Leading teams take the plaudits

The qualification picture for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship became somewhat clearer on Friday as the latest round of matches took places, with leaders Romania, Denmark, Italy and Croatia all winning while the top two in Group 6 drew. uefa.com rounds up all the action.

Group 1
Romania remained top thanks to a 2-0 win against the Netherlands, with goals from Claudiu Andrei Keseru and Costin Curelea giving new coach Florin Marin a winning start although both sides ended the match with ten men following the dismissals of captains Nicolae Constantin and Robin van Persie. The Czech Republic are still a point off the top thanks to a 3-0 defeat of Finland, Lukáš Magera, a Ville Taulo own goal and Václav Svěrkoš giving the home side the win.

Group 2
Denmark remained in control with an emphatic 5-1 win against bottom side Kazakhstan, with Daniel Agger scoring twice and Leon Andreasen, Michael Krohn-Dehli and Morten Nicolas Rasmussen once each, while Sergei Skorykh scored Kazakhstan's consolation. With Ukraine not playing, Turkey moved second after a comfortable 4-0 success against Albania, Mehmet Topuz, Gökhan Kaba, Ibrahim Akin and Bilal Kisa securing the points. Greece remained fourth after being held 1-1 in Georgia.

Group 3
In the section's only game, Slovakia closed to within three points of leaders Portugal thanks to a 2-0 win in Estonia, with Ivan Lietava and Roman Konecny scoring in each half.

Group 4
France dropped their first points but still stayed top, Julien Faubert giving the French the lead only for Fabrizio Zambrella to earn visitors Switerland a point. Bernard Challandes' side remained top on head-to-head record, with Israel – who entertain the French on Tuesday – joining their rivals on ten points after defeating the Republic of Ireland 3-1, Yaniv Azrane, a Henry McStay own goal and Shlomi Arbeitman completing the win.

Group 5
Holders Italy maintained their perfect record as a fifth successive win in the section, 2-0 against Scotland in Pavia, opened up a ten-point cushion. The goals came in a seven-minute spell early in the second half, Rolando Bianchi heading the first on the hour and Alessandro Rosina adding the second from long range.

Group 6
Roberto Hilbert's late equaliser earned Germany a point in England, a result that left the two teams locked together on eleven points at the top of the table. Stefan Kiessling put the visitors in front three minutes after half-time, but goals from Darren Bent and Dean Ashton quickly turned the match in England's favour and Peter Taylor's team looked on course for three points before Hilbert's 89th-minute equaliser. In third place, Poland's qualification hopes received a boost as goals from Marcin Burkhardt, Piotr Brozek and Pawel Brozek earned a 3-0 win against Azerbaijan while Markus Berger's first-half own goal proved enough for Wales to defeat Austria.

Group 7
Belgium moved to the top of the section in today's only game in Group 7 thanks to a 2-1 win at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina, with Benjamin De Ceulaer and Faris Haroun scoring for the home team either side of half-time.

Group 8
Leaders Croatia maintained their perfect record with a fourth victory at home against Iceland despite falling behind as Ingvi Rafn Gunmundsson put the visitors in front three minutes before half-time. However, the home side levelled quickly thanks to Neven Vukman and Mladen Bartulovic secured the win late on. Sweden remained within three points of the leaders after a 2-1 success in Bulgaria, the visitors recovering from falling behind to Mihail Venkov's 39th-minute header thanks to two goals either side of half-time from Henok Goitom.