Sweden and Denmark had no issues topping Group 4, and the two Scandinavian outfits are going to the Netherlands.
Sweden coast through
Up until the last two games, Sweden looked unstoppable. 20 goals for, and 0 goals against. All they needed was a point, and they would go through. Their penultimate game was against Slovakia, a team they had previously beaten 3-0.
This game was perhaps a bit more close than Sweden would have liked, but via a 2-1 win, the Olympic Silver medallists booked their spot at next year’s Euros with a game remaining. This proved to be good, as a lacklustre Swedish side, who it was very evident were already qualified, ended their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 loss to Denmark.
Despite the end to the qualifiers not being what Sweden would have hoped for, it has been a strong tournament for them. They seem to have settled on the 4-3-3 formation, and Pia Sundhage has seen a Swedish side that has blossomed after their disappointing 2015 World Cup.
Sweden had an impressive 12 different goal scorers, and the fact that goals came from this many players has been one of the key reasons behind their success. Kosovare Asllani and Fridolina Rolfö ended the qualifiers as joint top scorers with three goals.
Impressive victory sees Denmark get the job done
Other than a draw with Poland - which nearly made things a little too interesting for the Danes- and an expected loss to Sweden, the Danes had an impressive qualifying campaign and showed why they deserve to be at the Euros. The Danes seems to have got better and better with each passing game, with a defence that has only allowed one goal, and an attack that has scored 22.
Those 22 goals have been scored by just four players, but there can be no doubt that Pernille Harder, Nadia Nadim and Sanne Troelsgaard, who have scored seven, seven and six goals respectively, will trouble any defence they are up against at the Euros.
Denmark go into the Euros with a lot of confidence, especially considering that they just beat Sweden for the first time since 2008, and the players have already voiced that they feel they can beat anyone on a good day. They are also aware they need more consistency. If they get a hang of that, Denmark could be a dark horse at next year’s Euros.
Slovakia surprise, Poland not yet there and Moldova end pointless
Many considered Poland to be an outsider in Group 4 who could cause trouble for the two Scandinavian favourites, but in reality they were never really close. Poland did manage to hold Denmark to a goalless draw at home, but got beaten 3-0, 4-0 and 6-0 in the other matches against Sweden and Denmark.
They did end up in third place, but nines points behind Denmark. Their low point came when Slovakia beat them 2-1. Slovakia showed signs of good things to come. They ended up losing all their matches to Denmark and Sweden, but they gave them a good run for it throughout those games.
Moldova were tipped to be the weakest link of the group, and they were. They end the group with no points, one goal for and 33 against.