Luis Aragonés came in for severe criticism (©Getty Images)

Beset by crises in the early stages, Spain won Group F, while Sweden joined them at UEFA EURO 2008™ as Northern Ireland's dream came unstuck in autumn 2007.

Knives out
Three games into the qualifying campaign the knives were out for Spain coach Luis Aragonés after his side followed an opening 4-0 win against Liechtenstein with a 3-2 defeat against Northern Ireland in Belfast and a 2-0 loss to Sweden in Stockholm. However, the coach was defiant, saying: "Why should I have to step down? When you lose two important games things are obviously difficult, but I've spent a long time in football and dealt with situations like this before."

'Doing our duty'
The press grumbled, but Arangonés stayed put and proved his worth as Spain dropped just two more points in the campaign – a 1-1 draw in Iceland – and qualified with a game to spare following a 3-0 victory against Sweden in Madrid. Aragonés resisted the temptation to play up his side's achievements, though, saying: "Spain have been qualifying for tournaments for many years so this isn't a success but simply doing our duty."

Copenhagen controversy
Lars Lagerbäck's Sweden took second place, although a 2-1 defeat against Northern Ireland ended a run of four straight wins at the start of their campaign. They got back on track in their next match against Denmark although they were awarded the 3-0 win following controversy in Copenhagen. The match was abandonded with the scores level at 3-3 when a pitch invader assaulted referee Herbert Fandel after the official awarded Sweden a penalty and sent off Christian Poulsen.

Three-horse race
Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten wrote: "42,000 spectators were witnesses to Danish football's black day – a day when Denmark's self-image as a restrained and decent football crowd was jeopardised by a fool without self-control." Defeat all but ended Denmark's qualification hopes, leaving a three-horse race between Sweden, Northern Ireland and Spain in the autumn.

Sanchez decision
Under Lawrie Sanchez, Northern Ireland had won at home against both Spain and Sweden to unsettle the top seeds, but the coach's decision to take a club post at Fulham FC proved a turning point. Results did not come in the same manner for his successor Nigel Worthington, and while David Healy was to end the campaign with a record 13 qualifying goals, defeats in Latvia and Iceland saw Worthington's men holed below the water line. They entered the final stages with a theoretical chance of qualifying, but a 1-0 loss in Spain coupled with Sweden's 2-1 win against Latvia meant they finished a distant third.

Standings

Group F	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Spain	12	9	1	2	23	8	28
Sweden	12	8	2	2	23	9	26
Northern Ireland	12	6	2	4	17	14	20
Denmark	12	6	2	4	21	11	20
Latvia	12	4	0	8	15	17	12
Iceland	12	2	2	8	10	27	8
Liechtenstein	12	2	1	9	9	32	7

Group A

• POL (Q) POR (Q)
  SRB/FIN/BEL/KAZ/ARM/AZE

Group B

• ITA (Q) FRA (Q)
  SCO/UKR/LTU/GEO/FRO

Group C

• GRE (Q) TUR (Q)
  NOR/BIH/MDA/HUN/MLT

Group D

• CZE (Q) GER (Q)
  IRL/SVK/WAL/CYP/SMR

Group E

• CRO (Q) RUS (Q)
  ENG/ISR/MKD/EST/AND

Group F

• ESP (Q) SWE (Q)
  NIR/DEN/LVA/ISL/LIE

Group G

• ROU (Q) NED (Q)
  BUL/BLR/ALB/SVN/LUX