Crunch time in Euro 2008 qualifying

Milan, Nov 17: Euro 2008 qualifying reaches crunch time later on Saturday with Italy and England facing the prospect of missing out if results go against them.

A win for Italy in Scotland will put the world champions and France through but victory for the hosts will catapult Alex McLeish's surprise packages into next year's finals in Austria and Switzerland and leave the two World Cup finalists fretting.

The other qualifying spot from Group B would then be decided on Wednesday when Italy entertain Faroe Islands and France travel to Ukraine.

England will be all but eliminated on Saturday if Russia win in Israel. An unlikely set of results would then have to occur on Wednesday to stop Russia and Group E pacesetters Croatia reaching the finals.

Netherlands can join already-qualified Romania in the finals with a home win over Luxembourg in Group G while Norway can secure their spot alongside Group C leaders Greece by beating Turkey in Oslo.

Spain host Sweden in Group F with a win for either side enough to go through. Group A is the most open with Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Finland all having home games against the four strugglers in the section.

Germany and Czech Republic are already through from Group D.

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