Our game by game guide showing how England navigated the rocky road to Germany...
September 4, 2004: Austria 2 England 2 (Vienna)
Worrying start for England. Cruising at 2-0 after goals from Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Austria hit back in the closing 20 minutes as David James was beaten by a Roland Kollmann free-kick and then allowed Andreas Ivanschitz's shot to sneak under his body.
September 8, 2004: Poland 1 England 2 (Chorzow)
Jermain Defoe's first strike for England - a top-class spin and finish - was supplemented by an Arkadiusz Glowacki own goal as Sven-Goran Eriksson's pepped-up team deservedly won in Chorzow. James paid the price for his Vienna nightmare and was dropped.
October 9, 2004: England 2 Wales 0 (Manchester)
Frank Lampard, with a shot which took a nick off Michael Owen, and David Beckham, with one which arched brilliantly into the top corner of the Welsh net, got the goals as England claimed domestic bragging rights. Beckham deliberately got himself booked, fouling Ben Thatcher, after picking up an injury he knew would keep him out of the next game. The booking meant his suspension was used up by the Azerbaijan game, and Beckham won few admirers for the act.
October 13, 2004: Azerbaijan 0 England 1 (Baku)
Captain for the night Michael Owen, in David Beckham's absence, headed the only goal of the game in Baku as England defied driving rain and fierce winds to return with three points.
March 26, 2005: England 4 Northern Ireland 0 (Manchester)
On their first meeting, England swept past Northern Ireland with a deluge of second-half goals. The visitors had been non-compliant neighbours in the opening 45 minutes, but then Joe Cole opened the scoring, Owen added a second, Chris Baird contributed an own goal and Frank Lampard drove home a deflected fourth. | 
