Spain close to Euro 2016 - but will Diego Costa be there?

Juan Mata's cross-shot ended up finding its way into the back of the net early on to put Vicente del Bosque's side top of Group C and five points clear of third-place Ukraine, who could only draw 0-0 with Slovakia in Zilina.

Slovakia stay in a good position to qualify for Euro 2016 in France in second place, with three points separating them and Ukraine.

It was another disappointing night in a Spain shirt for Chelsea striker Diego Costa, who was substituted just after the hour mark in Skopje, with his international record remaining at just one goal in nine caps.

In Group C's dead-rubber clash, Belarus saw off Luxembourg 2-0 in Barysaw thanks to Mikhail Gordeychuk's double either side of half-time.

Austria qualified for Euro 2016 from Group G in style with a fine 4-1 win in Sweden, a result which dealt a huge blow to the hosts' chances.

David Alaba put Austria ahead from the spot on nine minutes at the Friends Arena in Solna, before Martin Harnik scored either side of Marc Janko's strike to put the visitors 4-0 up.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted a late consolation, but Sweden risk failing to qualify for France, sitting two points behind second-place Russia and just one ahead of fourth-place Montenegro.

Elsewhere in Group G, Russia strengthened their position in second with a 7-0 win over Liechtenstein in Vaduz thanks to goals from Artem Dzyuba (4), Alexander Kokorin, Fedor Smolov and Alan Dzagoev.

Montenegro capitalised on Sweden's defeat by beating Moldova 2-0 away from home through former Manchester City man Stefan Savic's early strike and an own goal from Petru Racu, leaving them within touching distance of third and just three points off second.

England, already qualified for Euro 2016, saw off Switzerland 2-0 in Group E at Wembley thanks to substitute Harry Kane and a record-breaking penalty from Wayne Rooney, who overtook Sir Bobby Charlton as their all-time top scorer on 50 goals.

But the group's bottom side San Marino made history of their own in Lithuania, equalising through Matteo Vitaioli's free-kick after Fiodor Cernych's opener, their first away goal in 14 years.

But after the minnows had Nicola Chiaruzzi dismissed themselves for a second booking, Lukas Spalvis hit an injury-time goal to give Lithuania a 2-1 victory in Vilnius.

In Group E's other game, Slovenia secured a 1-0 win at home to Estonia through Robert Beric's 63rd-minute strike, leaving them three points behind second-place Switzerland and two ahead of their fourth-place opponents with two to play.

Del Bosque will stand by his man and so he should, but the striker is showing few signs of adapting to Spain's style - well over a year after he swapped Brazil for La Roja. And that is a worry for the Salamanca-born coach.

The good news for Spain is that the six points taken from the wins over Slovakia and Macedonia mean they are now virtually guaranteed a place at the continental competition in France next summer.

On Tuesday, however, they made hard work of it and only triumphed in the end thanks to a Juan Mata goal that looked like a mishit cross. And ironically, the closest they came to a second was another centre from Dani Carvajal which rebounded off the crossbar.

Costa continues to make his runs and does create space, but he is better suited to a counter-attacking system like the one in which he thrived at Atletico. He is also a better fit in the more physical Premier League. In a team famed for its one and two-touch passing and possession philosophy, however, he still seems out of place.

How long Spain can persist with Costa is unclear. In his favour is the fact that there is no real candidate to replace him at this stage. David Villa has retired from international football, while Alvaro Morata has blown hot and cold, Alvaro Negredo's form has been patchy since his return to La Liga with Valencia, Roberto Soldado is well out of the picture, Alcacer remains raw and Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz is suited to a more direct style of football, even more so than Costa.

So time will tell, but Spain certainly could do with a striker to take advantage of their embarrassment of riches in midfield, where Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Isco, Mata, Santi Cazorla, Cesc Fabregas and more are all competing for places in this team.

Silva and Cesc have both operated as false nines in the past and that is another alternative available to Del Bosque - and it may yet be a better one than Costa as centre-forward.

So while Spain took a step forwards on Tuesday, the Chelsea striker went backwards once again. And if he wants to start for La Roja in France next year, he will have to do much, much better than this.