Pick of the Week of Football

There have been nearly 130 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers played so far and you can watch highlights of them all: or see the pick of this week's games in the players below.

Team: Croatia
Croatia began Saturday top of Group H but knew they would be third by close of play if they lost to Norway and Italy beat Bulgaria.  Instead, a Luka Modrić-inspired Croatian side powered to a 5-1 win in Zagreb, prompting Ivan Rakitić to tell UEFA.com: "After a 5-1 victory over a team like Norway, it would be strange to be disappointed so we have to be happy. We'll enjoy this for a while." To make matters even better, Italy were held 2-2 in Bulgaria, leaving Croatia two points clear as they prepare to welcome the Azzurri in June.

Player: Gareth Bale (Wales)
If Bale's emergence as a world-class forward has had a transformative effect on Wales, the Real Madrid CF man was the inspiration behind Saturday's 3-0 Group B triumph away to Israel, who had not previously dropped a point. Bale's header made the first for Aaron Ramsey and he scored the next two himself, including an unsavable free-kick. 

With the principality level on points at the group summit with Belgium, a first UEFA EURO qualification is in sight for Wales and manager Chris Coleman, who said: "For every player that comes to the team, he is the inspiration. We know what he can give to us and he is the kind of guy that will never fail you." Bale modestly added: "I've heard everything people said about me but my main concern is to represent Wales with honour."

Goal: Lee Casciaro (Gibraltar)
It may not have been the week's most spectacular effort, and it was only the equaliser in a Group D qualifier his team would lose 6-1, but Casciaro's 19th-minute breakaway strike in Scotland was the one goal from this set of qualifiers guaranteed a place in the history books.

Casciaro's effort was the first competitive goal scored by Gibraltar, attheir fifth attempt. It completes a rare double for the Lincoln Red Imps FC forward, who also got his nation's second futsal competition goal in a UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 qualifier against Montenegro in January 2013. Joseph Chipolina, who notched the first in that match, also started at Hampden Park on Sunday.

Number: 46 - Steven Fletcher (Scotland)
Scotland's victory was inspired by three goals from 28-year-old centre-forward Fletcher, the first hat-trick for his country since Colin Stein in 1969, a mere 46 years ago. "I only realised after the game that I'm the first Scottish player to do that in so long," Fletcher told UEFA.com after breaking his own six-year drought for a second (third and fourth) Scotland strike. "That was a shock. I wondered if Shaun Maloney [who scored two penalties in the first half] might get there first, but a few of the lads came up after my second and said, 'Go on, make sure you get the match ball.'"

Perfection: England & Slovakia
Just two sides still have perfect records of five wins from five at the halfway point of qualifying – and not necessarily the most obvious candidates. Slovakia have never qualified for a UEFA European Championship since the split from the Czech Republic, yet they look well set in Group C where Spain have been among their victims.

England have recovered from a disappointing FIFA World Cup in style, being on course for their first flawless qualification campaign since the 1954 World Cup preliminaries (which consisted of them winning all three Home International Championship fixtures). On top of that, six-goal Danny Welbeck is the European Qualifiers' leading marksman, Wayne Rooney is two away from matching Sir Bobby Charlton's England record of 49 and in Friday's 4-0 Group E thrashing of Lithuania, Harry Kane struck 79 seconds after coming off the bench for his debut.

Photo: Not a bad Italy debut for Éder with his late equaliser to grab a crucial point in Bulgaria

©Getty Images

Next time:
Not many would have predicted Iceland against the Czech Republic, Wales versus Belgium, and Northern Ireland against Romania as potential group deciders. But all are – as are the trips of Italy to Croatia and England to Slovenia.

Highlights
Friday 12 June: 20.45CET – Iceland v Czech Republic, Wales v Belgium, Croatia v Italy
Saturday 13 June: 18.00CET – Republic of Ireland v Scotland; 20.45CET – Northern Ireland v Romania
Sunday 14 June: 18.00CET – Slovenia v England; 20.45CET – Belarus v Spain