Euro 2016: Qualifiers for the tournament in France

Euro 2016: Qualifiers for the tournament in France

Poland sealed qualification with a victory over the Republic of Ireland
The qualification process is almost over and the make-up of next summer's Euro 2016 is starting to take shape.
There will be 24 teams competing in the finals. France were assured of a place as hosts, and a further 19 countries qualify automatically - 18 by finishing either first or second in their group and one more as the highest third-placed finisher.
There will also be four play-off ties to determine the final four teams competing in France.

Already qualified

France

How they qualified: Hosts. France have not played a competitive match since the quarter-final defeat by Germany at the 2014 World Cup. Since then, Les Bleus have played 13 friendly games, winning eight.
Euro pedigree: Winners in 1984 and 2000.
Who's the boss? Didier Deschamps, 46. The former Monaco, Juventus and Marseille manager won the competition as a player with France in 2000.
Top scorers
Karim Benzema (pictured), Mathieu Valbuena and Blaise Matuidi have all scored two goals in 2015

Iceland

How they qualified: Iceland stunned heavyweights such as the Netherlands and Turkey in Group A to qualify for their first major tournament in style. They booked their spot in France with two games to spare.
Euro pedigree: Debutants.
Who's the boss? Lars Lagerback, 67. As boss of his native Sweden he took them to Euro 2000, 2004 and 2008 - and has now repeated the trick for the Icelanders. 
Top scorer
Swansea man Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored six goals

Czech Republic

How they qualified: The Czech Republic continued their run of qualifying for every Euro tournament since 1996 by joining Iceland in qualifying from Group A. 
Euro pedigree: Runners-up in 1996.
Who's the boss? Pavel Vrba, 51. Guided Viktoria Plzen to their first ever league title in the 2010-11 season and another title followed two years later.
Top scorer
Sparta Prague's Borek Dockal has netted four goals

Belgium

How they qualified: Top of Group B with one game to spare. The golden generation of Belgian football made sure they didn't let their fans down, securing automatic qualification on matchday nine, and will be one of the favourites to win the tournament in France.
Euro pedigree: Third place in 1972.
Who's the boss? Marc Wilmots, 46. Went to four World Cups as a player with Belgium, scoring five goals at the finals. Served as assistant to Dick Advocaat and Georges Leekens before being handed the Belgium job in 2012. He took them to the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup.
Top scorer
Premier League trio Eden Hazard (pictured), Marouane Fellaini and Kevin de Bruyne have all scored four goals

Wales

How they qualified: Second in Group B with a game remaining. A mean defence that has conceded just four goals in their opening nine games (their final qualifier is on Tuesday) along with the efforts of the world's most expensive player Gareth Bale saw Wales qualify for a first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup.
Euro pedigree: Debutants.
Who's the boss? Chris Coleman, 45, won 32 caps for Wales and was in the squad when they came close to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup.
Top scorer
Real Madrid man Gareth Bale has scored six of Wales' nine qualification goals so far

Spain

How they qualified: Group C winners. Spain suffered a shock 2-1 loss against Slovakia in their second game, but that was their only blip, winning their remaining nine games to ease through. 
Euro pedigree: Winners in 1964, 2008, 2012.
Who's the boss? You name it, Vicente del Bosque has won it.
After picking up two La Liga titles and two Champions League crowns with Real Madrid, the 64-year-old guided Spain to the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. He has won an incredible 78% of matches in charge of the Spain side.
Top scorer
Valencia striker Paco Alcacer netted five goals

Slovakia

How they qualified: Group C runners-up. Edged through by taking the second automatic qualification spot behind Spain, sending Ukraine to the play-offs.
Euro pedigree: Debutants
Who's the boss? Jan Kozak, 61. A former Czechoslovakia international midfielder, he played at Euro 1980 and at the 1982 World Cup. Likes the lure of Slovak club Kosice, having managed them on four separate occasions.
Top scorer
Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik scored five goals

Germany

How they qualified: Group D winners. Did anyone ever doubt them? They did lose matches against Poland and the Republic of Ireland but it was otherwise straightforward progress for the world champions.
Euro pedigree: Winners in 1972, 1980 and 1996.
Who's the boss? Joachim Low, 55. Took over in 2006 - his team won last year's World Cup and were Euro runners-up in 2008, before a third-place finish in 2012.
Top scorer
Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller scored nine goals

Poland

How they qualified: Group D runners-up. Poland had to battle until their final game when victory over the Republic of Irelandedged them through to the tournament next year.
Euro pedigree: Group stages in 2008 and 2012.
Who's the boss? Adam Nawalka, 57. A former Poland midfielder, he has spent his entire coaching career in his homeland, taking charge of seven clubs.
Top scorer
Robert Lewandowski scored 13 goals to be the top scorer in qualifying

England

How they qualified: Group E winners. England became the first side to qualify for the tournament and did so with a flawless 100% record.
Euro pedigree: Third place in 1968.
Who's the boss? Roy Hodgson, 68. The well-travelled veteran manager failed to qualify for Euro 1992 with Switzerland, but succeeded this time around.
Top scorer
England skipper Wayne Rooney netted seven goals - one more than Danny Welbeck

