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Europe's leading powers look to restore order in qualifying

LONDON (AP) -- Some of Europe's less-heralded football nations are on a roll in qualifying for the 2016 European Championship - and leaving many of the continent's traditional powers struggling to keep up.

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Heading into the second half of qualifying for next year's tournament in France, few would have predicted Spain would be trailing Slovakia in their group; that Netherlands would be a distant third to the Czech Republic and Iceland; and that world champion Germany would be engaged in a four-way fight for two automatic qualifying places.