Technical report

The final was played in Varazdin, 80km north of Zagreb

The first final tournament of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship to be disputedexclusively by players born in the 21st century was also the first to be held in Croatia.

Since the final round had reverted to its 16-team format in 2015, it had been staged at a singlecentre. In Croatia, by contrast, the contestants were split between two centres, with the delegationbased either in Zagreb or in the coastal town of Opatija. At the latter, matches were staged asdouble-headers in either Rijeka or Kostrena, whereas fixtures in Groups B and D were distributedamong four stadiums in Lucko, Velika Gorica, Sesvete and Zapresic.

Once the group stage had been completed, thequarter-finalists gathered in Zagreb and thestadium at Varazdin was brought into play forthree of the eight knockout games, including thefinal. Capacities ranged from just under 1,000 inSesvete to just under 9,000 in Varazdin.

The additional knockout game served todetermine UEFA's fifth representative at the FIFAU-17 World Cup scheduled for October 2017 inIndia. The two beaten quarter-finalists with thebest group records disputed a play-off match in Sesvete, where France narrowly overcameHungary to join semi-finalists England, Germany, Spain and Turkey on the world stage.

It was also agreed to use the tournament in Croatia as a test bed for the innovations proposed by

Introduction

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Tournament ambassador Niko Kranjčar with the trophy

the International Football Association Board (IFAB) with regard to the sequence of penalty kicksduring a shoot-out. The new format was not called into use until the goalless draw betweenGermany and Spain in the semi-finals – the latter winning 4-2 after taking the first penalty of theshoot-out. Spain won the final in the same way though, this time, England started.

Niko Kranjčar, capped 81 times by Croatiabetween 2004 and 2013, acted as UEFAambassador for the event alongside Eni Jurišić,the girl who performed the official tournamentsong.

Eight referees and 12 assistant referees fromnon-participating countries were selected to gainexperience at the final tournament of a UEFAcompetition, along with a quartet of fourthofficials from the host association, including one,as it happened – Fran Jović – who had been selected as a member of the refereeing team at theprevious year's final tournament in Azerbaijan.

As has become the custom in recent years, the tournament agenda featured educational briefingson doping controls and the dangers of match-fixing aimed at players who were, in the main, alsogaining their first experience of a final tournament in a UEFA competition.

UEFA's technical team at the tournament in Croatia was formed by Dušan Fitzel (CzechRepublic), Dany Ryser (Switzerland) and Patricia González (Spain), the latter making history bybecoming the first female coach to act as a UEFA observer at a male tournament. They werejoined for the final by UEFA's chief technical officer, Ioan Lupescu (Romania).

Their observations have been compiled into a technical report which, in addition to providing apermanent record of the event, aims to offer useful information to coaches working at thedevelopment levels of the game.

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Road to the final

Faroe Islands coach Áki Johansen

"Logically, this shouldn't have been possible. When we played France, it was 50,000 against 65million! But the experience has been extremely valuable. A dream. Up till now, our role modelshave been teams like Denmark or Iceland. But now we can use ourselves as role models."

The words were spoken by Áki Johansen who, inCroatia, was bringing down the curtain after adecade in what he described as his "third job".The dream had been converted into reality by theFaroe Islands, who had made history by reachingthe elite round for the first time and had addedanother chapter to the fairy tale by qualifying forthe finals. The somewhat less romantic anglewas that injuries deprived him of four starters andsuspensions of a further two as they took thefield for the historic opener against Scotland.

Although Faroese giant-killing stopped at the Croatian frontier, Group B was, nonetheless, rich insurprises. The first was when Hungary came from a goal down to defeat France 3-2 and the lastwas when Lionel Rouxel's team needed a last-minute strike to win 2-1 against a Scotland teamwho, with 1-1 on the scoreboard, had been within seconds of taking the runners-up spot andsending France home. Hungary, by coming back again to draw with Scot Gemmill's side and thenchiming midnight on the Faroese Cinderella story, took top spot.

The other Zagreb-based group adhered more strictly to the form book. Two-time winners England,in their 12th final tournament, opened against Norway – who were making their debut – andscored all four goals in a 3-1 win that fairly reflected the dominance of their fluid 1-4-3-3 formation

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Ukraine before their Group D swansong against Norway

Jadon Sancho's goal ousted Ireland in the quarter-finals

against Norway's 1-4-4-2. Steve Cooper's team looked equally impressive in a 4-0 win againstUkraine who, having lost their opener against the Netherlands, bowed out.

Kees van Wonderen's Dutch side, after needingan added-time penalty to draw 2-2 with Norway,took on England needing a point to securesecond place. A 3-0 defeat left them exposed toelimination. But Norway, pushing forward for the1-0 win that would have seen them through, werehit by two late goals that condemned them to joinUkraine on the road to the airport.

Down on the coast, the hosts had been drawninto the tournament's 'group of death' alongsideSpain, Turkey and Italy. Dario Bašić's side produced some attractive combinations and wing playagainst Italy but were beaten by a trademark four-pass Italian counterattack. Not having to qualifyhad arguably left them short of top-level experience and they were caught by two late counterswhile chasing an equaliser when trailing Turkey 2-1. The 4-1 defeat spelt elimination and yetanother late goal deprived them of a consolation victory over Spain.

Santi Denia's team had fought back to defeat Turkey 3-2 despite conceding two goals in the first11 minutes. After beating injury-depleted Italy 3-1, the 1-1 against Croatia was enough to securefirst place. Emiliano Bigica's Italy took on Turkey with second place at stake and, although a neatcombination on the right allowed them to restore parity after conceding early, they were sent homeby a rare case of the keeper taking a back pass into his gloves. Turkey's free-kick inside the boxtravelled under a jumping wall and into the net.

Germany were, meanwhile, sailing throughGroup C, scoring an unprecedented 15 goalsand joining France in the competition's recordbooks by beating the Republic of Ireland 7-0 fourdays after Rouxel's side had run up the samescoreline against the Faroes. Bizarrely, ColinO'Brien's Irish squad could celebrate despite theheavy defeat – but only after detailed scrutiny ofsmall print in the regulations. Serbia had beatenthe Irish 1-0; O'Brien's team had beaten Bosniaand Herzegovina 2-1; and, when a last-minutegoal gave the latter a 1-0 win over Serbia, the three-way tie on three points was resolved by therule book in favour of the Republic, who earned a quarter-final against England.

