SCOTLAND failed in their bid for an unlikely Euro 2012 playoff spot after losing 3-1 to Spain in Alicante tonight.
The Spanish, who had already easily won Group I, dominated the early exchanges and David Silva gave the hosts the lead by firing under goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
Scottish hopes were now pretty much in the hands of Lithuania who were at home to the Czech Republic but, here also, matters went against Craig Levein's men.
Michal Kadlec gave the Czechs the lead from the penalty spot and, by half time, Scotland were effectively out of Euro 2012, going 2-0 behind to another Silva goal while the Czechs led by three.
It was to the Scots' credit then that they fought valiantly in the second half even though they fell further behind when Silva set up David Villa for his 50th international goal.
Blackburn Rovers' David Goodwillie pulled a goal back with his first touch from the penalty spot while, hundreds of miles away, another penalty by Darvydas Sernas also reduced Lithuania's deficit to 3-1.
But confirmation that it was the Czechs - and not Scotland - who would make it through came when Kadlec scored his second spot-kick of the night to make it 4-1 in Vilnius.
Holders Spain thus finished top of Group I with a 100% record with the Czech Republic in second but the Spanish were not the only team with a perfect record.
Euro 2008 runners-up Germany matched that achievement with 10 wins out of 10 in Group A as they easily beat playoff hopefuls Belgium 3-1 in Duesseldorf.
Mesut Oezil and André Schuerrle struck late in the first half before Mario Gomez added another goal just after the restart. Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini scored a consolation goal back for the visitors after 86 minutes.
The Belgians' defeat let in Guus Hiddink's Turkey for the runners-up spot after Burak Yılmaz scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan in Istanbul.
Russia sealed their expected qualification from Group B with a 6-0 thumping of Andorra leaving Republic of Ireland and Armenia to slug it out for a playoff place.
The Irish won the race but only after a dramatic night at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Almost two years on from Thierry Henry's handball in the 2010 World Cup qualifying playoffs, this time Lady Luck smiled on Ireland in two quick successive handball incidents.
West Brom striker Simon Cox appeared to take down a long ball with his hand before his attempted lob was saved by the chest of Armenian keeper Roman Berezovski.
Extraordinarily, Berezovksi received a red card for illegally denying a goalscoring opportunity and it got worse for Armenia before half time.
For Ireland went 1-0 up, not through their own effort but following an own goal from Gevorg Ghazaryan who poked into his own net when it was just as easy to clear the ball for a corner.
After the break, Giovanni Trapattoni's men put themselves in an even better position when Richard Dunne bundled home from close-range.
But the Armenians, who were top scorers in the group with 22 goals, hit back straightaway as Henrik Mkhitaryan took advantage of slack marking to hit a low shot past Shay Given.
If Armenia had been the group's livewires, then the Irish had been the stalwarts and that was the first goal that Ireland had conceded in more than eight international matches.
Trapattoni's perfected catenaccio ensured this would be their only defensive lapse and Ireland will now contest their sixth playoff since 1996.
By contrast, Estonia have made it into their first playoff without playing after Slovenia outdid their Balkan rivals Serbia with a 1-0 win in Group C.
Slovenia, who had nothing to play for, scored on the stroke of half-time through Dare Vrsic before Serbian skipper Nemanja Vidic had a second-half penalty saved by Samir Handanovic.
Serbia's defeat left them a point behind Estonia who completed their programme on Friday with their second successive win over Northern Ireland.
Those defeats brought the resignation of Nigel Worthington's whose reign bowed out on a low note with a 3-0 defeat to runaway leaders Italy in Pescara.
Milan striker Antonio Cassano scored goals either side of half time before a late own goal by Gareth McAuley left Worthington with just two wins in his last 24 matches.
In competitive games overall, Worthington oversaw only eight wins in 26 games and his record was simply not good enough in the end - even for a wee country.
