England have become only the fifth European team this decade to qualify for a major tournament with a 100% record, and that’s a good sign for a number of reasons.
In addition to showing the strength in depth at Roy Hodgson’s disposal, the concluding victories over Estonia and Lithuania are a good omen for Euro 2016 itself.
The folks at bwin have looked back at the other European teams to qualify for major tournaments with full marks this decade, and it makes for great reading.
If history is to be repeated, England will make the semi-finals at the very least – that’s what Germany achieved at Euro 2012 after winning all 10 of their qualifying games.
The others to pick up maximum points did even better, with Spain winning the same tournament off the back of a perfect qualifying record, going unbeaten through the tournament proper to boot.
And when you look back to the 2010 World Cup it gets even better for England.
Only two teams made it through the European qualifiers with an unblemished record: eventual finalists Spain and The Netherlands (the Dutch even won all of their group and knockout games en route to the final).
No pressure, Roy.