It was a bridge too far for the plucky Irish, who spent most of the game in Velika Gorica pennedinto their defensive third and often deploying the entire workforce in a small area between the balland their net. Despite a massive share of possession, England struggled to pierce the defensivearmour – their only success being a long-range strike by Jadon Sancho early in a match of one-way traffic which ran into a solid jam just short of its destination.

On the previous day, Hungary coach Zoltán Szélesi remained loyal to his 1-4-2-3-1 set-up but

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Turkey celebrate their quarter-final victory

Álvaro Fernández saves in the semi-final shoot-out

shuffled his pack, fielding Dominik Szoboszlai on the left wing before reverting him to a controllingmidfield role after just over 20 minutes. By this time, they were trailing Turkey 1-0, after a partially-cleared corner had led to András Csonka unluckily turning a shot into his own net.

Hungary's construction play was disrupted byhigh pressure from Turkey's front men, obligingthem to play long rather more frequently thanthey might have liked. After a cautiouscounterattacking start, Turkey grew into thegame, putting together neat combinations andlooking more threatening than their opponents.The own goal, however, was the only score ofthe game.

Up in Varazdin, it took France only nine minutesto breach the Spain defence with a fast counter after a high ball-win, Amine Gouiri scoring for theeighth time by beating Álvaro Fernández at his near post. But two high-speed solo runs throughthe inside channels by Spain's full-backs stood the game on its head, Mateu Morey cutting in fromthe right to equalise with his left foot, while Juan Miranda's run on the left culminated in a penaltyconverted by Abel Ruíz during a virtuoso first-half by Denia's charges. When Ruíz's high ball-winallowed Sergio Gómez to round the keeper and make it 3-1 after 56 minutes, France's fate againstthe impressive Spaniards was all but sealed.

Van Wonderen produced a tactical surprise in the other quarter-final by deploying a 1-4-4-2formation against Germany, with the two front men pressing high to disturb construction from theback. The Dutch were good value for the lead they took on the stroke of half-time but struggled tomaintain their momentum when Christian Wück opted to mirror the 1-4-4-2 structure just after thehour mark, switching from his initial 1-4-2-3-1. Germany responded with an equaliser within fourminutes and a winner seconds before the end of normal time.

This earned a semi-final against Spain – a gameof high tactical and technical quality. Spain hadthe upper hand but were denied by excellentgoalkeeping from Luca Plogmann and the onlygoalless draw of the tournament led to the firstexperiment with the new format for penaltyshoot-outs. Spain captain Ruíz, who had struckthe top angle from the penalty spot 11 minutesbefore time, opened the shoot-out with asuccessful strike and, after one penalty apieceagainst the woodwork and a save by Fernández,Denia's team secured a place in the final with a 4-2 advantage.

The other semi-final produced the curiosity of a goal timed at 40+13 – after a 15-minute delaywhen England midfielder Tashan Oakley-Boothe fell unconscious after a collision. The oddly-timedgoal threw a lifeline to a Turkey team that had struggled to stay afloat amid incessant combinationattacks by their opponents.

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However, Mehmet Hacioğlu made clever switches of personnel and team structure to design amore evenly-contested second period which failed to change the 2-1 scoreline but demonstratedthat the talented Turks were worthy of their place in the FIFA World Cup. Spain and England, theteams rated by many pundits as the best in the tournament, were to meet in the final.

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The final

England's Callum Hudson-Odoi (left) and Jadon Sancho

"The equaliser was the winning goal." The comment, made by Sir Alex Ferguson, dates back tothe 2014 Madrid derby in the UEFA Champions League final when, with seconds of added timeremaining, Luka Modrić delivered a corner and the head of Sergio Ramos levelled the score.Atlético folded; Real went on to win.

To equate planet football's greatest club final to a U17 fixture between national teams might seemlittle short of lèse-majesté. But, on a balmy evening in Varazdin, Spain and England offered 8,187spectators a contest which, if offered to the public as an untitled video, could easily have beenmistaken for a top-level adult game.

It was all about high-tempo ball circulation, tightcontrol and neat passing under pressure, tacticalawareness, extraordinary solo skills and, aboveall, attacking vocations. To describe it in a reportof the "and after 18 minutes" variety would be todemean an enthralling spectacle.

But, after 18 minutes, the intensity shifted up agear. Prior to that, it had been an even contestbetween teams who showed profound respect fortheir opponents. After fielding an unchangedteam throughout the tournament, Steve Cooper had to deal with an enforced change after theinjury that had sidelined Tashan Oakley-Boothe.

The winning equaliser

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Right-back Mateu Morey equalises for Spain

Phil Foden celebrates after restoring England's lead

His slot in central midfield was taken by Alexander Denny, with the player flown in from Englandon the eve of the final, Joel Latibaudiere, starting in place of Timothy Eyoma at right-back. SantiDenia remained loyal to the starters who had seen him through the knockout rounds.

Respect was translated into caution as teamswho mirrored each other's 1-4-2-3-1 formationengaged in risk-management, playing neatcombinations from the back through midfield butrarely challenging the opposing keeper. Centralmidfield was kept tight, Jandro Orellanaperforming a crucial defence/attack balancingrole for Spain (until he limped off midway throughthe second half); George McEachran doinglikewise for England.

Suddenly, England struck with one of their trademark moments of magic. Goalkeeper Josef Bursikinitiated the move; left-back Lewis Gibson fed Jadon Sancho on the touchline; accelerating infield,the wrong-footed winger slipped a pass through the inside channel for Callum Hudson-Odoi todribble past Víctor Chust and beat Álvaro Fernández at the far post.

The goal served to convince the Spaniards that they needed to express themselves. Denia, ingrey hoodie and black tracksuit trousers, constantly egged them on from the edge of the technicalarea, with his assistant Luis de la Fuente striding out to control mechanisms at dead-ballsituations.

Spain reverted to the exuberant wing play thathad served them well en route to the final, withMoha roaming high and wide to link midfield withattack and the two full-backs – the Barcelona paircomprising Mateu Morey on the right; JuanMiranda on the left – unstintingly investingcalories in overlapping and underlapping runsand exhibiting their understanding with wingersFerran Torres and Sergio Gómez.

The reward came two minutes before half-time.Moha, wide on the right, fed a pass through the corridor between left-back and centre-back intothe path of a deep run by striker Abel Ruíz, whose cut-back was met by the left foot of Morey,surprising the England defence with a high-speed run through the middle.

