How Portugal qualified into the play-offs
It took a bit of miracle for Portugal to make it to this stage and ultimately stand the chance of reaching the finals of the World Cup in South Africa next summer.
The battle for the second spot went all the way down to the final moments in Group A.
On match-day 9, Sweden’s loss to Denmark suddenly put the 2004 European championship finalists in a better position to qualify at the expense of the Swedes. It meant that two victories out of two games would lift Portugal onto second in the six-team table and therefore put them in the play-offs.
Indeed, the Portuguese took all of their chances with a 3-0 win against Hungary and a 4-0 triumph over Malta on home soil.
The 2006 World Cup semi-finalists finished the campaign with 19 points – just two behind the group’s leaders Denmark.
How Bosnia Herzegovina qualified into the play-offs
Bosnia Herzegovina qualified from Group 5 with 19 points, just like Portugal, but they were eleven points behind the 2008 European champions Spain who kept a perfect record throughout the entire World Cup qualification campaign.
Despite ending the qualifiers with a 5-2 defeat on home soil against La Furia Roja, Bosnia Herzegovina qualified for the play-offs with four points above Turkey.
Actually, Bosnia had drawn 1-
