Group 1

Sept. 11 in Athens Greece 0 Denmark 0. Greece — Atmatsidis, Apostolakis, Karataidis, Ouzounidis, Kalitzakis, Dabizas, Zagorakis (Alexandris, 77), Georgiadis (Kostandinidis, 46), Mahlas, Georgatos (Franzeskos, 46), Nikolaidis. Denmark — Schmeichel, Tobiasen, Rieper, Hogh, Heintze, Helveg, Nielsen, Wieghorst (Colding, 56), Molnar (Moeller, 73), Schjonberg, B.Laudrup. Att.: 70,000. Sept. 11 in Ljubljana Slovenia 1 Croatia 3. Goals: Zahovic 72; Suker 11, Soldo 40, Boksic 53. Slovenia — Boskovic, Englaro (Srebrnic, 73), Krizan, Milanic (Galic, 46), Rudonja, Gajser (Karic, 46), Istenic, Zahovic, Novak, Siljak, Gliha. Croatia — Ladic, Juric, Bilic, Soldo (Jurcic, 64), Saric, Cvitanovic, Boban, Prosinecki, Vlaovic, Boksic (Kovac, 87), Suker. Att.: 5,000.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Denmark 8 5 2 1 14 6 17
*Croatia 8 4 3 1 17 12 15
Greece 8 4 2 2 11 4 14
Bosnia 8 3 0 5 9 14 9
Slovenia 8 0 1 7 5 20 1
*Denmark wins group and advances to France ’98; Croatia advances to playoff.

Group 2

Oct. 7 in Chisinau Moldova 0 Poland 3 Goals: Juskowiak 23, 53, 57. Moldova — Romanenco, Fistican, Testimitianu, Culibaba (Cebotari, 32), Spinu (Gaidamasciuc 62), Stroenco, Popovici (Rogachev, 62), Sisichin, Miterev, Epureanu, Clescenco. Poland — Klak, Michalski, Lapinski, Jozwiak, Kozminski, Majak, Swierczewski, Iwan, Juskowiak (Bukalski, 77), Kowalczyk, Brzeczek. Att.: 6,000. Oct. 11 in Tbilisi Georgia 3 Poland 0. Goals: A.Arveladze 55, Tskhadadze 70, Ketsbaya 75. Georgia — Togonidze, Lobzhanidze, Tskhadadze, Shelia, Chikhradze, Kakhokidze (Dzhamarauli, 63), Nemsadze, A.Arveladze (Gogichaishvili, 82), Ketsbaya (Kiknadze, 88), Kavelashvili, S.Arveladze. Poland — Klak, Woldosz, Lapinski, Jozwiak, Kozminski, Majak, Swierczewski (Ledwin, 55), Iwan, Juskowiak, Brzeczek, Jelevich (Bukalski 75). Att.: 12,000. Oct. 11 in Rome Italy 0 England 0. Italy — Peruzzi, Nesta, Maldini (Benarrivo, 31), Albertini, Cannavaro, Costacurta, Di Livio, D.Baggio, Vieri, Zola (Del Piero, 63), Inzaghi (Chiesa, 46). England — Seaman, Campbell, Le Saux, Ince, Adams, Southgate, Beckham, Gascoigne (Butt, 88), Wright, Sheringham, Batty. Att.: 81,200.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*England 8 6 1 1 15 2 19
*Italy 8 5 3 0 11 1 18
Poland 8 3 1 4 10 12 10
Georgia 8 3 1 4 7 9 10
Moldova 8 0 0 8 2 21 0
*England wins group and advances to France ’98; Italy advances to playoff.

