Omer Golan scored the vital goal which means Croatia qualify for next year's tournament where they will be joined by England if Steve McClaren's side avoid defeat against the Croatians at Wembley on Wednesday.

England needed Israel to repel the Russian to have a realistic chance of qualification and Elyaniv Barda gave the hosts the lead, nipping ahead of his markers and chipping over the goalkeeper from the edge of the box.

Russia hit back and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov scored a deserved equaliser with half an hour to go.

Russia were clearly on top and hit the post before Golan beat the keeper in a one on one in the 92nd minute.

A last-minute header by Christian Panucci saw Italy and France qualify with a 2-1 Group B win over Scotland in Glasgow.

Panucci converted from a harshly-awarded free-kick to dash Scotland's hopes.

Luca Toni put the visitors ahead after just one minute before Barry Ferguson levelled after 65 minutes when Gianluigi Buffon spilled Lee McCulloch's weak shot.

Turkey leapfrogged Norway into second place in Group C after a 2-1 win in Oslo.

Erik Hagen put the hosts ahead from close range before Belezoglu Emre levelled with a long-range shot with Kahveci Nihat then putting the visitors ahead.

Turkey now host Bosnia-Herzegovina while Norway travel to Malta on Wednesday.

Bulgaria boosted their own hopes and prolonged Holland's qualification campaign after they claimed a 1-0 Group G win over Romania in Sofia.

Bulgaria went ahead when Velizar Dimitrov headed in Martin Petrov's left-wing cross.

Daniel Niculae tested Bulgaria keeper Dimitar Ivankov but Romania produced precious little and Dimitar Berbatov missed a great chance to extend the lead.

Finland came from behind to beat Azerbaijan 2-1 in a Group A encounter in Helsinki.

Makhmud Gurbonov put the visitors ahead in the 63rd minute against a dominant Finland side.

However, Mikael Forssell headed a 79th-minute equaliser before Shefki Kuqi headed the winner four minutes from time to give Finland a lifeline ahead of Wednesday's trip to Portugal.

Elsewhere, a late Jason Koumas penalty saw Wales earn a 2-2 draw with the Republic of Ireland in Group D, Moldova beat Hungary 3-0 in Group C, Estonia won 2-0 in Andorra in Group E and Lithuania beat Ukraine by the same scoreline in Group B.

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Germany claimed a 4-0 victory over Cyprus as they vied with the Czech Republic for top spot in Group D.

Clemens Fritz's header gave the hosts a second-minute lead in Hannover, a lead extended by Miroslav Klose's well-drilled shot.

Lukas Podolski and Thomas Hitzlsperger added further goals but they had to wait to see how the Czechs had fared against Slovakia.

Albania went down to a 4-2 home defeat by Belarus in the same group.

In Group E, Macedonia claimed a shock 2-0 win over Croatia, who had already qualified, with goals by Goran Maznov and Ilco Naumoski.

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Poland qualified for next year's tournament with a 2-0 victory over Belgium in Group A.

Ebi Smolarek scored both goals in Chorzow.

Holland also secured qualification after a 1-0 win over Luxembourg in Group G.

Danny Koevermans' 43rd-minute goal proved decisive in Rotterdam, putting the Dutch four points clear of third-placed Bulgaria with only one round of matches remaining.

The Czech Republic beat Slovakia 3-1 to retain top spot in Group D.

Zdenek Grygera opened the scoring followed by goals by Marek Kulic and Tomas Rosicky, with Tomas Galasek's own goal the only score for Slovakia.

Holders Greece, already through from Group C, hammered Malta 5-0 with Theofanis Gekas hitting a hat-trick in Athens.

Denmark's hopes were ended by Northern Ireland after they failed to hold on to the lead given them by Nicklas Bendtner in Group F.

Bendtner struck after 51 minutes but the hosts levelled through Warren Feeney at Windsor Park before David Healy hit the winner with 10 minutes to go.

It meant Healy became the record scorer in European Championship qualification, his 13 goals overtaking the 12-goal efforts of Davor Suker.

It also kept alive Northern Ireland's hopes of qualifying with a win in Spain in Wednesday imperative.

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