Wales have reached their first major finals since 1958 despite a 2-0 defeat against Bosnia-Herzegovina. thanks to Cyprus beating Israel
Chris Coleman’s side had required just one point from their final two Group B fixtures to guarantee their berth at an elite event for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.
They couldn’t do the job themselves at the Stadion Bilino Polje as goals from Milan Djuric and Vedad Ibisevic condemned the visitors to their first defeat of the qualifying campaign.
But in the end Wales didn’t even need a draw to reach next year’s finals in France because third placed Israel’s shock defeat at home to Cyprus sealed their qualification with a game to spare.
Belgium also went through from the same Group B thanks to a 4-1 victory overAndorra.
Wales' Joe Allen (L) vies with Bosnia and Herzegovina's Sejad Salihovic (R).
Stephan El Shaarawy ended a three-year drought by scoring the winning goal asItaly beat Azerbaijan 3-1 to qualify for next year’s European Championship.
After Eder’s opener and an equaliser from Dmitri Nazarov, El Shaarawy finished off a counter-attack in the 43rd for his first national team goal since November 2012.
Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian added another for Italy in the second half.
“Now that we’ve qualified it might have seemed easy but there’s nothing easy,” said Italy coach Antonio Conte, who took over when Cesare Prandelli resigned after the Azzurri’s first-round elimination from last year’s World Cup.
“We’re improving,” Conte added. “Now we’ve got to continue like this, recuperate and honour the qualification by going to Rome and playing a good match against Norway.”
Italy's Stephan El Shaarawy (R) celebrates his goal as Azerbaijan's Maksim Medvedev looks on
Norway took a big step toward qualifying for the tournament in France with a 2-0 win over Malta.
Alexander Tettey and Alexander Soderlund scored either side of halftime for Norway in Oslo.
Norway is seeking its second tournament appearance after exiting from the group stage in 2000.
Italy has 21 points in Group H, Norway is next with 19 and Croatia, which hosts Bulgaria later in an empty stadium, is third with 14. Bulgaria has eight points, Azerbaijan six and Malta two.
The top two finishers from the nine groups qualify automatically. The best third-place finisher also qualifies automatically, while the eight other third-place teams can reach the tournament through a playoff.
Norway is guaranteed at least a playoff spot, although Croatia holds the tie-breaker with a better head-to-head record.
Italy can secure first place against Norway in Rome on Tuesday.
Wesley Sneijder (R) and Georginio Wijnaldum (C) found the back of the net for Netherlands.
Meanwhile in Group A, the Netherlands kept alive its hopes of qualifying for next year’s European Championship by beating Kazakhstan 2-1.
Midfielders Georginio Wijnaldum and Wesley Sneijder scored in either half to ensure the fight for third spot in Group A goes down to the final round of qualifiers on Tuesday. Islambek Kuat scored a consolation goal with the last touch of the match.
“I’m satisfied with this victory,” said coach Danny Blind, who earned his first victory after losing his first two matches in charge.
Already-qualified Iceland squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Latvia.
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