While Estonia had exceeded expectations by making a playoff from Group C, Bosnia-Herzegovina were trying to go one better this evening by beating France in Paris to top Group D.
The shock looked on when Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko gave the lead to the visitors just before half time.
But the French got out of jail with just 12 minutes left when Dzeko's club mate Samir Nasri scored from the spot having been tripped himself by Emir Spahic.
Laurent Blanc's side finished on 21 points, a point clear of Bosnians who nonetheless still harbour hopes of a place in a major tournament as an independent nation for the first time, despite not being seeded in the playoffs.
Group E runners-up Sweden have no such concerns after depriving Netherlands of a 100% record by beating them in the final qualifier in Stockholm.
Kim Kallstrom gave the Swedes an early lead before the Dutch hit back either side of half-time through Klass-Jan Huntelaar and Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt.
But Sweden knew that a win would qualify them automatically as the best-runner up in the nine groups and Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson scored a second goal in a week before Ola Toivonen hit the winner a minute later.
There was an even more dramatic finish in Group F as Euro 2004 champions Greece came from behind to beat Georgia and seal a place in the finals.
It all looked like going wrong for Fernando Santos' men after David Targamadze gave Termuri Ketsbaia's Georgians the lead while Croatia led 2-0 at home to Latvia in Rijeka.
However, Giorgos Fotakis scored a vital equaliser with 10 minutes left, rendering the Croats' result irrelevant, before Angelos Charisteas made sure there would be no Greek tragedy in Tblisi. Slaven Bilic's Croatia will contest the playoffs.
And finally, the biggest upset of the night came in Copenhagen where Denmark beat Portugal 2-1 to win Group H and consign Cristiano Ronaldo and co to the playoffs.
The Danes' victory was richly deserved after Morten Olsen's men scored a goal in each half through Michael Kroen-Dehli and Nicklas Bendtner to ensure they kept their 100% home record. Ronaldo's stoppage time strike was much too little, too late for the Portuguese.
Group G is only the section not yet mentioned as there was nothing riding on tonight's results with England having qualified after Friday's draw against Montenegro, and with the Montenegrins having made the playoffs.
Nevertheless, it is worth commenting on a third successive win for Wales as Gareth Bale scored his second goal in a week to beat Bulgaria 1-0 in Sofia.
Bulgaria fans boycotted this qualifier and their action comes as no surprise given their team finished bottom with just five points from eight games.
Gary Speed's improving Wales were fourth despite losing their opening four qualifiers, and they were denied third place only because Switzerland took advantage of a disinterested Montenegro team to win 2-0.
QUALIFIED TEAMS
Poland (co-hosts)
Ukraine (co-hosts)
Germany
Netherlands
Italy
Spain (holders)
England
Greece
Russia
Denmark
France
Sweden (best-runner up)
PLAYOFF DRAW:
Turkey v Croatia
Estonia v Republic of Ireland
Czech Republic v Montenegro
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Portugal
First legs played on 11-12 November. Second legs on 15 November.
EURO 2012 RESULTS
11 October 2011
Final group-by-group standings (BBC)
GROUP A
Germany 3-1 Belgium
Turkey 1-0 Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan 0-0 Austria
GROUP B
FYR Macedonia 1-1 Slovakia
Republic of Ireland 2-1 Armenia
Russia 6-0 Andorra
GROUP C
Italy 3-0 Northern Ireland
Slovenia 1-0 Serbia
GROUP D
Albania 1-1 Romania
France 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
GROUP E
Hungary 0-0 Finland
Moldova 4-0 San Marino
Sweden 3-2 Netherlands
GROUP F
Croatia 2-0 Latvia
Georgia 1-2 Greece
Malta 0-2 Israel
GROUP G
Bulgaria 0-1 Wales
Switzerland 2-0 Montenegro
GROUP H
Denmark 2-1 Portugal
Norway 3-1 Cyprus
GROUP I
Lithuania 1-4 Czech Republic
Spain 3-1 Scotland
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