an automatic spot at Euro 2016, and they'll have to take the play-off route instead—just like Ukraine will, after they failed to beat Spain in their last qualifier and similarly finished third in Group C.
Both Sweden and Ukraine suffered play-off agony before the 2014 World Cup, losing to Portugal and France respectively; they'll both hope for a more favourable outcome in the draw this time.
Winners: Spain Squad Fringe Players
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Spain changed around their squad considerably—some changes forced, some the choice of the manager—and still came through to record a 1-0 win in Ukraine.
The likes of Nacho, Xabier Etxeita, Mario Gaspar, Tiago and Nolito were all involved as the established seniors made way in competitive action, quite a rare occurrence under Vicente del Bosque.
Dermot Corrigan noted his belief that Tiago and Nolito pushed hardest toward sealing a spot in the eventual Euro 2016 squad—while David De Gea was superb in goal also but will still likely play second fiddle to Iker Casillas.