Cooper, in the meantime, had been out to the touchline to correct attack-to-defence transitionsand to encourage his players to find solutions to Spain's increasing domination of possession.With Sancho using his mesmerising dribbling skills on the left and the left-footed Phil Fodenworking the inner channels from his starting position on the right, England attacked with menacebut struggled to deliver a decisive final pass. Spain's pressure on the ball-carrier and rapidtransitions into compact 1-4-4-2 defending shut down supply routes and, as the second halfprogressed, Denia's team looked the more likely to break the deadlock.

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Nacho Díaz clenches his fists in celebration

Víctor Chust after converting the winning penalty

That changed, once again, after 18 minutes. Oneof England's two corners was bent in right-footedfrom the left by Hudson-Odoi and, at the backpost, Miranda and Chust could do no better thana partial clearance. Foden, setting himself upwith the first touch and driving a fierce left-footerinto the bottom corner, restored England'sadvantage.

Again, Spain responded with the mental fortitudethey had displayed when trailing in threeprevious matches. They stayed focused and remained unhurriedly faithful to their principles ofcombination play, resisting any temptation to resort to a long-ball strategy. Cooper, visiblydismayed when his goalkeeper started playing long, had to applaud him for saves from Mirandaand Gómez as Denia's team relentlessly pushed forward. Although England's front men continuedto strike sparks, possession belonged to Spain.

In the closing minutes, Cooper removed Sancho, Foden and Hudson-Odoi with a view tostrengthening his midfield, but it was the last of Denia's three changes which tipped the balance.With the clock ticking down, he replaced the extenuated Moha with Nacho Díaz, a striker from CDRoda, a club with an amateur first team in regional football but with 36 grassroots and youth-development squads and a collaboration agreement with UEFA Europa League contendersVillarreal.

The Danish referee, having signalled fourminutes of added time, awarded Spain a corneron the left with the clock ticking towards 86minutes. An inswinging delivery by fellowsubstitute José Alonso caused confusion amidEngland's zonal marking and was met by Díaz'shead. The goalkeeper could do no more thandivert the powerful finish into the roof of the net.Dramatically, 2-2. As soon as England kicked-off,the final whistle sounded.

Bursik, maybe over-burdening himself with blame for failing to save the header, needed to beconsoled before positioning himself between the posts for the immediate penalty shoot-out whilehis shell-shocked team-mates sought moral rearmament.

England scored the first spot kick but after Spain, with the psychological breeze at their backs, hadconverted the next two, Rhian Brewster's shot struck the post and Latibeaudiere's disappearedhigh into the crowd. After Gómez had made it 3-1, the old system would have given England achance to peg back to 3-2. The experimental tie-break format, however, allowed no right to reply,leaving Chust to step up and seal a 4-1 victory for Spain in the fifth of the last six finals to bedecided by a shoot-out.

As the red-shirted players gleefully celebrated their first U17 title since 2008, the white-shirtedEnglish slumped to the turf, unwilling to believe that, even though the team had remained

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unbeaten throughout the qualifying campaign and the final tournament, the trophy had slippedfrom their grasp in the cruellest of fashions. In a final which neither team deserved to lose, anequaliser had been the winning goal.

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Technical Topics

Netherlands coach Kees van Wonderen

"The formation is not that relevant. We have a tradition in 4-3-3 with good wingers, but Dutchfootball has become well known and some people would say that it makes us easy to play against.So the principle is to play good football and to be less predictable."

The comment was made by Kees vanWonderen, one of five coaches who had been intechnical areas at the previous final tournamentin Azerbaijan, along with Bosnia andHerzegovina's Sakib Malkocević, England'sSteve Cooper, Scotland's Scot Gemmill andSpain's Santi Denia. The Dutch succeeded inbeing less predictable, with significant positionalchanges of personnel from game to game and, inthe quarter-final against Germany, a switch to a1-4-4-2 formation.

The Dutch illustrated the tactical parameters of a tournament in which only Bosnia andHerzegovina adhered to a 1-4-2-3-1 structure throughout their three group matches, while Italyremained faithful to a classical 1-4-4-2, albeit with considerable changes of personnel.

All of the other 14 teams made structural adjustments at some stage, with Serbia alone inoperating mostly with three at the back. "The system itself is not that important," France coachLionel Rouxel concurred. "I'm more concerned with the players' knowledge of the game, theirtactical awareness – their ability to adapt to the mechanisms of systems that might be different tothe ones they are used to at their clubs."

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Serbia played with a three-man back line

Zak Rudden heads Scotland level against France

In terms of identifying default settings, seventeams could be said to operate 1-4-2-3-1; five in1-4-3-3 formation; three in 1-4-4-2; and, asmentioned before, Serbia in 1-3-5-2, althoughthey also set themselves up in 1-4-1-4-1formation for the game against the Republic ofIreland. In other words, it was a tournamentwhich refused to be reduced to a simple numbersgame and in which the players, despite theiryouth, were well-versed in more than one playingsystem.

As Van Wonderen and Rouxel maintained, there was greater emphasis on principles than onsystems. Hungary coach Zoltán Szélesi said: "We focused on how we wanted to play – keepingthe ball on the floor, playing combinations in the wide areas."

The low ball gameThe concept of keeping the ball on the floor highlighted one of the salient features of thetournament: only nine of the record number of goals were headers, five of them from set plays andthree of those – Turkey's third against Croatia; Scotland's equaliser against France; Spain'sadded-time equaliser in the final – stemmed from corners. Another was a close-range nod-in froma rebound that gave Germany a fifth goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The lack of headed goals in open play prompted reflections. "On the one hand," said UEFAtechnical observer Dany Ryser, "you could have no doubts about aerial skills in defensive play.But you can also ask whether heading ability in attack is an area that is worked on enough intraining."

"In the matches I saw," Dusan Fitzel added, "youcould detect a trend towards the cut-back ratherthan the traditional high cross from the wideareas."

This interlocked with several other observationson the use of the wide areas during a tournamentwhere wing play was the source of a highpercentage of the goals but where successfuldeliveries were generally nearer feet than headsand many were low cut-backs from areas nearthe byline.

One of the contributing factors was the marked trend towards the use of changed-foot wingers,with England providing a striking example of the tendency via the right-footed Jadon Sancho onthe left and the left-footed Phil Foden on the right. Serbia and the Netherlands regularly fielded'wrong-footed' wingers, while Hungary and Ukraine were among those who switched wingersduring games to mix the change-footed and orthodox approaches. Turkey did likewise, with thevariation that both wingers were left-footed.

