Fifty one teams set off on the road to Poland and Ukraine in the late summer and it is no surprise to see holders and world champions Spain on maximum points along with Germany and the Netherlands. Russia and Norway, revived by Egil Olsen, have also made a perfect start, while Montenegro have been hugely impressive in their debut campaign.
Group AGermany's four wins included a 3-0 against Turkey in Berlin which featured two of Miroslav Klose's six goals so far. Worse was to follow for Turkey four days later with a 1-0 defeat in Azerbaijan that coach Guus Hiddink described as "one of the worst days of my career". Austria sit second after maintaining their unbeaten start with a 4-4 draw in Belgium on 12 October, Martin Harnik equalising in the 93rd minute.
Group BDick Advocaat's Russia top the section thanks to three away victories, the most recent an impressive 3-2 success against the Republic of Ireland, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Alan Dzagoev and Roman Shirokov securing a three-goal lead before Ireland's belated response. The Russians lost their only home game, 1-0 against Slovakia in September, yet Vladimír Weiss's team subsequently lost 3-1 in Armenia and lie fourth after a 1-1 home draw with the second-placed Irish.