Switzerland

How they qualified: Group E runners-up. Switzerland took the other automatic qualification spot in England's group, and managed to do so despite losing their first two games.
Euro pedigree: Group stages in 1996, 2004 and 2008.
Who's the boss? Nicknamed 'the doctor', 52-year-old Vladimir Petkovic speaks Italian, French, English, Spanish, German and Russian and holds three passports. His most prominent club job was a two-year spell in charge of Lazio before he took the Swiss job following the 2014 World Cup.
Top scorer
Stoke's Xherdan Shaqiri scored four goals for Switzerland during qualifying

Northern Ireland

How they qualified: Group F winners. Northern Ireland made it through to their first major tournament in 30 years, topping a group that included Euro 2004 champions Greece. 
Euro pedigree: Debutants.
Who's the boss? Michael O'Neill, 46. A former midfielder for Newcastle, Dundee United and Hibernian, winning two League of Ireland titles as manager of Shamrock Rovers.
Top scorer
Norwich striker Kyle Lafferty has bagged seven goals

Romania

How they qualified: Group F runners-up. With a record of won five, drawn five and just two goals conceded, you can see where Romania's strengths lie. They drew three consecutive games 0-0 in the group and finished unbeaten. Their steady accumulation of points saw them finish five points ahead of Hungary.
Euro pedigree: Quarter-finals in 2000.
Who's the boss? Anghel Iordanescu, 65. The former Romania international had an excellent pedigree. Having won two league titles with Steaua Bucharest as a player, he went on to lead the team to a further four domestic titles as boss. 
Top scorer
Paul Papp (pictured), Constantin Budescu and Bogdan Stancu scored two goals in qualifying

Austria

How they qualified: Group G winners. Having qualified as hosts in 2008, Austria made it through qualifying for the first time with a superb unbeaten run, winning nine games and drawing one.
Euro pedigree: Group stages in 2008.
Who's the boss? Marcel Koller, 54. Spent his entire playing career as a midfielder with Grasshoppers Zurich and played at Euro 1996 for Switzerland.
Top scorer
FC Basel's gangly striker Marc Janko scored seven goals

Russia

How they qualified: Group G runners-up. Surprised by the form of Austria, Russia had to take second spot in the group to send Sweden to the play-offs.
Euro pedigree: Semi-finals in 2008.
Who's the boss? Leonid Slutsky, 44. Retired from playing at the age of 19 because of a knee injury, he went on to become a successful coach, leading CSKA Moscow to two league titles and domestic cup victories.
Top scorer
Artem Dzyuba scored eight goals

Italy

How they qualified: Group H winners. The Italians were untroubled in an easy group containing the likes of Azerbaijan and Malta, making it through without losing a game. 
Euro pedigree: Winners in 1968.
Who's the boss? Antonio Conte, 46. Led Juventus to three Serie A titles before taking the national job after Italy's group failure at last summer's World Cup. As a player he was part of the squads for the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000 but won just 20 caps.
Top scorer
Graziano Pelle (pictured), Eder, Antonia Candreva and Girogio Chiellini all scored twice

Portugal

How they qualified: Group I winners. Portugal were in a group of five and having lost their opener against Albania, then won seven straight games to progress.
Euro pedigree: Semi-finals in 1984, 2000 and 2012, final in 2004.
Who's the boss? After ending his playing career at the age of 21, Fernando Santos worked as an electrician before taking up coaching. Took the Greek national side to the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. The 60-year-old took charge of Portugal when Paulo Bento quit after a shock defeat against Albania in September 2014.
Top scorer
Cristiano Ronaldo, who else? The Real Madrid man scored five goals

Albania

How they qualified: Group I runners-up. Albania pipped Denmark to take the second automatic qualifying spot and reach a major tournament for the first time in their history.
Euro pedigree: Debutants
Who's the boss? Gianni De Biasi, 59. The Italian is a journeyman manager who took charge of the Albanians in 2011. 
Top scorer
Seven players were on the scoresheet for Albania during qualifying - although one was an own goal

Who else can qualify?

There are nine fixtures left - all of which will be played on Tuesday. There is one second-place spot still up for grabs, which is:
Group H runner-up - Norway or Croatia
Hungary are currently the highest ranked team finishing third in their group - and as things stand will claim the one other automatic qualifying place. However, that could change depending on what happens in the remaining ties.
Eight of the qualifying groups have six teams and one five. When calculating the ranking of the third-placed finishers to determine who claims the final automatic qualification place, the points accrued by a nation in a group of six against the side in bottom place do not count. 
The remaining eight teams finishing third will then contest four play-off ties. The draw for the play-offs will take place on 18 October.
The teams still in contention for third place are as follows (teams in bold are guaranteed a play-off place): 

Group A: Turkey or Netherlands 
Group B: Bosnia, Israel or Cyprus
Group C: Ukraine
Group D: Republic of Ireland
Group E: Slovenia
Group F: Hungary
Group G: Sweden
Group H: Norway or Croatia
Group I: Denmark

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