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Right-footed Jadon Sancho attacks down England's left

Spain right-back Mateu Morey was an attacking threat

The ins and outsThe Turkish formula showcased the implications of the change-footed winger on the team'smodus operandi. The left-footer operating on the right was the one most likely to cut inside from awide starting position. The prevalence of the wingers prepared to run into the interior channelsopened up spaces for full-backs to exploit – and the tournament was rich in examples of full-backsprepared to make deep high-speed runs right through to the byline and deliver crosses or cut-backs.

Game situations evidently provided conditioningfactors but it would be legitimate to say that tenteams consistently relied on powerful runs andcombination moves by their full-backs as animportant weapon in the team's attackingarmoury.

Without filling screens with an exhaustive list,some of the relationships were noteworthy.France right-back Vincent Collet offered primeexamples of aggressive running along thetouchline, allowing right-winger Yacine Adli to transfer his dribbling skills to the inside channels –sometimes on the other flank – or to probe the opposition from a central playmaking position.Much the same could be said of England right-back Timothy Eyoma, whose upfield runs allowedPhil Foden to drift inside and operate across a broad section of the attacking front.

At the same time, semi-final opponents Germany and Spain provided benchmark examples offluid relationships which went beyond the traditional overlapping by full-backs.

Striking examples are offered by clips of the goals which allowed Denia's team to come back from1-0 down against France in the quarter-finals. Firstly, right-back Mateu Morey produced a high-speed 'underlapping' run to gain space for a left-footed shot. Minutes later, his FC Barcelonateam-mate Juan Miranda embarked on an almost identical underlapping run on the left to earn thepenalty that put his side 2-1 ahead.

Morey then burst through the inside channelagain to equalise with another left-footed finishduring the final against England.

Attacking defenders and defending attackersThe tournament not only showcased theattacking qualities of defenders but also thedefensive qualities required of today's attackers.Spain captain Abel Ruíz and Turkey's three frontmen (striker Malik Karaahmet and the twowingers) were unstinting in efforts to disturb theopponents' build-up while team-mates completed their transitions to the defensive block.

The offensive vocation of full-backs offered counterattacking opportunities through the wide areas– and the top teams were adept at pre-empting penetration along the wings. In the construction

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Lionel Rouxel: Defenders must prioritise defending

phase, the norm was for a controlling midfielder to drop into the area between the spread centre-backs while the full-backs advanced. Centre-backs rarely made upfield runs – the notableexceptions being Germany's Jan Boller and Spain's Víctor Chust, always ready to surge forwardinto midfield.

Spain centre-back Víctor Chust

Many of the coaches in Croatia commented that a high percentage of their work was dedicated toimproving defensive skills in response to the parameters of national championships that are oftendominated by a handful of clubs and, in consequence, offer a limited number of truly competitivematches.

Spain coach Denia remarked "if a team regularly runs up scores of something like 8-0, there's atemptation to neglect defensive aspects of the game".

Ukraine coach Sergii Popov said "my players suffered from lack of experience against opponentsof such high quality, such as England and Netherlands".

"One of the concepts that I work on," addedRouxel, "is the need to be clinical in front of bothgoals and to convince ."

The Dutch address this issue by placing value oninteraction with club coaches. "We realised thatsome struggled to appreciate what is needed atinternational level," said Kees van Wonderen, "sowe invite them to spend a week or so with us atan international tournament and sample it forthemselves."

Them or us?"It was an adult tournament in terms of tactics, ball circulation and creating spaces," Fitzelcommented. "And resources." He was referring to levels of support staff including psychologists,sport scientists and, above all, analysts. The coaches, however, stressed the importance offiltering the amount of information about opponents and focusing exclusively on the key elementsor 'hot spots' as England coach Cooper put it. He summed up the general attitude by commenting

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Spain were 2-0 down against Turkey in their first game

that "we looked at our opponents but only to see how best we could play our own football".

The ultimate goalAlthough the coaches worked on defensive mechanisms, the tournament was not marked bydefensive attitudes. The record number of goals was at odds with the cautious approachesadopted at previous tournaments when FIFA World Cup places were at stake – as the statisticsfrom 2013 and 2015 demonstrate.

"There was a more attacking philosophy," Ryser commented, "because national associationsrealise that this is an important stage in longer-term educational plans."

"For the coach, it's easier to focus on defendingon the training ground," Fitzel added, "but thistournament suggested that there is now a greateremphasis on creativity."

The technical team cited similar reasons for thenoteworthy increase in the number of comebacksfrom 1-0 down. Croatia yielded five (16%)compared with two (6.45%) in Azerbaijan. InBulgaria in 2015, no team had recovered from 1-0 down to win. In 2017, 73% of the games werewon by the side scoring first, compared with 79% in 2016.

"I would say that, in general, one team scoring a goal didn't necessarily change game plans,"commented Ryser. "There was still a willingness to take risks rather than an effort to 'kill off thegame' – something which is positive at this stage of player development."

The trend towards ambitious winning attitudes was supported by statistics. Only five matchesended in draws (three of them involving Spain) and the only goalless game was the penultimate ofthe 32 – the semi-final between Spain and Germany. Spain's outstanding mental resilience wasillustrated by four comebacks in six games: twice to draw and twice to win, including a reboundfrom 2-0 to beat Turkey 3-2.

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Germany keeper Luca Plogmann during the semi-finals

Year Goals Average

2005 48 3.20

2006 44* 2.93

2007 42* 2.80

2008 36 2.40

2009 33 2.20

2010 41 2.73

2011 35 2.33

2012 28 1.87

2013 24 1.60

2014 46 3.07

2015 59 1.79

2016 73 2.35

2017 98* 3.16

*Additional matches excluded

Goals and goalkeepersTo an outsider, the record number of goals might hint at dubious levels of goalkeeping. "Far fromit," opined Fitzel. "What we saw in Croatia was confirmation that the job description has changed,with a much greater emphasis on the keeper's work with his feet."

"In the past," added Ryser, "the Dutch excelled.But goalkeeper education has changed. InCroatia we saw teams who didn't hesitate to usethe keeper to pass the ball. And keepers areincreasingly integrated into training sessionsrather than sent to one end to practise on theirown."

"The general level of shot saving wascompetent," Fitzel remarked. "At first, the lack ofphysical stature was a bit of a surprise and youcould ask if the goalkeepers were good at commanding the goal area. But I think that this is atopic that you can link with the downturn in the number of teams who relied on high crosses."

For the record

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The record number of goals averaged out at 3.16 per game – the highest since the 15-match finalround in 2005. But Croatia was a tournament of two halves with two 7-0 scorelines boosting thegroup-stage tally to 82 goals at 3.42 per match. Only 16 were scored during seven highlycompetitive knockout fixtures.

