Italy sealed its place in Euro 2012 thanks to a late 1-0 win over Slovenia while the Netherlands and England both claimed victories yesterday to close in on next year's finals in Ukraine and Poland.

Substitute Giampaolo Pazzini scored in the 85th minute to give Italy the win and qualification with two matches to spare.

Italy had created numerous chances but was unable to find the target until Pazzini took a pass from Claudio Marchisio and beat goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic with an angled shot from six meters.

The qualification comes little more than a year after Italy's embarrassing first-round elimination from the World Cup, with new coach Cesare Prandelli having infused fresh energy into the squad after replacing Marcello Lippi.

Italy holds an insurmountable eight-point lead over Serbia in Group C.

The Azzurri have 22 points, Serbia 14, Estonia 13, Slovenia 11, Northern Ireland nine and the Faeroe Islands four.

With the stands half-empty at the Artemio Franchi stadium, the atmosphere was stale until Pazzini's goal. Fellow substitute Mario Balotelli then nearly doubled the lead with two more chances in the final five minutes as the crowd finally grew to life.

With seven wins and a draw in qualifying, Italy has allowed just one goal – to Sergei Zenjov during Italy's 2-1 win over Estonia a year ago in its first qualifier under Prandelli.

At the start, Italy took the initiative immediately with a shot from Giuseppe Rossi after just 25 seconds that Slovenia goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic blocked.

Montolivo then missed a header wide in the third minute following a perfect cross from Federico Balzaretti, and Daniele De Rossi shot wide in the sixth after collecting a through ball from Montolivo.

While Slovenia struggled to organize its attack, Italy threatened again in the 18th when Antonio Cassano set up Rossi in the center of the area, but the United States-born forward shot wide.

Slovenia's first scoring chance didn't come until the 20th, when Dare Vrsic sent a powerful shot toward the target that Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon did well to block.

Slovenia captain Robert Koren, who plays for Hull City in England, had his squad's second chance in the 36th with another long shot that Buffon dived to push away, and teammate Andraz Kirm had a similar attempt four minutes later that Buffon had an easier time handling.

With Italy's previous attempts inside the area having come up short, Cassano also shot from outside the area in the 42nd, skimming the ball over the bar.

Neither side threatened much at the start of the second half and Prandelli made a change in attack in the 61st, replacing Cassano with Pazzini.

The Azzurri had three consecutive chances in the 68th but wasted all of them.

First, De Rossi failed to convert from close-range after a corner, then none of the Azzurri could knock in the rebound and finally Rossi shot high.

Slovenia forward Milivoje Novakovic inexplicably failed to collect a through ball all alone behind Italy's defense in the 71st and Mario Balotelli came on for Montolivo in the 75th for Italy's final assaults – which turned out to be productive.

The 2006 world champions join already-qualified Germany in the finals, while Spain became the third team through with a devastating win on Liechtenstein in Group I.

The Netherlands maintained its perfect record in Group E with a 2-0 victory in Finland but still need a point to guarantee first place, like England, which beat Wales 1-0 through Manchester United winger Ashley Young's goal.

Young scored from Stewart Downing's cross in the 35th minute to put England six points clear at the top of Group G.

But the performance from Fabio Capello's side – fourth in the FIFA rankings – was far from convincing against the team 117th in the world.

Robert Earnshaw squandered a golden chance to equalise in the 77th, missing an open net from six metres for Wales, which is bottom of the group.

England will still secure a spot at Euro 2012 with at least a draw at second-place Montenegro in its last qualifier on 7 October.

It was a strong finish from Wales after a cautious start to the match by England, which had coasted to a 2-0 victory in Cardiff in March but had not won its last four home matches.

Capello sprung a surprise by recalling midfielder Frank Lampard to the starting lineup to earn his 89th cap after being reduced to a substitute's role in the 3-0 victory in Bulgaria on Friday.

But there was little of the dynamism shown in Sofia by England, which struggled to impose itself on Speed's initially defense-minded side.

It was symptomatic of a team that struggles to impress on home soil.

In the opening 30 minutes, John Terry flashed a header wide from Young's corner and Downing skewed the ball over from close range.

There was little service for Wayne Rooney, who netted twice on Friday but has not scored at home for England since September 2009 against Croatia in 2010 World Cup qualifying.

In the first half, he was reduced to tracking back inside to try to gain the ball.

And it was former Aston Villa teammates who combined to break the deadlock.

Downing went past Joe Ledley on the right flank before dragging the ball back from the byline. Young, who was unmarked six metres from goal, swept the ball inside Wayne Hennessey's near post to net his third England goal.

A cross from Young floated into the box five minutes later, but Rooney couldn't get a touch.

England was more assertive briefly at the start of the second half, with Lampard lifting the ball over on the hour from the edge of the area.

But when Hennessey dropped a free kick from Downing, Gary Cahill could only scoop the bouncing ball over.

And there was a nervy end for the hosts as they clung on to the three points, with Earnshaw's miss and England goalkeeper Joe Hart finally called into action by blocking Chris Hunter's close-range strike with 10 minutes to go.

Capello will be hoping this is his last competitive home game as England manager. If there is another it will mean England has not topped Group G and will have to contest a November playoff to reach the finals in Poland and Ukraine.