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Euro 2020 qualifiers round-up: CR7 & Bale close to qualify; 16 teams book spots

  /  Dafa316

Sixteen Euro 2020 qualifying spots down, eight to go after Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia and Austria joined the party on Saturday.

England booked their spot on Thursday. Wales and the Republic of Ireland are still in contention for a top-two finish, although they are guaranteed play-off places in March 2020 if they fall short. Scotland and Northern Ireland will be in next year's play-offs.

Meanwhile, defending champions Portugal are yet to seal their place at Euro 2020, with the top two going through from each group.

So who is through and who needs what to join them? And how do the play-offs work?

There were plenty of talking points across Europe as the group stages head into the final stretch, so here's rundown of everything you might have missed.

Group A

England booked their place at Euro 2020 - as group winners - with a 7-0 win over Montenegro on Thursday. The Czech Republic also sealed their place as they came back from behind to beat Kosovo 2-1.

The Three Lions face Kosovo - who are in next year's play-offs - on Sunday hoping to secure a place as top seeds.

Group B

Defending champions Portugal - who beat Lithuania 6-0 - will qualify if they win in Luxembourg on Sunday. If they drop points, a Serbia win at home to already qualified Ukraine would take them through instead. The Serbs could not qualify with a draw because of their inferior head-to-head record with Portugal. 

Both games are at 14:00 GMT.

Group C

Northern Ireland's automatic qualification hopes suffered a fatal blow as Michael O'Neill's men fought to a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands. Steven Davis missed a first-half penalty for the hosts. who will have to go through the playoffs if they want to take part in the summer competition. 

Elsewhere in Group C, Germany cruised to a 4-0 victory over Belarus thanks to goals from Matthias Ginter, Leon Goretzka and a brace from Toni Kroos, securing their place at Euro 2020. 

Group D

The Republic of Ireland will qualify for Euro 2020 if they beat Denmark in Dublin on Monday. They would need to win by two clear goals in the unlikely event Switzerland draw with Gibraltar to make a three-way head-to-head situation at the top of the group.

Denmark and Switzerland only need a point each to progress.

The Republic of Ireland will be in next March's play-offs if required.

Group E

Kieffer Moore and Harry Wilson kept the Welsh supporters' Euro 2020 dreams alive with goals in their side's 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan, and put Giggs' guys back in with a shout of automatic qualification. 

Elsewhere in Group E, Croatia ran out 3-1 winners over Slovakia, the hosts coming from behind to score twice in four minutes, which sealed the World Cup finalists' place in next summer's tournament. 

Wales can qualify for Euro 2020 if they manage to beat Hungary in the final game of the group stage on Tuesday evening. 

Group F

Sweden booked their place at Euro 2020 with a 2-0 win in Romania. They will finish second behind Spain, who have won the group.

Group G

There were no surprises in Group G as the top three teams all won on Saturday evening, with Austria confirming that they will follow group leaders Poland to Euro 2020, while Slovenia may have to settle for the playoffs. 

Austria earned a 2-1 victory over North Macedonia, David Alaba and Stefan Lainer giving the hosts a comfortable lead, until the visitors found the net with a late consolation goal. 

Robert Lewandowski was a second-half substitute for Poland, as the Eagles ran out 2-1 winners over Israel, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Krzysztof Piątek ensuring the visitors remained top of the table, despite Moanes Dabour's late strike for the hosts. 

Slovenia defeated hapless Latvia 1-0 in the other Group G fixture, an own goal by Igors Tarasovs continuing the visitors' losing streak. 

Group H

Turkey qualified for Euro 2020 on Thursday by drawing 0-0 with Iceland, a result that also confirmed France's place at the finals. Les Bleus - who beat Moldova 2-1 - will win the group if they beat Albania on Sunday. A draw would give Turkey the chance of top spot if they win in Andorra.

Iceland will be in next year's play-offs.

Group I

Group winners Belgium continued their superb form throughout the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, beating second-place Russia by four goals to one, with Eden Hazard putting in a mesmerising display for the visitors. 

The Real Madrid star scored twice and assisted one for his brother Thorgan, while Romelu Lukaku added the fourth for the Red Devils. 

Scotland earned a spirited 2-1 victory away at Cyprus, John McGinn once again proving his ever-increasing value, as he provided an assist for Ryan Christie before scoring the winner eight minutes into the second half. 

There were dramatic events at the home of the worst international side in the world, as San Marino scored a goal at home to Kazakhstan! Filippo Berardi bagged a late consolation. strike for the hosts, who sank to a 3-1 defeat to their visitors. 

Group J

Finland beat Liechtenstein 3-0 at home on Friday to reach a major tournament for the first time in their history.

Italy have already qualified as group winners.

Summary

Who has qualified? 

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine

Who else is in a top-two spot? 

Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland

Who else can qualify? 

Republic of Ireland, Serbia, Slovakia, Wales

Who are in play-offs as things stand?

If all the groups finish as they are now, these would be the 16 teams in next March's Euro 2020 play-offs. However, it could change in the coming days.

Draws would be held to decide which teams from Path B and C move up to Path A (although certain teams cannot move).

Path A: Iceland, two of Bulgaria, Israel, Romania, one of Wales, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland

Path B: Bosnia and Herzegovina, three of Wales, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland

Path C: Scotland, Norway, Serbia and one of Bulgaria, Israel, Romania

Path D: Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus

The highest-ranked team in each path will play at home against the country ranked fourth in a one-legged semi-final on 26 March, with the second highest at home to the third.

The host of each one-legged final - which will be one of the countries playing in the final - will be decided by a draw on Friday, 22 November. The winners of each path's play-offs - so four teams in total - goes to Euro 2020.