Because England trailed Germany by five points at the preliminary competition's halfway point, finishing first and thus qualifying outright for the World Cup 2002 final tournament seemed far beyond their reach barring some astonishing results in the group's remaining fixtures.  Yet Germany faltered in their next match, drawing away to Finland, before recovering to beat Albania away.  England beat Greece in Athens on 6 June, and although they were six points behind Germany, they had a match in hand.  

Still, England remained highly unlikely to finish first in the group as their 1 September match against Germany in Munich approached.  Germany had lost only one World Cup preliminary match in their history--at home to Portugal in 1985--and then only after they already had gained qualification.  Moreover, England victories over Germany and Albania four days later would only leave them level with Germany on points, and first place would come down to goal difference or, if the two teams were still even by that measure, to number of goals scored.  Germany enjoyed a substantial edge in both goal difference (+8 to +4) and goals scored (13 to 7).  Assuming England victories in their last two matches, against Albania and Greece at home, and a Germany victory in their last match, against Finland at home, a first place finish for England required not only an England victory against Germany in Germany, but also an England goal binge sufficient to overcome Germany's superior goal difference.  So confident were Germany of winning the group that they scheduled friendly matches for  November, when second-place UEFA group teams were scheduled for qualification playoff matches.

England's astonishing 5-1 decimation of Germany turned Germany's four-goal goal difference advantage into a four-goal goal difference advantage for England and put England in control of their own destiny in the group.  Four days later, England's 2-0 win against Albania at home put them level with Germany on points and thus into first place on goal difference.  

As England and Germany awaited their last group matches on 6 October, England had a goal difference advantage of six.  The expected England victory over Greece at home would almost certainly assure a first-place finish for England and relegate Germany to an effort to qualify via the playoff route even if they managed to beat Finland in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen.  But, bolstered by a new German coach and the return of players who had boycotted the national side, Greece outplayed a very poor England for most of the match, and only David Beckham's splendid free-kick goal in the third minute of stoppage time saved England from defeat.  

The huge roar that greeted the England captain's goal was almost eclipsed a minute later when the Old Trafford announcer told the crowd that Finland had just held Germany to a scoreless draw.  England's 2-2 draw was enough; they had taken the group on goal difference by way of two bolts of good fortune, the one Beckham's last-gasp goal from a free-kick dubiously awarded by the Dutch referee and the other Germany's failure to defeat a national side that had not taken a point in Germany since 1923.  Yet England's first-place finish could not fairly be credited to luck.  While the team still needed considerable improvement (and their youth and inexperience in key positions meant it would come), Eriksson's stewardship had turned England almost completely around in nine months and put them in the position where a little bit of luck, long overdue, was enough to put them top.  

Germany had to cancel those friendlies they had scheduled at playoff time.  Instead they met the Ukraine in a home and away playoff series and managed to qualify anyway.   On the first of those playoff dates, Saturday, 10 November, England met Eriksson's homeland, Sweden, in a friendly at Old Trafford arranged in his honour.  The visitors handed to Eriksson an award made in his absence at ceremonies the previous Monday in Stockholm--Sweden's Football Personality of the Year, an honour he won by coming to England's rescue!