The 23 goals scored from dead-ball situations (nine of them penalties) signified 23% of the total,compared with 19.7% the previous year. Tournament stats of six successful corners (five in thegroup stage; one in the final) from a total of 252 at a ratio of 1:42 (1:49 in 2016 and it would havebeen identical in Croatia but for Spain's added-time equaliser in the final) might raise questionsabout the value of time spent on the training ground. However, the numbers don't tell the wholetruth.

Phil Foden restores England's lead during the final with a long-range shot

To put the record straight, other goals classified differently also had their origins in corners: theown goal that put Norway 1-0 up against England; the cross that allowed Netherlands to take a 1-0 lead v Norway was a follow-up to a corner; the own goal by Hungary that spelled defeat againstTurkey in the quarter-finals resulted from a corner; in their opening match, Turkey scored againstSpain via a counterattack following a Spanish corner; and England's second goal in the final was along-range finish after a corner had been partially cleared.

Of the goals attributable to corners, seven provided the crucial opening goal of the game; twoshaped the course of the final; one allowed Scotland to equalise versus France; and the other putTurkey 3-1 ahead against the hosts. Technical observer Patricia González commented "it'scurious that all but one of the goals from corners were scored at the near post".

Hungary provided a prime example of thorough preparation of corners, offering spectators fivevariations on the theme during a single match. "Set plays are very important in modern football,"said coach Szélesi. "Our team was not so tall, so we rehearsed for 20-30 minutes at the end ofevery training session, telling them exactly what to do, correcting body positions and so on."

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Turkey coach Mehmet Hacioğlu

Callum Hudson-Odoi after scoring against Turkey

Turkey coach Mehmet Hacioğlu commented "onthe day before a match, sometimes we workedexclusively on set pieces". Serbia's only twogoals both resulted from dead-ball situations.

Defending against set plays took diverse forms,with a majority of coaches – all but four, to beprecise – opting for a cocktail of zonal and man-to-man marking. Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine andNetherlands preferred a zonal approach, withVan Wonderen commenting "as long as youmake sure your best headers of the ball are in the right place, I believe this is the best way".

On some occasions, teams such as England and Scotland used mixed marking at corners butzonal against free-kicks – depending, evidently, on the position of the dead ball.

How the goals were scoredAs in the previous year, 36% of the open-play goals had their origin in deliveries from the wideareas. However, the startling contrast between 2016 and 2017 was the huge increase in goalsderived from combination play: from three to 15, with England's slick combinations in the final thirdaccounting for five of their goals – more than the overall total from the 2016 tournament.

England's opener in their semi-final againstTurkey showcased the ability by Cooper's teamto capitalise on high ball-winning to deliver cobra-like strikes while the opposition was easing intoattacking mode. The technical observers debatedthe exact definition of a counterattack and setabout separating England-style transitions afterhigh ball-winning from fast breaks launched fromthe back. A total of 15 goals stemmed frompossession gained in opposing territory and 17when the counter was launched from their ownhalf – four of them stemming from a set play in favour of the opposition.

Overall, 40 of the open-play goals were one-touch finishes; 16 two-touch; 11 after three or moretouches; and the remainder were headers.

Strikers accounted for 36 goals; wide players 26; central support attackers (from what thetechnical observers described as the No10 position) 11; central midfielders 14; full-backs 4; andcentre-backs 3, all from set plays – two corners and a free-kick, to be precise. The remainder wereown goals.

Nacho Díaz's dramatic equaliser in the final brought the number of goals by substitutes to (only)eight. Finishes inside the penalty area accounted for 87% of the open-play goals.

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CATEGORY ACTION GUIDELINES GOALS

SET PLAYS

Corners Direct from/following a corner 6

Free-kicks (direct) Direct from a free-kick 5

Free-kicks (indirect) Following a free-kick 3

Penalties Spot kick (or follow-up from a penalty) 9

Throw-ins Following a throw-in 0

OPEN PLAY

Combinations Wall pass/combination move 15

Crosses Cross from the wing 16

Cut-backs Pass back from the byline 11

Diagonals Diagonal pass into the penalty box 3

Running with the ball Dribble and close-range shot/dribble and pass 7

Long-range shots Direct shot/shot and rebound 7

Forward passes Through pass or pass over the defence 10

Defensive errors Bad back pass/mistake by the goalkeeper 3

Own goals Goal by the opponent 4

Total 99

Unusually, the goals were evenly split between the two halves, although 21% of them were scoredafter the 70th minute – partly because of the extended periods of added time.

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Minutes Goals

1-10 12

11-20 14

21-30 9

31-40 13

40+ 2

41-50 10

51-60 9

61-70 9

71-80 15

80+ 6

Hitting the targetThe 2017 tournament positioned itself in a sandwich between the previous two in terms of goalattempts: 650 in Croatia compared with 635 in Azerbaijan and 745 in Bulgaria.

A record number of goals from a moderate number of attempts spoke highly of finishing efficiency.Germany excelled, scoring one goal per 3.65; Spain needed 4.9; England 5.4. The tournamentaverage, including the World Cup play-off game, was one goal per 6.57 – a far cry from the one in12.63 in 2015. France, however, top the stats – their total inflated by 25 attempts against theFaroe Islands. The table sorts the participants on the basis of goal attempts per game:

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Team On target Off target Blocked Woodwork Total Average Goals

France 40 32 19 5 91 18.20 13

England 39 34 8 5 81 13.50 15

Germany 30 18 14 1 62 12.40 17

Italy 13 14 7 0 34 11.33 3

Turkey 20 22 8 2 50 10.00 10

Hungary 22 24 4 2 50 10.00 8

Scotland 12 13 5 0 30 10.00 4

Spain 28 21 10 2 59 9.83 12

Serbia 11 11 7 1 29 9.67 2

Netherlands 15 19 2 1 36 9.00 4

Norway 6 18 3 1 27 9.00 3

Bosnia and Herzegovina 11 9 7 0 27 9.00 2

Republic of Ireland 6 17 7 1 30 7.50 2

Ukraine 7 12 3 3 22 7.33 2

Croatia 8 6 5 0 19 6.33 2

Faroe Islands 3 0 0 0 3 1.00 0

Note: attempts striking the woodwork are included in the on-target total if deflected by goalkeeperor defender and in the off-target total if the attempt strikes the woodwork directly.

