France automatically qualified for EURO 2016 as the host nation, and England became the first team to earn a berth in the tournament with a win over San Marino today, maintaining a perfect record of seven wins from seven matches.
Check out a quick roundup of the qualification matches today.
San Marino 0-6 England
Wayne Rooney opened the scoring from the penalty spot just 13 minutes into the match, tallying his 49th goal for England. That ties Rooney with the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton as the Three Lions’ all-time top scorer. Remarkably, both players scored goal 49 in their 106th cap for England. Up 2-0 at halftime, Everton’s Ross Barkley scored 15 seconds into the second half to seal the three points, with Theo Walcott (2) and Harry Kane adding goals off the bench.
Ukraine 3-1 Belarus
Ukraine took an early lead within ten minutes and never looked back. Striker Andriy Yarmolenko was wanted by some big name clubs this summer, but stayed with Dynamo Kyiv and showed his talents doubling Ukraine’s lead in the 30th minute before Yevhen Konoplyanka made it 3-0 before the break. Yarmolenko is Ukraine’s second-highest goalscorer, behind only the former Milan and Chelsea man Andriy Shevchenko. With the win, Ukraine moves level on points with Spain for second place in Group C, although Spain has a game in-hand.
Russia 1-0 Sweden
Leonid Slutsky’s first match in charge of Russia was a big win as Artyom Dzyuba’s strike in the 38th minute was enough to down Sweden. Slutsky replaced former England manager Fabio Capello after he was relieved of his duties following a dispute over wages with the Russian federation. Russia now sits in third place in the Group G standings one point behind Sweden, as qualifying for the EURO’s is vital for the hosts of the 2018 World Cup.
Elsewhere in EURO 2016 qualifying action
Group C
Luxembourg 1-0 Macedonia
Spain 2-0 Slovakia
Group E
Estonia 1-0 Lithuania
Switzerland 3-2 Slovenia
Group G
Austria 1-0 Moldova
Montenegro 2-0 Liechtenstein