This will be the last day of the first round of Euro Championships soccer qualification for its 2012 edition to be played at Ukraine and Poland. Nine group winners will directly make it to the finals of the Euro 2012, while one best second-placed side will qualify as well. The remaining eight second-placed sides will make it to the play-offs from where, four will make it to the finals.
Here are how things stand going into the final day.
Group A: Germany has already qualified for the finals, while Belgium and Turkey will be fighting for the second spot. Belgium has 15 points but their last game is against Germany away, while Turkey are drawn to face Azerbaijan. A win for Belgium will see them through irrespective of the other result, but if they draw and Turkey win, the latter will go through.
Group B: Russia (20) are at the top of the group and while mathematically, they can still be pipped to the second spot by Ireland (18), it looks highly improbable given their opponents in this last game. Russia will be up against Andorra, a side which has lost all its nine games in the tournament so far. On the other hand, the battle for the second spot is between Ireland and Armenia (17) and the good news for both the sides is that they will be playing each other.
The winner of the Ireland-Armenia game gets the second spot while a draw will seal Ireland’s place in at least the playoffs.
Group C: Italy have already qualified for the Euro 2012. The second spot is up for grabs and Estonia and Serbia will do battle for it. Estonia have 16 points but have already played out all their games, while Serbia have 15 points and have one to play against Slovenia. A win against Slovenia will guarantee them a spot in the playoffs, but a draw will mean that Estonia will go through to the second spot.
Group D: This is a rather interestingly poised group. France (20) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (19) are in the top two positions in the group, with all the rest of the teams having been eliminated. What makes it even more exciting is that France will play Bosnia-Herzegovina in their last league game – with the winner going through to Euro 2012 while the losing side having to wait for the results in the other groups to see whether they are making it to the playoffs or making a direct entry into the Euro 2012.
Read about the Euro 2012 qualification scenarios for Groups E, F, G, H and I here.