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Pitch watering in Varazdin – however, this was not commonplace during the tournament ©Sportsfile

Talking points

Troubled waters?Coaches can control players; players can control matches; but nobody can control the heavens.As it happened, the heavens opened quite regularly during the final tournament in Croatia –frequently enough to avoid storm clouds gathering around the issue of pre-match and half-timepitch watering. Even so, there was sufficient sunshine during the group stage to warm up thedebate about procedures. Several coaches had their enthusiasm for pitch watering dampened byrefusals from colleagues in the other dressing room.

As a talking point, the issue can be approached from several directions. The current status quo isthat both teams must agree before the water can be turned on. Is this the best approach? If onecoach opts to vote against pitch watering, is it correct that a 'no' takes precedence over a 'yes'?That a negative carries more weight than a positive?

Another angle is that the issue has been absorbed into match strategies. Teams who request pitchwatering usually do so because they want the ball to skip off the turf and promote high-tempocombination play. They argue that their objective is to lay foundations for attractive football and thegreatest possible entertainment value.

Opponents who consider themselves to be less adept at rapid ball circulation will often prefer tokeep the groundsman away from the irrigation system because they regard it as playing into theopposition's hands. Without saying as much, they would prefer longer grass and a slower playingsurface to give their team a better chance. And, among the coaches, stances are not always in thesame line.

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In Croatia, one coach expressed frustration thathis request for watering had been vetoed by theopposition but, further into the competition, gavea negative response to the same request bydifferent opponents. In other words, it was aquestion of match strategy rather than a questionof principles. The debating point is whether thedecision should be taken independently ratherthan left to be chewed on as a bone of contentionbetween the two coaches.

For Dany Ryser, world U17 champion with Switzerland and a member of UEFA's team of technicalobservers in Croatia, the issue has, in any case, limited relevance. "In my opinion," he maintained,"players at this level should be equipped to play on any type of surface. Coping with differentconditions is simply a part of their education." Do you agree?

Give us a breakMore water. It had been a grey, overcast morning in Velika Gorica and, with thunder rumblingaround the horizon, spectators were reaching for protective clothing and casting anxious glancesat the heavens during the England v Republic of Ireland quarter-final – anxious enough to provokewry smiles when the whistle was blown after 20 minutes to decree a 60-second water break.

The skies had cleared when, later that day, theGermany v Netherlands fixture started on whatthe UEFA website described as "a scorchingevening in Zapresic". Yes, you've guessed it. Nowater break.

A week earlier, the same stadium had providedthe venue for the France v Faroe Islands fixturein Group B. The temperature at kick-off time wasofficially recorded as 19C. So eyebrows wereraised along with water bottles when play was stopped midway through the first half. The interludecertainly took the heat off the Faroese debutants, who were already 4-0 down at the time. "Thewater break was definitely useful!" head coach Áki Johansen grinned afterwards. "We managed tochange a few things and contain the French a lot better after that."

The example is innocuous in the sense that hitting the 'pause button' didn't change the finaloutcome of the game. But it illustrated that coaches make full use of the water break as a 'time-out' during which they can issue instructions to their players. In this context, should all coaches beoffered equal opportunities? Should there be greater uniformity in the application of the water-break principle? In 40-minute halves, is there any need for it at all?

Safety in numbers?Among the 16 coaches in Croatia, there was widespread support for the agreed expansion ofsquad size from 18 to 20. Various reasons were proferred, starting with the educational benefits ofoffering top-level international experience to more players – possibly younger ones (only 25 of the288 in Croatia were born in 2001 and 43.75% of the workforce were born in the first three months

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England's dejected players following the shoot-out

of 2000).

Italy's Moise Kean scored against Croatia in his only outing at the final tournament

Some teams had to fly in replacements due to injuries – notably Italy, who lost two members oftheir squad, plus striker Moise Kean, who was summoned home for club duty in the Turin derbybut ultimately took no part in it. Turkey and Scotland started the tournament with three outfielderssuspended, leaving them with very limited options on the bench.

Although regarding the imminent increase as an undoubted step in the right direction, somecoaches would have liked more, feeling that 22 would give them the benefit of being able to play11 v 11 on the training ground. The conundrum, however, is whether a larger squad genuinelyequals greater opportunities.

Inactivity levels among goalkeepers are more readily understandable but, for the record, 26outfielders enjoyed fewer than 40 minutes of action (equivalent to one half of a game) even thoughsix teams played five or six matches in Croatia, nine players registering a matchplay total in singlefigures. Will the expansion signify inactivity for even more players?

Time and motionThe question raises other debating points. Is ittime to review the norm of playing two 40-minuteperiods at this level when so many of theparticipants are playing 90-minute games at theirclubs? Would it make more sense to play twolots of 45 minutes and allow greater use ofplayers on the bench?

Experimentation with an additional substitutionduring extra time has simply by-passed the U17tournament, where there is no extra time. With more players on the bench, would it be positive toreinstate extra time, maybe with a reduced duration? Bearing in mind that five of the last six U17finals have been decided by shoot-outs, would this, in sporting terms, be more satisfactory thangoing directly to penalties?

The question was given greater pertinence by the final. After the psychological hammer blow of

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conceding the equaliser with the referee's watch indicating two seconds to play, recovering to winthe immediate penalty shoot-out would have required a mental resilience way beyond the Englandplayers' age. Would it have been fairer to give them a chance to play their way back into thegame?

And, if workloads are considered to be a determining factor in debate, would it be positive fornational associations to (with protected anonymity) pass the GPS data they increasingly gatherduring these tournaments to the relevant bodies at UEFA?

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Spain coach Santi Denia with his 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship winners' medal ©Sportsfile

Winning coach

Asked to describe his style as a coach, Santi Denia pauses for a moment. "I'm not sure aboutdescribing myself as a coach," he reflects. "I would say I'm more of an educator. My objective is tohelp these young men to develop as footballers and to mature as persons."

The former Atlético Madrid defender is, withtypical humility, understating his virtues as acoach. During his team's six matches in Croatia,a camera in the technical area would havecaptured images of him treading the white line,continually offering advice to his young charges.Positive advice, delivered without excessivedecibels.

"With our national teams," he comments, "werespect our attacking philosophy and the natural characteristics of the Spanish footballer. In termsof quality, we have an easy life because of the excellent work being done by the clubs.

"I tend to focus on the importance of group dynamics. I emphasise that if we want to achieve ourobjectives we need to work together in a positive atmosphere. If you have a group of 30 peopletogether for a month, this is of paramount importance. My approach is more democrat thandictator. At the same time, we insist on respect for a series of rules and guidelines."

