England have already booked their place in the finals of the European Championships to be held in France next year, and that confidence showed as they notched another win in the Euro 2016 Qualifiers. The Three Lions recorded a 2-0 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday, but more than the win, it was England skipper Wayne Rooney who stole the limelight by writing his name in the history books.
The Manchester United forward notched his 50th goal for the national team, and got past Sir Bobby Charlton's existing tally of 49 goals, to become the highest goalscorer for England. Following eight wins from the same number of games, Roy Hodgson' side are as many as nine points ahead of second-placed Switzerland in Group E.
Nine matches were played on the day between teams from Group C, Group E and Group G. Austria have also already sealed their berth to Euro 2016 from Group G, while defending European champions Spain remain the leaders in Group C. They have to wait for at least one more match to seal their entry to the Euro finals.
Below is a roundup of the games from Tuesday:
GROUP C
FYR Macedonia 0-1 Spain
Spain got the full three points in Skopje, thanks to Macedonia custodian Tome Pacovski' own goal in the 8th minute of the game.
David de Gea was the Spain goalkeeper on the day, with the custodian playing his first competitive game of the 2015-16 season. Nevertheless, he enjoyed an untroubled outing and earned the clean sheet for his side.
Spain currently lead the table with 21 points, just two ahead of Slovakia, who recorded a goalless draw against Ukraine on Tuesday.
Other Games of the Group: Slovakia 0-0 Ukraine, Belarus 2-0 Luxembourg
Standings after eight games: Spain – 21, Slovakia – 19, Ukraine – 16
GROUP E
England 2-0 Switzerland
The England strikers had the last laugh on the night, as both Harry Kane and Rooney registered themselves on the scoresheet to eke out a comfortable victory against the Swiss.
The Tottenham star drew first blood for the home side at Wembley in the 67th minute of the game, as he converted Luke Shaw's cross. England skipper Rooney converted his penalty later in the 84th minute to clinch a personal record in an English jersey, and also lead England to eight wins from eight matches in Euro qualifiers.
Switzerland remain second in the Group with 15 points.
Other Games of the Group: Slovenia 1-0 Estonia, Lithuania 2-1 San Marino
Standings after eight games: England – 24, Switzerland – 15, Slovenia – 12
GROUP G
Sweden 1-4 Austria
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal at the death for the hosts proved to be futile as the away side had done all the damage earlier in the game at the Friends Arena in Sweden on Tuesday. Austria have already qualified from the group, and the battle is now between Sweden and Russia to be the second team to seal the direct berth to the Euro 2016.
David Alaba drew first blood for the visitors in the ninth minute, after converting his penalty, and Martin Harnik's brace, as well as Marc Janko' goal ensured a comfortable day for the group leaders. The loss took Sweden to third position in the group, while Russia are second.
Russia demolished Liechtenstein in an away game yesterday, as they won by a whopping 7-0 scoreline. Artem Dzyuba scored as many as four times for Russia, and Aleksandr Kokorin, Fedor Smolov, as well as Alan Dzagoev also scored one apiece to record the emphatic win.
Other Games of the Group: Liechtenstein 0-7 Russia, Moldova 0-2 Montenegro
Standings after eight games: Austria – 22, Russia – 14, Sweden – 12