Group 3

Oct. 11 in Helsinki Finland 1 Hungary 1. Goals: Sumiala 62; Sebok 90. Finland — Moilanen, Ylonen, Tuomela, Hyypia, Koskinen (Rissanen, 82), Mahlio, Reini, Valakari, Sumiala (Johansson, 88), Litmanen, Paatelainen. Hungary — Safar, Mracsko, Halmai, Kereszturi, Lorincz, Lipcsei, Egressy (Dombi, 81), Sebok, Orosz, Nyilas (Horvath, 67), Kovacs (Illes, 57). Att.: 31,617. Oct. 11 in Zurich Switzerland 5 Azerbaijan 0. Goals: Turkyilmaz 13, (pen.) 23, (pen.) 60, Yain 43, Chapuisat 51. Switzerland — Lehmann, Ohrel (Sesa, 46), Walker, Henchoz, Vega, Yakin, Cantaluppi (Zambaz, 74), Wicky, Chapuisat (Kunz, 63), Zuffi, Turkyilmaz. Azerbaijan — Jidkov, Vosenko (Karimov, 44), Abushev, Musayev, Lichkin, Gaysoumov, Gurbanov, Kuliev, Gurbanov, Suleymanov (Tagizade, 76), Sirkhayev. Att.: 4,000.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Norway 8 6 2 0 21 2 20
*Hungary 8 3 3 2 10 8 12
Finland 8 3 2 3 11 12 11
Switzerland 8 3 1 4 11 12 10
Azerbaijan 8 1 0 7 3 22 3
*Norway wins group and advances to France ’98; Hungary advances to playoff. Group 4 Oct. 11 in Vienna Austria 4 Belarus 0. Goals: Polster 3, (pen.) 16, Stoeger 6, 42. Austria — Konsel, Cerny (Ramusch, 75), Kogler, Pfeffer, Feiersinger, Maehlich, Prilasnig (Schopp, 66), Pfeifenberger, Polster, Herzog (Reinmayr, 63), Stoeger. Belarus — Satsunkevich, Lavrik, Stanyuk, Ostrovsky, Makovsky (Rasumov, 83), Orlovsky, Gerasimets, Gurenko, Belkevich (Balashov, 54), Romashchenko, Kultchil. Att.: 48,000. Oct. 11 in Glasgow Scotland 2 Latvia 0. Goals: Gallacher 43, Durie 80. Scotland — Leighton, Burley (B.McKinlay, 89), Boyd (T.McKinlay, 81), Calderwood, Hendry, Dailly, Gallacher, Lambert, Durie (Donnelly, 84), McAllister, Collins. Latvia — Karavajevs, Stepanov, Lobanevs, Zemlinskis, Shevljakovs, Blagonadezdins (Stolcers, 61), Ivanovs, Bledidelis, Pakhar, Babicevs, Jelisejevs (Rimkus, 68). Att.: 47,613. Oct. 11 in Stockholm Sweden 1 Estonia 0. Goal: Zetterberg 24. Sweden — Ravelli, Nilsson, P.Andersson, Matovac, Sundgren, Alexandersson, Zetterberg, Mild (Andreas Andersson, 65), Bloemqvist, Dahlin (Anders Andersson, 79), Larsson (Jonsson, 65). Estonia — Poom, Lemsalu, Kirs, Hohlov-Simson, Meet, Alonen, Arbeiter (Zelinski, 69), Oper, Kristal, Reim, Vilkmae. Att.: 18,702.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Austria 10 8 1 1 17 4 25
*Scotland 10 7 2 1 15 3 23
Sweden 10 7 0 3 16 9 21
Latvia 10 3 1 6 10 14 10
Estonia 10 1 1 8 4 16 4
Belarus 10 1 1 8 5 21 4
*Austria wins group and advances to France ’98; Scotland advances to France ’98 as best runner-up.

Group 5

Oct. 11 in Limassol Cyprus 0 Luxembourg 0. Goals: Papavassiliou 80, Spoljaric 85. Cyprus — Panayiotou, Costa, Pittas, Christodoulou, D.Ioannou, Pounas, Engomitis, Spoljaric, I.Ioannou (Agathocleous, 68), Papavassiliou, Malekkos (Okkas, 57). Luxembourg — Koch, Funck, Thill, Birsens, Vanek, Saibene, Hellers, Theis, Langers (Amodio, 43), Cardoni (Holtz, 75), Groff (Posing, 83). Att.: 5,000. Oct. 11 in Moscow Russia 4 Bulgaria 2. Goals: Alenichev 13, 57, Kolyvanov (pen.) 40, Yuran (pen.) 52; Gruyev 68, Kostadinov 78. Russia — Ovchinnikov, Popov, Chugainov, Tsveiba, Yanovsky, Tikhonov, Onopko, Aleinichev (Kosolapov, 84), Yuran (Veretennikov, 67), Kolyvanov, Simutenkov (Radimov, 46). Bulgaria — Zdravkov, Kishishev, Ivanov, Petkov, Ginchev, Yankov, Zafirov, Stoichkov (Kostadinov, 55), Penev, Iliev (Gruyev, 67), Lechkov (Borimirov, 55). Att.: 20,000.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Bulgaria 8 6 0 2 18 9 18
*Russia 8 5 2 1 19 5 17
Israel 8 4 1 3 9 7 13
Cyprus 8 3 1 4 10 15 10
Luxembourg 8 0 0 8 2 22 0
*Bulgaria wins group and advances to France ’98; Russia advances to playoff.

