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Rediff.com  » Sports » PHOTOS: Spain, Switzerland seal Euro 2016 berth with emphatic wins

PHOTOS: Spain, Switzerland seal Euro 2016 berth with emphatic wins

October 10, 2015 11:11 IST
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Photos from the Euro 2016 qualifying matches played across Europe on Saturday

Spain's Jordi Alba (left) and Paco Alcacer celebrate a goal during their Euro 2016 Group C qualification match against Luxembourg in Logrono, Spain on Friday

IMAGE: Spain's Jordi Alba (left) and Paco Alcacer celebrate a goal during their Euro 2016 Group C qualification match against Luxembourg in Logrono, Spain on Friday. Photograph: Vincent West/Reuters

Defending champions Spain secured their place at the Euro Championship 2016 after claiming an emphatic 4-0 win over Luxembourg in their Group C qualifier clash.

Santi Cazorla and the substitute Paco Alcacer scored a brace each to assure Spain of top spot in the section with a game to spare.

Spain, who bagged the title in 2008 and 2012, are five points ahead of second-placed Slovakia.

Spain will contest a 12th straight international tournament in France and will look to bounce back after going out of last year's World Cup in Brazil at the group stage when they were defending the title they won for the first time in 2010.

England's Raheem Sterling holds of Estonia's Taijo Teniste during the UEFA Euro 2016 Group E qualifying match at Wembley in London on Friday

IMAGE: England's Raheem Sterling holds of Estonia's Taijo Teniste during the UEFA Euro 2016 Group E qualifying match at Wembley in London on Friday. Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

England, who reached Euro 2016 last month, comfortably beat Estonia 2-0 at Wembley on Friday to stay on course to complete a qualifying campaign with a 100 percent record for the first time.

Goals from Theo Walcott after 45 minutes and Raheem Sterling in the 85th gave England their ninth successive win in a qualifying campaign for the first time.

England lead Group E with 27 points from nine games, with Switzerland also qualifying after beating San Marino 7-0 to climb to 18 points. Estonia have a remote mathematical chance of finishing third after Slovenia where held 1-1 by Lithuania.

England were never under any threat from an Estonia side that have only scored four goals in nine matches on a generally subdued night at Wembley.

England's Wayne Rooney is presented with the Golden Boot by Sir Bobby Charlton for breaking his 49 goal-record

IMAGE: England's Wayne Rooney is presented with the Golden Boot by Sir Bobby Charlton for breaking his 49 goal-record. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images

One of the high spots came before kickoff when Bobby Charlton presented fellow Manchester United great Wayne Rooney with a golden boot for breaking his 45-year-old scoring record with his 50th goal for England last month.

Rooney was out injured but England did not miss him. Ross Barkley created Walcott's opener before halftime with a superb through ball which the Arsenal man collected with a deft right foot touch before his shot gave keeper Mihkel Aksalu no chance.

Sterling doubled the lead five minutes before the end with an easy chance following a cross by substitute Jamie Vardy, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes.

Switzerland's Michael Lang (right) celebrates his goal with teammate Josip Drmic during their Euro 2016 Group E qualifying match against San Marino's in St. Gallen, Switzerland on Friday

IMAGE: Switzerland's Michael Lang (right) celebrates his goal with teammate Josip Drmic during their Euro 2016 Group E qualifying match against San Marino's in St. Gallen, Switzerland on Friday. Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

Switzerland booked a place at Euro 2016 by thrashing minnows San Marino 7-0 at home on Friday to clinch second place in Group E with a match to spare.

The Swiss, who scored six second-half goals, have 18 points from their nine matches and are five points clear of third-placed Slovenia, whose own faint hopes of automatic qualification were dashed in a 1-1 draw at home to Lithuania.

Switzerland, who will finish behind group winners England, play their final match of the campaign in Estonia on Monday.

Slovenia, who conceded an 79th-minute equaliser against Lithuania in Ljubljana, can now only qualify via the playoffs.

Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right) misses a penalty shot against Liechtenstein's goalkeeper Peter Jehle during their Euro 2016 group G qualifying match in the Rheinpark stadium in Vaduz, Liechtenstein on Friday

IMAGE: Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right) misses a penalty shot against Liechtenstein's goalkeeper Peter Jehle during their Euro 2016 group G qualifying match in the Rheinpark stadium in Vaduz, Liechtenstein on Friday. Photograph: Ruben Sprich/Reuters

In all, nine matches were played on Friday with the penultimate round now completed in six of the nine groups and the places thinning out before next week's final qualifiers.

While Spain were winning Group C, Ukraine's 2-0 victory in Macedonia and Slovakia's surprise 1-0 home defeat by Belarus means Ukraine or Slovakia will join Spain as the automatic qualifiers while both are guaranteed at least a playoff place.

With England already through from Group E, the main points at issue against Estonia at Wembley was whether they would maintain their 100 percent record and if Estonia could keep alive their slim playoff hopes.

England won 2-0 but because Slovenia and Lithuania drew, Estonia still have an outside chance of third place and a playoff spot albeit with the slimmest of mathematical probabilities.

Estonia meet Switzerland in their final match on Monday, Lithuania host England and San Marino welcome Slovenia when Slovenia, Lithuania or Estonia will finish third.

Group G is more clear-cut following Russia's 2-1 win in Moldova and Sweden's 2-0 victory away to Liechtenstein, where their striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty.

Already-qualified Austria preserved their unbeaten record with a 3-2 win in Montenegro to reach 25 points.

Russia, who have 17 points, play Montenegro on Monday, while Sweden, who have 15, are at home to Moldova. A win for Russia will guarantee them second place.

The ninth round of qualifiers in Groups A, B and H take place on Saturday with Wales, Belgium, Italy and Norway hoping to wrap up automatic qualification with a round to spare.

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