The Denia doctrine

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The reference to a group of 30 indicates that theDenia doctrine embraces good man-management of his backroom staff as well as thesquad of players. In Croatia, one of the salientfeatures was that his assistant was Luis de laFuente, Spain's U19 coach and, indeed,champion of Europe two years previously inGreece.

"It was one of the things I learned when I joinedthe national association in 2010 to take charge of the U16s," Denia explains. "We have a 'family'of coaches and we all help each other. You might see Luis with me in Croatia. Then you might seeour U21 coach, Albert Celades, at another tournament. In fact, he was at the U17s with me inAzerbaijan last year. We coordinate and divide up the work between us – not forgetting the workdone by our goalkeeping coach, either."

Like England's Steve Cooper, his opponent in the Varazdin final, Denia gives limited relevance tothe study of the opposition. "We obviously look at how they attack and how they defend," he says,"and we sometimes look at video footage of individual opponents. But we generally focus on ourown game, doing training work and talks by units within the team. In other words, we'll havespecific sessions for midfield, for example, to analyse and correct."

At get-togethers during the year, Denia dedicatesone day to defensive work "because there aredifferent levels and different mechanisms amongthe clubs", adding: "Some young players can getused to running up big wins every week and runthe risk of neglecting defensive aspects. As acoach, you seek a balanced approach to attackand defence and my impression of thetournament in Croatia was that there wasgenerally a greater emphasis on creativeattacking play. I think this was something very positive for the future of these players – and thefuture of the game of football."

A thrilling four-goal final between two technically-gifted teams certainly advertised attackingfootball. The team's patient, insistent loyalty to a style, despite trailing on the scoreboard for thebest part of 50 minutes, was also an advertisement for Spain's footballing philosophy – and itsimplementation via Denia's personal doctrine.

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1 Dominik Kotarski

Croatia1 Álvaro Fernández

Spain

2 Mateu Morey

Spain3 Hakim Guenouche

France5 Marc Guehi

England5 Víctor Chust

Spain

5 Jan Boller

Germany6 Jonathan Panzo

England

The UEFA technical teamTeam of the TournamentGoalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

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4 George McEachran

England6 Claudio Gomes

France8 Moha

Spain10 Atalay Babacan

Turkey

7 Phil Foden

England9 Abel Ruiz

Spain9 Amine Gouiri

France10 Callum Hudson-

OdoiEngland

10 Elias Abouchabaka

Germany11 Jadon Sancho

England

Forwards

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The selection of a squad of 18 players who, in the opinion of the UEFA technical observers, madea genuine impact on the final tournament is always a task which requires more than a modicum ofreflection and debate.

The event in Croatia was no exception and, as usual, a lot of high-level performances wentunrewarded – often because the team as a whole did not go the distance in the tournament.

Jack Aitchison, for example, was on the list of candidates during the group stage and the attackermight have appeared on the list had Scotland progressed further.

Central midfielders Achraf El Bouchataoui (Netherlands) and Kerem Kesgin (Turkey) narrowlymissed out, along with players from the wide areas such as Gül Recep (Turkey), KrisztoferSzeretö (Hungary), Yacine Adli (France) and Sergio Gómez (Spain), and the Germany goalkeeperLuca Plogmann, who conceded only two goals in five matches. This, however, was the squadfinally selected.

UEFA technical observers

The UEFA Technical Study Group (left to right): Dušan Fitzel, Dany Ryser, Patricia González and Graham Turner

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Team analysis

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ResultsFinal

Spain: Álvaro Fernández; Mateu Morey, Juan Miranda, Hugo Guillamón, Víctor Chust; Antonio Blanco(José Alonso 60), Moha (Nacho Díaz 78), Jandro Orellana (Carlos Beitia 56); Ferrán Torres, Abel Ruiz(C), Sergio Gómez.

England: Josef Bursik; Lewis Gibson, Marc Guehi (C), Jonathan Panzo, Joel Latibeaudiere; GeorgeMcEachran, Phil Foden (Daniel Loader 80), Jadon Sancho (Jake Vokins 80+3), Alexander Denny; RhianBrewster, Callum Hudson-Odoi (Aidan Barlow 76).

Attendance: 8187Yellow cards: Spain - Antonio Blanco (37), Juan Miranda (70), Mateu Morey (80+3), Álvaro Fernández(80+4); England - Joel Latibeaudiere (67), Jonathan Panzo (80+4)Referee: Jens Maae (DEN)Assistant referees: Mika Lamppu (FIN), Aleksei Vorontsov (RUS)Fourth official: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE)

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Semi-finals

Spain: Álvaro Fernández; Mateu Morey, Juan Miranda, Hugo Guillamón, Víctor Chust; Antonio Blanco(Alvaro Garcia Segovia 72), Moha (José Alonso 64), Jandro Orellana; Ferrán Torres, Abel Ruiz (C),Sergio Gómez.

Germany: Luca Plogmann; Alexander Nitzl, Dominik Becker, Lars Lukas Mai; Sahverdi Cetin (ErikMajetschak 80+1), Yannik Keitel, Kilian Ludewig, John Yeboah (Noah Awuku 53); Jann-Fiete Arp (C),Elias Abouchabaka, Dennis Jastrzembski (Maurice Malone 63).

Attendance: 4581Yellow cards: Spain - Antonio Blanco (45)Referee: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)Assistant referees: Ian Bird (WAL), Paul Robinson (NIR)Fourth official: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)

Turkey: Berke Özer; Ramazan Civelek (Berk Cetin 39), Ozan Kabak; Abdussamed Karnuçu, Sefa Akgün,Recep Gül (C) (Enes İlkin 62), Kerem Kesgin, Atalay Babacan (Umut Güneş 41), Hasan Adıgüzel; MalikKaraahmet, Yunus Akgün.

England: Josef Bursik; Timothy Eyoma, Lewis Gibson, Marc Guehi (C), Jonathan Panzo; GeorgeMcEachran, Phil Foden (Emile Smith Rowe 76), Tashan Oakley-Boothe (Alexander Denny 26), JadonSancho; Rhian Brewster, Callum Hudson-Odoi (Daniel Loader 70).

