An 89th minute goal sends Turkey to Euro 2016

Turkey qualified for UEFA Euro 2016 finals to be held in France on Tuesday night with a 1-0 victory over Iceland.

Players on both sides of tonight’s Euro 2016 qualifying clash between Iceland and Turkey will be wearing black armbands as a tribute to the victims of Saturday’s terrorist attack in Ankara.

The Dutch needed to beat the already-qualified Czech Republic in Amsterdam and hope Turkey lost at home to already-qualified Iceland in Konya to salvage third place in Group A and a spot in next month’s play-offs. The Turks edged Hungary for the best third-place finish.

Goals from Pavel Kaderabek and Josef Sural stunned the hosts in the first half, and the game was over when substitute Robin van Persie headed into his own net in the 66th minute.

Turkey coach Fatih Terim praised his younger players after securing Euro 2016 qualification with the best record of all third-placed teams.

The Turks, who finished with 10 men after midfielder Gokhan Tore was shown a straight red card after 77 minutes for a shocking challenge on Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, had to wait until the 89th minute for Inan to score from 25 metres.

Elsewhere, Croatia clinched qualification from Group H as a 1-0 win in Malta allowed them to snatch second place in the section behind Italy at the expense of Norway.

Belgium ensured they finished the campaign as Group B winners – Dries Mertens, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard on target in a 3-1 victory that ended Israel’s play-off hopes – while Gareth Bale scored his seventh of the campaign as second-placed Wales beat Andorra 2-0 in Cardiff.

Haris Medunjanin (two) and Milan Djuric were on the mark for the visitors with Constantinos Charalambidis and Nestoras Mitidis responding for Cyprus.