Going into their final games of the group stage, neither England’s Ethan Nwaneri nor Denmark’s Chido Martin Obi were assured of a place in the knockout rounds.
Denmark had beaten Wales and drawn with Croatia in their first two games, putting them on four points with a game to go.
But a Denmark defeat combined with a Croatia victory would have seen them eliminated in third place.
It briefly appeared that could happen, with Denmark going 2-0 down to Austria in the opening half hour and Croatia going 1-0 up.
Fortunately, Wales rallied to draw 1-1 with Croatia, ensuring Denmark’s eventual 4-0 defeat on the day didn’t matter. Wales and Arsenal’s Brayden Clarke had already been eliminated, but they gave Martin Obi a helping hand.
As for England, the team had won 4-0 in their opening game against France, before losing 4-1 to Portugal, so they need a win to guarantee progression.
Nwaneri was on the scoresheet as England won 3-1, poking the ball under the onrushing goalkeeper to secure the victory in the 85th minute. The highlights are available here.
It was a close thing, with France winning 2-1 against Portugal to put all three teams on six points. England’s convincing win over France helped them to finish second in the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Denmark will now face the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals on May 29th at 15:30 BST, whilst England will play Italy on May 30th at 18:30 BST.
Should both teams win, they’ll then face each other in the semi-finals.
U17 Euros Quarter-Finals
- 29th May, 15:30 – Czechia vs Denmark
- 29th May, 18:00 – Austria vs Serbia
- 30th May, 16:00 – Portugal vs Poland
- 30th May, 18:30 – Italy vs England
Times in BST