Danes lead six to Switzerland

Tight tussle
A close battle was fought in Group 4, where the top two sides met each other and Denmark held the edge as they beat England 2-1 to progress at the expense of their opponents. England only needed a draw to make the final stages, but Sine Dyrby Hovesen put the Danes in front on the stroke of half-time and Nanna Christiansen doubled the lead after 63 minutes. Lianne Sandersson gave England hope by pulling one goal back with seven minutes remaining, but Denmark held out to book their passage from the mini-tournament in Romania.

Dutch delight
The Netherlands edged out Italy by the narrowest of margins when Dominique Vugts scored the only goal of their encounter to leave the teams level at the top of Group 3, yet it is the Dutch who advance to the finals by virtue of their superior head-to-head record against the Italians.

Swedish success
Sweden came through another tight qualifying contest by seeing off their closest rivals in Group 6, Spain, with a 3-1 victory. Elsewhere, France completed second round qualifying with a 100 percent record thanks to a 2-0 win over Poland. Germany reached the finals after winning 3-0 against the Republic of Ireland and Belgium topped Group 7 to progress after defeating the Czech Republic 2-1.

Russia poised
Holders Russia can book the last available spot with a win or draw against Finland in Israel on Sunday.