Italy qualify for Euro 2016, Netherlands keep their hopes alive

Italy secured their qualification for Euro 2016 with a 3-1 victory in Azerbaijan.

Eder edged the away side ahead in the 11th minute, slotting home after being played through on goal by Marco Verratti, only for the hosts to soon equalise through Dimitrij Nazarov.

However, Stephan El Shaarawy was on hand to convert Antonio Candreva's delivery shortly before half-time, with Matteo Darmian firing home a third -- his first goal at international level -- in the second half.

Badavi Huseynov was shown a red card for Azerbaijan shortly before the final whistle sounded as Italy's place in France next summer was guaranteed.

 Elsewhere in Group H, Norway edged closer to qualification thanks to a 2-0 win against Malta.

Alexander Tettey struck for the home side in the 20th minute and Alexander Soderlund made sure of things with his effort in the second half.

Croatia now have to defeat Bulgaria later on Saturday to keep their own qualification hopes alive, otherwise Norway will be guaranteed a place at next year's tournament.

Netherlands are still in with a shout of reaching Euro 2016 after they saw off Kazakhstan 2-1.

Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring with a well-taken finish from the edge of the box on 33 minutes, with Wesley Sneijder then doubling Danny Blind's side's lead shortly after the restart

Islambek Kuat pulled one back for Kazakhstan deep into second-half stoppage time, but it only proved to be a consolation goal for the home team.

While Netherlands cannot qualify automatically, they have now edged into the playoff place ahead of Turkey, who can move back up to third in Group A by avoiding defeat against Czech Republic later on Saturday.

Also in Group A, Latvia came from two down to claim a 2-2 draw away at already-qualified Iceland.

Kolbeinn Sigthorsson fired the hosts into an early lead, with Gylfi Sigurdsson then adding a second midway through the first half.

However, Latvia launched a second-half comeback with Aleksandrs Cauna pulling one back shortly after the break, before Valerijs Sabala netted the equaliser in the 68th minute.