Today EURO 2008 Qualifying Campaign Ends

Portugal, Turkey, England and Sweden are favourites to complete the 16-team lineup for the 2008 UEFA European Championship when the qualifying campaign all but concludes this evening.

Home draws needed
Portugal will go through from Group A with a draw against qualification rivals Finland in Porto, while Sweden and England are also in need of home draws against Latvia and Croatia respectively to advance from their sections. Like England, Turkey avoided elimination on Saturday and they now need to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina to go through. Anything less than a victory, though, would let Norway wrest back second spot in Group C with a win in Malta.

Twelve through
In addition to hosts Austria and Switzerland, ten teams are already assured of a place in the 2 December draw for the final tournament in Lucerne: Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain. uefa.com rounds up the state of play following the penultimate round of qualifiers on Saturday.

Group A
Poland's 2-0 defeat of Belgium on Saturday took them through. Portugal are one point back and in need of just a single point more after beating Armenia 1-0. However, Finland's 2-1 victory over Azerbaijan keeps them within three points of the Portuguese whom they could overtake by winning the sides' Porto showdown. There is also hope for Serbia who will take on Poland on Wednesday and Kazakhstan on Saturday after snow in Belgrade twice forced the game's postponement last weekend. Serbia would qualify with wins against Poland, on Wednesday, and Kazakhstan combined with a Portugal defeat against Finland.

Group B
Italy's 2-1 triumph in Glasgow lifts them to the top, one point clear of France and two above Scotland, whose brave bid for qualification is over.

Group C
Turkey took a massive step towards securing second place behind group winners Greece by beating Norway 2-1 in Oslo, a result that puts them a point clear of the Scandinavians and well placed to complete the job tonight when they entertain Bosnia-Herzegovina and Norway travel to Malta.

Group D
The Czech Republic and Germany had already secured qualification and they remain tied on points at the summit after both won at the weekend, the Czechs beating neighbours Slovakia 3-1 and Germany sweeping Cyprus aside 4-0.

Group E
Russia's 2-1 reverse in Israel means Croatia, three points clear at the top, are guaranteed at least second place despite going down 2-0 in F.Y.R Macedonia. It also restored England's hopes of progress for, with a two-point lead over Russia, they now need only a point at Wembley while the Russians face Andorra.

Group F
Spain booked their finals berth by beating Sweden 3-0 in Madrid. The Scandinavians are two points behind Spain in second place and will still qualify so long as they take a point from their concluding home game against Latvia. If Sweden lose, then third-placed Northern Ireland – 2-1 victors over eliminated Denmark – can pip them to second place on the head-to-head rule by winning in Spain.

Group G
The Netherlands' 1-0 home victory over Luxembourg ensured they cannot be caught by third-placed Bulgaria, who remain four points behind the top two despite beating an already qualified Romania side 1-0.