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| SwedenÂ’s Route to Euro 2008: A helping hand from Denmark A helping hand from a Denmark fan literally handed Sweden qualification to Euro 2008 when in the pair’s first meeting in Group E an irate Denmark fan ran onto the pitch to confront referee Herbert Fandel. Despite the score being level at 3-3 with just minutes to play his action resulted in the game being cancelled and a 0-3 win being given to Sweden. The loss of a point for Denmark combined with the extra 2 that Sweden received was crucial to the 6 point gap that developed between the pair by the end of qualifying. |
| SpainÂ’s Road to Euro 2008: Flying finish sees Spain through Spain overcame a slow start to their Euro 2008 qualification after they picked up only 3 points from the first 9, to win 8 of their last 9 matches to finish top of Group F and secure a solid place at the tournament with 28 points. |
| RussiaÂ’s road to Euro 2008: A roller coast ride A new era in Russian football was ushered in under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink as he qualified Russia for the Euro 2008 tournament. A tumultuous, and at times difficult, campaign was finally rounded off with qualification after Croatia gave them a helping hand by beating England in the final group game. |
| Poland's Road to Euro 2008: Keeping their heads away from home Poland qualified for their first ever European Championships by finishing top of a mammoth group A. With 8 teams Poland had to play 16 qualifying games, the most, along with Portugal, of any of the competing nations at Euro 2008. With 5 recognised potential candidates in Group A vying for qualification (Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Belgium, and Finland) the route to Austria and Switzerland was always going to be a long haul for the victors from the group. |
| ItalyÂ’s route to Euro 2008: Consistent campaign rewarded With just one defeat and two draws in the qualifying campaign Italy qualified for Euro 2008 with their usual blend of controlled football and attacking flair and picking up points against their main rivals. Although they were beaten by the French in Paris, just two months after the win over Les Bleus in the World Cup finals, it was the Italians who had the last laugh by finishing some 3 points clear of their rivals at the end of the qualification. |
| GreeceÂ’s road to Euro 2008: Consistency rewarded Greece were the strongest of all the qualifiers for Euro 2008 in terms of points thanks to their 31 points amassed with only one defeat at home to Turkey and one draw away to Norway and 10 wins. |
| GermanyÂ’s road to Euro 2008: Consummate progress Germany qualified with little difficulty for Euro 2008 with a second place finish in Group D comfortably finishing 10 points ahead of the Republic of Ireland, who finished in a distant third. With only 1 defeat, at home to the Czech Republic when they had already qualified, Germany can be rightly pleased with their performance. |
| FranceÂ’s road to Euro 2008: Heavy weather Les Bleus made surprisingly heavy weather of qualification from Group B and their margin of just two points over Scotland indicated just how close they came to not even taking part in Euro 2008. Ultimately a penultimate match-day win over Lithuania combined with a Scots defeat in Georgia saw the French past the challenge of Scotland, against whom they lost both home and away. |
| CroatiaÂ’s road to Euro 2008: EduardoÂ’s absence underlined Croatia enjoyed a strong qualification in Group E to finish top of the group on 29 points, and in the process register the joint second best qualification, only Greece in Group C recorded more points in an arguably easier group. |
| European Championship History: Sweden Strangely Sweden have made little impression on the European Championships qualifying for the tournament only three times, all in recent history whilst at the World Cup they can boast 4 semi final appearances, finishing as runners-up in 1958, just two years before the first ever European Championships. |
