Euro 2008: Who can qualify?

Fancy predicting who will be at Euro 2008 in the summer?

Confused as to the permutations involved?

How do Scotland qualify? Is Steve McClaren right to remain defiant? Can Northern Ireland give Fernando Torres and co an unwanted summer break?

Read below as setantasports.com spells out the possible scenarios ahead of the final two rounds of Euro 2008 qualifiers, as well as providing links to our individual match previews.

Group A:

The last thing a journalist needs on a Friday morning is a conundrum like Group A, where four teams can still qualify.
Poland are in the driving seat and can guarantee their place in Austria and Switzerland with just one win from their last two games, which are Belgium(h) and then Serbia(a).
Portugal will also fancy their chances of booking a ticket for the summer, with four points out of a possible six against Armenia(h) and Finland(h) necessary to make them uncatchable in Group A.
Anything less would bring Serbia and Finland into contention, who are currently three points behind Luis Felipe Scolari’s men in the table.
Finland’s game in Portugal is the one to look out for. After drawing in Helsinki a Finland win would eliminate the Portuguese providing the Finns also triumph over bottom nation Azerbaijan, setting up a complicated and unpredictable ‘mini-league’ with Serbia should they beat Kazakhstan(h) and Poland(h).

Group B:

Quite simply, everything comes down to Scotland’s massive qualifier at home to Italy as Group B reaches a thrilling crescendo.
A Scotland win guarantees their place in Euro 2008. Italy would then need France to lose in Ukraine to keep their hopes alive when they meet Faroe Islands.
An Italy win eliminates Alex McLeish’s Scotland.
A draw eliminates Scotland if France avoid defeat in Ukraine and Italy do likewise against the Faroes.
However, Scotland could still qualify with a draw if France lose, courtesy of their better head-to-head record.

Group C

With Greece already through Group C comes down to a straight shoot-out between Norway and Turkey.
Thankfully for drama fans, the pair meet on Saturday in a winner-takes-all contest.
Assuming both sides win their final matches with Malta(a) and Bosnia-Herzegovina(h) respectively, Norway will qualify by avoiding defeat in Oslo. Turkey must win.

Group D

One would fancy Germany and Czech Republic to go through from this group. They are seven points clear with two games remaining – it would take something special to mess that up.

Wales and Republic of Ireland meet in a game has no real significance, save for pride.

Group E

Time for the mathematics that Steve McClaren must know better than how to get to the job centre.
If Croatia win or draw in Macedonia, they qualify regardless of their final day trip to Wembley.
If Russia win in Israel and at home to Andorra, they qualify also.
England need one of these two scenarios not to happen, meaning they can rescue a dire situation with victory over Croatia.

England are playing Austria in a friendly on Friday night as they wait for their fate to become clear.

Group F

Table toppers Sweden need one point from games against Spain(a) and Latvia(h) to guarantee their place in the European Championships, although they will instantly qualify if Northern Ireland fail to win both their matches against Denmark(h) and Spain(a).
Nigel Worthington’s men must win both matches and then hope Sweden fail to pick up any points, or Spain lose their home encounter with…Sweden.
Spain need one victory to rubber stamp their place in the summer tournament, while Denmark must win games against Northern Ireland(a) and Iceland(h) and hope Spain are left pointless in their final two matches.

Group G

With Romania through all focus is on Marco van Basten’s Holland side, who need just one win to see off the challenge of Bulgaria.
Holland play the group’s worst two sides, Luxembourg(h) and Belarus(a), so Bulgaria will be holding out little hope of qualification.
Should the unthinkable happen and Holland pick up less than two points, Bulgaria could progress with wins over Romania(h) and Slovenia(a)