Group H: England, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, San Marino, and Ukraine
Now this is the most interesting group remaining. Upstart Montenegro is in the lead by two points over powerhouse England. However Poland and Ukraine, which are no slouches on the international scene, are within one game from the top. San Marino and Moldova however, are essentially out of it completely.
Team Played W D L GF GA GD Pts Montenegro 6 4 2 0 14 3 11 14 England 6 3 3 0 21 3 18 12 Poland 5 2 2 1 11 6 5 8 Ukraine 5 2 1 1 6 4 2 8 Moldova 6 1 1 4 3 10 -7 4 San Marino 6 0 0 6 0 29 -29 0 Assuming San Marino's futility continues, this hands three points to Moldova, three points to Poland, six points to Ukraine. Moldova mustered a draw against Ukraine, but has otherwise failed to score a goal against any opponent not from an Italian enclave. They should lose out it's non-San Marino matches, handing three points to each Poland, England, and Montenegro. After those matches, this leaves six key matchups between the final four teams (predicted points in parentheses) of Montenegro (17), England (15), Poland (14), and Ukraine (14). Date Match-up June 7 Montenegro v. Ukraine September 6 Poland v. Montenegro September 10 Ukraine v. England October 11 Ukraine v. Poland October 11 England v. Montenegro October 15 England v. Poland Think of this line up as it's own little grouping while giving Montenegro a slight point advantage. Of course, there is home field advantage for both England and Ukraine. Montenegro defeated Ukraine in Kiev and should hold serve at home, but drew at home vs. Poland and may not be as lucky on September 6. Three points for Montenegro and three Poland for the upcoming fixtures. Ukraine ended up with a draw in London, only conceding a PK goal late in the match and defeated Poland in Warsaw afterwards. Ukraine should walk away with four points, the draw coming against England. England scored two draws against Montenegro and Poland on the road and should turn those two into victories for their final two matches resulting in six points. Using the previous matches as evidence for the second half of fixture or results, England should win the group with 22 points, followed by Montenegro with 20, Ukraine with 18, and Poland finishing off with 17. This is contingent on England continuing their dominant goal differential (21 scored to 3 conceded) and assuming they do not play down to their opponents. Ukraine,
no longer led by goalhound Andriy Shevchenko, has the potential to spoil Montenegro's second place finish if they're able to hold on for the England upset. Will someone be able to fill in Shevchenko's boots? Probably not, but only time will tell if a new young gun will emerge. The October 11th date stands as the most intriguing match date in the group as that is the only day these four face against each other. If the leaders keep their lead and upset the Three Lions in London, confusion will ensue, possibly followed by riots.