Group A
Poland and Portugal reached the final tournament at the end of a fiercely competitive Group A campaign which featured some notable shock results and a cameo appearance from an owl.
Smolarek's ninth
In their first qualifying bid under Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, Poland started with a 3-1 home defeat against Finland. However, they made it to their first UEFA European Championship finals with a game to spare, Euzebiusz Smolarek scoring his eighth and ninth qualifying goals in a 2-0 win against Belgium to push them over the threshold.
'A great achievement'
"It still does not feel like we have done anything historic," conceded Smolarek after that game, but his coach was a little more enthusiastic, saying: "To finish in such style feels great. I am delighted because we have made so many people in Poland happy. It is a great achievement for the players that in a very short time they have managed to form a team capable of this historic first qualification."
Goalless draw
Portugal went into the final round of games with both Roy Hodgson's Finland and Javier Clemente's Serbia capable of denying them a trip to Austria and Switzerland. Luiz Felipe Scolari's men lost only once in the campaign – 2-1 in Poland – but were made to sweat for their place. A 0-0 draw at home against Finland proved to be enough, but Scolari conceded his side "must improve for the finals".
Owl stops play
It was a cruel finale for Finland, who had performed well throughout the campaign and also witnessed one of the oddest moments in qualifying when an owl swooped down into Helsinki's Olympiastadion midway through their home game against Belgium, causing the match to be suspended for several minutes. The bird eventually flapped away from its perch on top of the goalposts and Finland went on to win 2-0.
Porterfield dies
Hodgson flew the nest as Finland coach at the end of the campaign, while Spaniard Clemente was cut adrift by Serbia despite a third-placed finish. And there was sad news in Armenia's camp as their Scottish coach Ian Porterfield lost his battle with cancer. His side had produced some notable upsets, with draws at home against Finland, Serbia and Portugal and a 2-1 win against Poland. Striker Armen Shahgeldyan said. "Of course we knew he was sick but we all hoped he would make it. All of us players and the whole of Armenian football, are on the losing side."
Standings
| Group A | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Poland | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 12 | 28 |
 Portugal | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 27 |
 Serbia | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 22 | 11 | 24 |
 Finland | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 24 |
 Belgium | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 16 | 18 |
 Kazakhstan | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 10 |
 Armenia | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 9 |
 Azerbaijan | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 28 | 5 |
- Key:
- Pld
- Matches played
- W
- Won
- D
- Drawn
- L
- Lost
- GF
- Goals for
- GA
- Goals against
- Pts
- Points
Matches
- Key:
- (c):
- Match cancelled
Group - Top scorers
| 9 | Smolarek - Poland |
| 8 | Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal |
| 7 | Žigić - Serbia |
| 5 | Byakov - Kazakhstan |
| 4 | Dembélé - Belgium |
| 4 | Krzynówek - Poland |
| 4 | Lazović - Serbia |
| 3 | Janković - Serbia |
| 3 | Litmanen - Finland |
| 3 | Matusiak - Poland |
| 3 | Nuno Gomes - Portugal |
| 3 | Simão - Portugal |
| 2 | Arzumanyan - Armenia |
| 2 | Baltiev - Kazakhstan |
| 2 | Eremenko Jr - Finland |
| 2 | Geraerts - Belgium |
| 2 | Hugo Almeida - Portugal |
| 2 | Johansson - Finland |
| 2 | Jovanović - Serbia |
| 2 | Kuzmanović - Serbia |
| 2 | Mirallas - Belgium |
| 1 | Aliyev - Azerbaijan |
| 1 | Ashirbekov - Kazakhstan |
| 1 | Bąk - Poland |
| 1 | Bruno Alves - Portugal |
| 1 | Carvalho - Portugal |
| 1 | D. Tošić - Serbia |
| 1 | Dudka - Poland |
| 1 | Fellaini - Belgium |
| 1 | Forssell - Finland |
| 1 | Garguła - Poland |
| 1 | Gurbanov - Azerbaijan |
| 1 | Hélder Postiga - Portugal |
| 1 | Hovsepyan - Armenia |
| 1 | Hyypiä - Finland |
| 1 | Imamaliev - Azerbaijan |
| 1 | Ivanović - Serbia |
| 1 | Kaźmierczak - Poland |
| 1 | Kuqi - Finland |
| 1 | Ladaga - Azerbaijan |
| 1 | Lewandowski - Poland |
| 1 | Łobodziński - Poland |
| 1 | Makukula - Portugal |
| 1 | Maniche - Portugal |
| 1 | Mkhitaryan - Armenia |
| 1 | Murawski - Poland |
| 1 | Nadyrov - Azerbaijan |
| 1 | Nani - Portugal |
| 1 | Nurmela - Finland |
| 1 | Ostapenko - Kazakhstan |
| 1 | Pieroni - Belgium |
| 1 | Quaresma - Portugal |
| 1 | Simons - Belgium |
| 1 | Smakov - Kazakhstan |
| 1 | Sonck - Belgium |
| 1 | Stanković - Serbia |
| 1 | Subašić - Azerbaijan |
| 1 | Tainio - Finland |
| 1 | Tiago - Portugal |
| 1 | Van Buyten - Belgium |
| 1 | Vandenbergh - Belgium |
| 1 | Väyrynen - Finland |
| 1 | Zhumaskaliyev - Kazakhstan |
| 1 | Żurawski - Poland |