As explained previously, Freddie Ljungberg's qualification was 99% certain before last night's matches, and Sweden's 3-1 win over Iceland was far more than required to secure the second of the "best runners up" automatic qualification spots. Freddie played the full game. See this article for the list of the other 7 Arsenal players going to Germany.

The other 2 Gunners that were still in the hunt are still still in it. Jose Antonio Reyes' Spain got a 6-0 win away in San Marino, Jose combining well with Torres yet again. But Serbia and Montenegro did what they needed to, winning 1-0 over Bosnia-Herzegovina to win the group.

Meanwhile back in Frances' group, Philippe Senderos helped Switzerland to a goal-less draw against Ireland, which was all they needed to ensure second place in the group. Big Phil had another very solid game in defence (as against France at the weekend, when he also scored the Swiss's crucial equaliser), which is great to hear what with Sol being out injured.

So, 9 Gunners in Germany and the possibility of 2 more. Jose and Phil await the draw for the play-offs (being held tomorrow), where Spain and Switzerland are joined by the Czech Republic, Turkey, Slovakia, and Norway. The matches will be played on 12th and 16th November. UEFA's seeding system has the Spanish as seeds (along with the Turks and Czechs), so there's a 1 in 3 chance of Jose and Phil being drawn against each other.

Norway won a meaningless 1-0 game over Belarus last night, but Alex Hleb didn't play because of a knee injury the extent of which is yet to be fully assessed.