Poland booked a place at Euro 2008 as Ebi Smolarek scored twice in a 2-0 home win over Belgium.
Poland, Portugal and Finland win, but Serbia off
Poland booked a place at Euro 2008 as Ebi Smolarek scored twice in a 2-0 home win over Belgium, while Portugal are on the brink of a place in the finals.
Smolarek pounced either side of half-time, after
Belgium had earlier rattled the crossbar through Jan Vertonghen.
The opening goal arrived at the end of the first half as
Poland striker Smolarek passed into an empty net after a lucky bounce off Belgium keeper Stijn Stijnen.
And four minutes into the second half, Smolarek reacted quickest to a loose ball to lift his shot over Stijnen.
Portugal battled to a 1-0 home win over
Armenia to move to within a point of qualification.
Hugo Almeida scored the only goal of the match on 42 minutes when he headed home Jose Bosingwa's cross.
The result means Portugal only need to avoid defeat at home to Finland to join Poland in the finals.
Finland secured a dramatic 2-1 win at home to
Azerbaijan to stay in the running for qualification.
Premier League strikers Mikael Forssell and Shefki Kuqi scored in the final 11 minutes in Helsinki after Azerbaijan had taken a shock lead.
The visitors, who had won the reverse fixture 1-0 earlier in the campaign, went ahead on 63 minutes when Makhmud Gurbanov smashed a left-footed shot into the top corner.
But Finland drew level on 79 minutes when Joonas Kolkka's corner was nodded on by Hannu Tihinen for Birmingham City forward Forssell to volley home.
And, with five minutes left, Fulham's Kuqi - on as a substitute - converted from close range after Jari Litmanen's free-kick had eluded the Azerbaijan keeper.
Finland can reach the finals, if they beat Portugal in Porto on Wednesday, although they also need Serbia not to win both of their closing two matches.
Serbia's game with
Kazakhstan was postponed following heavy snowfall in Belgrade, with the match rearranged for Sunday - weather permitting.
Group A
