A record-breaking goal by Wayne Rooney kept England’s winning streak going in European Championship qualifying on Tuesday, while Austria qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 18 years by securing their place at next year’s finals in France.
Rooney scored his 50th international goal by converting a late penalty at Wembley Stadium to seal England’s 2-0 win over Switzerland and break Bobby Charlton’s 45-year-old record.
“To be the country’s all-time leading goalscorer before the age of 30 is not something I could ever have dreamed of,” the 29-year-old Rooney said. “I was a bit emotional out there and it’s something to be extremely proud of. I’m happy it’s done and hopefully I can kick on from here and concentrate on the team and our success in the future.”
England had already qualified in Group E. The Swiss remained second and in position to advance despite the loss.
Austria made it to next year’s European Championship with a 4-1 win over Sweden, qualifying for a major tournament for the first time since they secured a place at the 1998 World Cup.
Austria did play at Euro 2008, their only appearance in the competition to date, but only because they were awarded a place as a co-host.
Martin Harnik grabbed two goals for Austria in a dominant display, while David Alaba converted a ninth-minute penalty and Marc Janko also scored. Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck in stoppage-time to give Sweden a consolation goal.
Austria qualify for the tournament in France unbeaten with seven wins and a draw and are already assured of topping Group G.
In Skopje, defending European champions Spain struggled against Macedonia, but earned a 1-0 victory thanks to an early own-goal by goalkeeper Tome Pacovski. Spain have a comfortable lead in Group C, ahead of Slovakia and Ukraine.
In other Euro 2016 qualifiers:
GROUP C: Slovakia remained in second place after a 0-0 away draw against third-place Ukraine. Already-eliminated Belarus defeated Luxembourg 2-0 at home.
GROUP E: Slovenia beat Estonia 1-0 at home, while Lithuania needed an injury-time winner to beat San Marino 2-1 in a game both teams finished with 10 men.
GROUP G: Russia climbed into the second automatic qualifying spot in Group G by beating 10-man Liechtenstein 7-0, with Artyom Dzyuba scoring four goals. Russia are eight points behind Austria and two ahead of Sweden. Also in contention to qualify are fourth-placed Montenegro, one point behind Sweden after a 2-0 win in Moldova.
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