Group 6

Oct. 11 in Valletta Malta 0 Yugoslavia 5. Goals: Milosevic 8, Mihajlovic 24, Savicevic 44, Mijatovic 55, Jugovic 76. Malta — Muscat, Said (Carabott, 46), Chetcuti, Vella (Busuttil, 57), Debono, Camilleri, Agius, Zahra (Turner, 50), Suda, Brincat, Buhagiar. Yugoslavia — Krai, Patrovic, Vidakovic, Jokanovic, Djukic, Milosevic (Govedariva, 76), Jugovic, Savicevic (Brnovic, 46), Mijatovic, Stojkovic (Drulovic, 65), Mihaljlovic. Att.: 300. Oct. 11 in Prague Czech Republic 3 Slovakia 0. Goals: Smicer 53, Siegl 70, Novotny 73. Czech Rep. — Srnicek, Latal, Suchoparek, Cizek (Lasota, 57), Repka, Svoboda, Nemec, Novotny, Smicer, Siegl (Lokvenc, 80), Bejbl. Slovakia — Vencl, Kozak, Spilar, Tomaschek (Zatek, 86), Kinder, Tittel, Balis, Zvara (Kozlej, 75), Jancula, Uljaky (Simon, 75), Majoros. Att.: 5,048. Oct. 11 in Gijon Spain 3 Faeroe Islands 1. Goals: Luis Enrique 19, 84, Alvarez 25; J.Hansen 44. Spain — Zubizarreta, Aguilera (Ferrer, 75), Santi, Abelardo, Sergi, Hierro (Guardiola, 59), Alvarez, Luis Enrique, Pizzi (Amavisca, 70), Raul, Amor. Faeroe Isl. — Knudsen, Johannsen, J.Hansen, Thorsteinsson, O.Hansen, Moerkoere, Jarnskor, Jonsson, Mueller, Joensen (J.E.Rasmussen, 88), Petersen (J.Rasmussen, 48) Att.: n/a.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Spain 10 8 2 0 26 6 26
*Yugoslavia 10 7 2 1 29 7 23
Czech Rep. 10 5 1 4 16 6 16
Slovakia 10 5 1 4 18 14 16
Faeroe Isl. 10 2 0 8 10 31 6
Malta 10 0 0 10 2 37 0
*Spain wins group and advances to France ’98; Yugoslavia advances to playoff.

Group 7

Oct. 11 in Brussels Belgium 3 Wales 2. Goals: Staelens (pen.) 4, Claessens 32, Wilmots 39; Pembridge (pen.) 52, Giggs 61. Belgium — De Wilde, Deflandre, De Roover (Verstraeten, 65), Staelens, Smidts, Van Der Elst, Wilmots, Van Kerckhoven (Borkelmans, 80), Boffin, Claessens (Nilis, 68), Oliveira. Wales — Marriot, Jenkins, Edwards, Robinson, Ready, Pembridge, Savage (Oster, 90), C.Hughes, Saunders, Hartson (Taylor, 84), Giggs. Att.: 34,000. Oct. 11 in Amsterdam Netherlands 0 Turkey 0. Netherlands — Van Der Sar, Reiziger (Van Hooijdonk, 79), Stam, F. De Boer, Numan, Cocu, Winter, Bergkamp, Kluivert, Seedorf (Bogarde, 70), Van Bronckhorst (Overmars, 54). Turkey — Recber, Yagcioglu (Sagir, 79), Akyel, Ozer, Ozalan, Ercan, Korkut, Havutcu, Sukur, Cetin (Ozdilek 86), Erdem (Mandirali, 89). Att.: 50,000.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Netherlands 8 6 1 1 26 4 19
*Belgium 8 6 0 2 20 11 18
Turkey 8 4 2 2 21 9 14
Wales 8 2 1 5 20 21 7
San Marino 8 0 0 8 0 42 0
*Netherlands wins group and advances to France ’98; Belgium advances to playoff.

