The qualifying competition for UEFA's 2016 European Championship in France has brought its fair share of surprises, from the underwhelming performances of teams that excelled at the 2014 World Cup (Germany and the Netherlands), to the remarkable six-game winning streak of Slovakia-a country that has never even qualified for the European Championship in the past. However, perhaps the biggest story of the qualifiers so far has been the surprisingly great campaign of the England national football team. But can England remain unbeaten throughout the Euro 2016 qualifying tournament?
Indeed, if you had predicted that England would be looking at an undefeated run in the Euro qualifiers a year ago, you wouldn't have gotten much support. The Three Lions were coming off their single worst World Cup performance ever, a 26th place finish that ranked the Brits as one of the worst soccer teams in the entire tournament.
The 2014 World Cup Fiasco
In 2014, England were eliminated from the World Cup after just two games, losing their first to Italy (1-2) and their second to Uruguay (1-2) en route to a bottom-of-the-barrel finish in Group D. A scoreless draw in game three against Costa Rica-the group's top team-was a slight improvement, but still left the Three Lions with just one point (and a goal difference of -2) for the three-game group stage.
The 2016 European Qualifiers
Since entering the qualifying competition for the 2016 European Championship, though, the wearers of the England soccer jersey have looked like a different football team entirely. Drawn into qualifying Group E, the Three Lions got off to a rocket start in fall 2014, beating Switzerland 2-0 in a September 8th away match to start a new page.
From there, things only got better for the England national football team. They took the top of the Group E table decisively on October 9th, crushing San Marino decisively (5-0) in front of 55,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. Wins against Estonia (1-0) and Slovenia (3-1), and by the end of 2015, the English soccer squad were on top of the world, leading Group E with 12 points, 11 goals scored, and only one goal allowed.
2016 has been just as kind to the Three Lions. On March 27th, they won another huge victory at Wembley, this time they best Lithuania 4-0. The game featured goals from four of the Premier League's brightest talents (Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Raheem Sterling, and Harry Kane), and was a reminder that English soccer is still quite strong.
England faced their toughest challenge yet of the qualifiers on June 14th, beating Slovenia 3-2 in an away game. Slovenia were actually leading at halftime, but England's Jack Wilshere turned the tables with a brace in the second half. A goal from Slovenia's Nejc Pecnik at the 84-minute mark looked like it would put an end to England's perfect qualifying record, but Rooney saved the day and kept the winning streak alive with a goal of his own just two minutes later.
Four Games to Go: Can the Streak Continue?
At very least, the Three Lions shouldn't have issue with their next qualifying fixture, set to be played on September 5th in San Marino. England have never failed to beat San Marino in a head-to-head match, and they won't start losing now, with so much momentum on their side.
England's toughest game will be their September 8th match against Switzerland. The Swiss are ranked second in Group D, but the Three Lions still have the edge since they'll be playing with the home field advantage at that game. The same goes for their October 9th fixture against Estonia.
As for England's 10th and final qualifying game-an October 12th away match against Lithuania-if the Three Lions beat Lithuania 4-0 in March, they probably won't have trouble winning once again in October.
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Can England Remain Unbeaten in the Euro 2016 Qualifying Competition
August 27, 2015