Group E
"Look at the results in these last matches," said Croatia coach Slaven Bilić after Group E reached its breathless finale. "That sends a message to everyone about how to approach sport and life in general." Bilić's side were the undoubted stars of the section but the manner of their progress and Russia's achievement in joining them represented perhaps the biggest stories of the qualifying campaign.
Worthy winners
Two goalless draws against Guus Hiddink's Russia, home and away wins against Israel and a 2-0 home win against England were the crucial results for Croatia who had been inspired by the goals from naturalised Brazilian striker Eduardo da Silva. Their qualification was confirmed in the hours before kick-off of their penultimate game in Skopje and a 2-0 defeat against F.Y.R. Macedonia could not dampen their spirits as the excitement in the group had shifted to the battle for second place.
England undone
Dror Kashtan's Israel had bowed out of the reckoning with two games to go, leaving England and Russia to battle for the runners-up spot. England looked to have recovered from that 2-0 defeat against Croatia when they trounced Russia 3-0 at the refurbished Wembley, but their recovery took a sudden turn as they lost 2-1 in the return fixture in Moscow with Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring twice.
Israeli honour
At that stage, wins against Israel and Andorra in their final games would have assured Russia of a finals' place regardless of the result of England's final home game against Croatia. However, Israel produced one of the shock results of the tournament in Tel-Aviv, with a late Omer Golan strike giving them a 2-1 victory and leaving England within a point of the finals.
Rooney absent
It looked like an unmissable opportunity for Steve McClaren's side despite the absence of Wayne Rooney for the final game at Wembley. Hiddink issued a desperate rallying cry to the group winners, saying: "I expect Croatia to perform with great commitment, just like Israel did [against Russia]. It is the only way to represent your country." It sounded more hopeful than serious.
Breathless finale
However, Croatia exploited a woefully fragile England display to win 3-2. Russia could barely believe their luck as they won 1-0 in Andorra to progress. "I didn't believe it would end like that," said Hiddink as his side celebrated in Andorra. McClaren was duly dismissed, saying: "I live and die by results and the results have not gone my way. I said judge me on qualification and people have."
Matches
- Key:
Group - Top scorers
| 10 | Eduardo - Croatia |
| 7 | Petrić - Croatia |
| 6 | Colautti - Israel |
| 5 | Crouch - England |
| 5 | Kerzhakov - Russia |
| 4 | Owen - England |
| 3 | Arshavin - Russia |
| 3 | Gerrard - England |
| 3 | Naumoski - F.Y.R. Macedonia |
| 3 | Sedloski - F.Y.R. Macedonia |
| 3 | Srna - Croatia |
| 3 | Sychev - Russia |
| 2 | Barda - Israel |
| 2 | Ben Shushan - Israel |
| 2 | Benayoun - Israel |
| 2 | Bystrov - Russia |
| 2 | Defoe - England |
| 2 | Kranjčar - Croatia |
| 2 | Maznov - F.Y.R. Macedonia |
| 2 | Pandev - F.Y.R. Macedonia |
| 2 | Pavlyuchenko - Russia |
| 2 | Piiroja - Estonia |
| 2 | Rooney - England |
| 2 | Sahar - Israel |
| 2 | Tamuz - Israel |
| 2 | Wright-Phillips - England |
| 1 | Balaban - Croatia |
| 1 | Bilyaletdinov - Russia |
| 1 | Ferdinand - England |
| 1 | Fernández - Andorra |
| 1 | Gershon - Israel |
| 1 | Golan - Israel |
| 1 | Itzhaki - Israel |
| 1 | J. Cole - England |
| 1 | Klasnić - Croatia |
| 1 | Lampard - England |
| 1 | Lindpere - Estonia |
| 1 | Modrić - Croatia |
| 1 | Noveski - F.Y.R. Macedonia |
| 1 | Nugent - England |
| 1 | Olić - Croatia |
| 1 | Oper - Estonia |
| 1 | Pogrebnyak - Russia |
| 1 | Rakitić - Croatia |
| 1 | Richards - England |
| 1 | Silva - Andorra |
| 1 | Stojkov - F.Y.R. Macedonia |
| 1 | Tal - Israel |
| 1 | V.Berezutski - Russia |
| 1 | Zelinski - Estonia |