Group 8

Oct. 11 in Reykjavik Iceland 4 Liechtenstein 0. Goals: T.Gudjonsson 55, Gudmundsson 59, Gudjohnsen 68, B. Gudjonsson 73. Iceland — Gottskalksson, B.Gudjonsson, Hreidarsson, Sigursson, Gunnarsson, Kristinsson, T.Gudjonsson, S.Sverisson, Gudmundsson, Gudjohnsen, E.Sverisson. Subs: n/a. Liechtenstein — Oehry, Hefti, Stocklasa, Marxer, Hanselmann, Telser, Ospelt, C.Frick, Klaunzer, M.Frick, Schadler. Subs: n/a. Att.: 1,651. Oct. 11 in Skopje Macedonia 1 Lithuania 2. Goals: Shakiri 45; Buitkus 69, 83. Macedonia — Celeski, Sedloski, Jovanovski, Markovski, Nikolovski, Zaharievski, Shainovski, Memedi (Miserdovski, 72), Hristov, Trenevski, Shakiri. Lithuania — Stauce, Zutautas, Ziukas, Tereskinas, Gleveckas, Skerla, Skinderis, Mikalajunas, Slekis (Buitkus, 46), Janakauskas, Preiksaitis. Att.: 4,000. Oct. 11 in Dublin Ireland 1 Romania 1. Goals: Cascarino 83; Hagi 53. Ireland — A.Kelly, Kenna, Phelan (Fleming, 89), Carsley, Breen, Babb, McAteer, Houghton, McLoughlin (D.Kelly, 60), Cascarino, Kennedy. Romania — Stelea, Petrescu, Ciobotaru, Dobos, Galca, Popescu, Selymes, Ilie (Lacatus, 76), Moldovan (Filipescu, 60), Hagi (Dumitrescu, 84), Munteanu. Att.: 49,000.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Romania 10 9 1 0 37 4 28
*Ireland 10 5 3 2 22 8 18
Lithuania 10 5 2 3 11 8 17
Macedonia 10 4 1 5 22 18 13
Iceland 10 2 3 5 11 16 9
Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 3 52 0
*Romania wins group and advances to France ’98; Ireland advances to playoff.

Group 9

Oct. 11 in Hanover Germany 4 Albania 3. Goals: Helmer 64, Bierhoff 73, 90, Marschall 86; Own goal 55, Tare 80, Vata 88. Germany — Kahn, Thon, Kohler, Reuter, Helmer, Heinrich, Haessler, Moeller, Kuntz (Marschall, 72), Bierhoff, Bobic (Tarnat, 60). Albania — Strakosha, Shulku, Xhumba, Fakaj, Tole (Gallo, 79), Halili (Peco, 55), Vata, Kola, Bushi, Haxhi, Tare. Att.: 44,522. Oct. 11 in Lisbon Portugal 1 Northern Ireland 0. Goals: Sergio Conceicao 17. Portugal — Silvino, Paulinho Santos, Helder, Fernando Couto, Dimas, Paulo Sousa, Oceano, Sergio Conceicao (Carvalho, 76), Luis Figo, Joao Pinto, Pauleta (Cadete, 62). No. Ireland — Fettis, Nolan, Morrow, Taggart, Hill (McMahon, 75), Lennon (McCarthy, 75), Lomas, Horlock, Magilton, Hughes, Dowie. Att.: 30,000. Oct. 11 in Yerevan Armenia 0 Ukraine 2. Goals: Shevchenko 31, Maximov 58. Armenia — Berezovsky, Krbashyan (Khodjoyan, 56), Nazaryan, Hovsepyan, Avalyan, Vardanyan, Petrosyan (Avetisyan, 82), Sarkisyan, Makhitaryan, Minasyan (Assaduryan, 46), Mikaelayn Ukraine — Shovkovsky, Dmytrulin, Skrypnik (Starostyak, 70), Koval, Vashchuk, Gusin, Maximov, Kalitvintsev, Gasovsky (Nahornyak, 58), Shevchenko (Atelkin, 82), Rebrov. Att.: 10,000.

Final Standings

TEAM GP W T L GF GA P
*Germany 10 6 4 0 23 9 22
*Ukraine 10 6 2 2 10 6 20
Portugal 10 5 4 1 12 4 19
Armenia 10 1 5 4 8 17 8
No. Ireland 10 1 4 5 6 10 7
Albania 10 1 1 8 7 20 4
*Germany wins group and advances to France ’98; Ukraine advances to playoff.

Playoffs

Oct. 29 — First leg; Nov. 15 — Second leg. ò The eight second-place teams will be drawn into four pairings Oct. 13.