Croatia and Serbia stride through

Croatia top
Having beaten Sweden and Moldova, the pair already knew they would compete for a finals place in the spring. Hosting the qualifying round group, Croatia then beat Serbia 2-1 for first position on the final day after Filip Djuričić's opener was trumped by two goals in the last four minutes by Ivan Plum and Matija Mišič.

Duo win
Sweden gave Croatia tough game on the opening day but Frano Mlinar's 49th-minute goal gave the home site victory. Serbia defeated Moldova 5-0 as Nenad Lukić scored on three minutes, Nikola Trujič added another on the half-hour, Djordje Šušnjar struck either side of the break and Jovan Vučinić came off the bench to make it five with 17 minutes left.

Decisive results
Serbia, who played at last season's finals, made sure of their progress by beating Sweden 2-0; Šušnjar opened the scoring on the half-hour and substitute Elliot Lindberg put through an injury-time own goal. Croatia, coached by Ivan Gudelj who led them to the 2005 semi-finals, beat Moldova 3-0. Marko Livaja was brought on after just five minutes for Nikša Petrović and within two minutes he had scored. Antonio Jakolis doubled the lead before Plum made it three after the break. While Croatia were beating Serbia for first place, Sweden defeated Moldova 4-1 to finish third, but both teams are out. Nicklas Bärkroth, Per Frick and Niklas Maripuu scored in the first half for Sweden and after Vasile Curos pulled one back, Alex Nilsson had the final word with five minutes left.