Attendance: 1292Yellow cards: Turkey - Umut Güneş (55), Kerem Kesgin (75), Sefa Akgün (80+4); England - Josef Bursik(80+2)Referee: Fabio Verissimo (POR)Assistant referees: Manuel Fernandes (AND), Jevgenijs Morozovs (LVA)Fourth official: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)

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World Cup play-offs

Hungary: Balázs Ásványi; Balázs Opavszky (C), Attila Mocsi (Norman Timári 69), Gergő Bolla (TamásKiss 52), Dominik Alex Arday; Krisztián Kovács; Krisztofer Szerető, Szabolcs Schön, Márk Bencze, KevinCsoboth (Norbert Szendrei 41), Alexander Torvund.

France: Yahia Fofana; Vincent Collet (Maxence Lacroix 80+2), William Bianda, Andy Pelmard, John Da;Claudio Gomes, Yacine Adli (Alan Kereoudan 47), Aurélien Tchouaemi, Maxence Caqueret (C); AmineGouiri, Alexis Flips (Wilson Isidor 67).

Attendance: 950Yellow cards: Hungary - Szabolcs Schön (55), Dominik Alex Arday (74); France - Alexis Flips (55), AlanKereoudan (73)Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE)Assistant referees: Mircea Grigoriu (ROU), Goce Petreski (MKD)Fourth official: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)

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Quarter-finals

Germany: Luca Plogmann; Pascal Hackethal (Alexander Nitzl 36), Jan Boller, Lars Lukas Mai; ErikMajetschak (C) (Eric Hottmann 62), Yannik Keitel, Kilian Ludewig, John Yeboah; Jann-Fiete Arp, EliasAbouchabaka, Dennis Jastrzembski (Noah Awuku 77).

Netherlands: Jasper Schendelaar; Lutsharel Geertruida, Mitchell Bakker, Kik Pierie, Tommy St Jago;Achraf El Bouchataoui (C), Juan Familio-Castillo, Thijs Oosting; Mohamed Mallahi (Justin De Haas 80+1),Zakaria Aboukhlal, Delano Ladan (Thomas Buitink 67).

Attendance: 1013Yellow cards: Germany - Jan Boller (18), Jann-Fiete Arp (71); Netherlands - Zakaria Aboukhlal (44),Delano Ladan (48), Kik Pierie (52), Thomas Buitink (80+1)Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)Assistant referees: Ian Bird (WAL), Jevgenijs Morozovs (LVA)Fourth official: Fabio Verissimo (POR)

England: Josef Bursik; Timothy Eyoma, Lewis Gibson, Marc Guehi (C), Jonathan Panzo; GeorgeMcEachran, Phil Foden, Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Jadon Sancho; Rhian Brewster, Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Republic of Ireland: Brian Maher; Kameron Ledwidge, Jordan Doherty (C), Nathan Collins; AaronBolger, Luke Nolan, Callum Thompson, Richard O'Farrell (Rowan Roache 66), Joseph Redmond; AdamIdah, Aaron Connolly.

Attendance: 879Red Cards: Republic of Ireland: Aaron Bolger (78)Yellow cards: Republic of Ireland - Aaron Bolger (55), Aaron Bolger (78), Adam Idah (80+4)Referee: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)Assistant referees: Goce Petreski (MKD), Manuel Fernandes (AND)Fourth official: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE)

Spain: Álvaro Fernández; Mateu Morey, Juan Miranda, Hugo Guillamón, Víctor Chust; Antonio Blanco(Eric García 80+2), Moha (Alvaro Garcia Segovia 77), Jandro Orellana; Ferrán Torres, Abel Ruiz (C),Sergio Gómez (José Alonso 72).

France: Nathan Cremillieux; Vincent Collet, Hakim Guenouche, Andy Pelmard, Maxence Lacroix; ClaudioGomes (C), Yacine Adli, Maxence Caqueret (Alexis Flips 75), Mathis Picouleau (Wilson Isidor 58); AmineGouiri, Alan Kereoudan (Willem Geubbels 66).

Attendance: 5163Yellow cards: France - Maxence Caqueret (49), Yacine Adli (50), Maxence Lacroix (73)Referee: Fran Jović (CRO)Assistant referees: Mircea Grigoriu (ROU), Mika Lamppu (FIN)Fourth official: Jens Maae (DEN)

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Hungary: Balázs Ásványi; Martin Majnovics, Balázs Opavszky, Attila Mocsi; Krisztián Kovács, DominikSzoboszlai (C), András Csonka (Kevin Csoboth 41); Krisztofer Szerető, Szabolcs Schön (Tamás Kiss 64),Márk Bencze, Alexander Torvund (Norman Timári 71).

Turkey: Berke Özer; Ramazan Civelek, Ozan Kabak, Berk Cetin (Umut Güneş 66), Berkehan Biçer;Recep Gül (C), Kerem Kesgin, Atalay Babacan, Hasan Adıgüzel; Malik Karaahmet (Ali Göçmen 62),Yunus Akgün (Egehan Gök 77).

Attendance: 897Yellow cards: Hungary - András Csonka (32), Szabolcs Schön (32), Martin Majnovics (52), DominikSzoboszlai (60); Turkey - Hasan Adıgüzel (46)Referee: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)Assistant referees: Paul Robinson (NIR), Aleksei Vorontsov (RUS)Fourth official: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)

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Turkey: Berke Özer; Ramazan Civelek, Ozan Kabak, Berk Cetin; Sefa Akgün, Recep Gül (C), AtalayBabacan, Umut Güneş, Hasan Adıgüzel; Malik Karaahmet (Ali Göçmen 67), Yunus Akgün (Enes İlkin 52).

Spain: Álvaro Fernández; Mateu Morey, Hugo Guillamón, Víctor Chust, Victor Gomez Perea; AntonioBlanco, Moha (Alvaro Garcia Segovia 78), José Alonso (César 59); Ferrán Torres, Abel Ruiz (C), SergioGómez (Jandro Orellana 59).

Attendance: 300Yellow cards: Turkey - Atalay Babacan (35), Sefa Akgün (80+3)Referee: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)Assistant referees: Idan Yarkoni (ISR), Goce Petreski (MKD)Fourth official: Duje Strukan (CRO)

Croatia: Dominik Kotarski; Filip Hlevnjak, David Čolina, Ivan Nekić, Stipe Radić; Bartol Franjić, MarkoHanuljak, Jurica Pršir (Tomislav Krizmanić 64); Leon Kreković (Josip Mitrović 73), Antonio Marin (RokoBaturina 76), Michele Šego.

Italy: Simone Ghidotti; Axel Campeol, Matteo Anzolin, Davide Bettella (C), Antonio Candela (GabrieleBellodi 52); Andrea Rizzo Pinna (Roberto Biancu 74), Fabrizio Caligara, Manolo Portanova; Elia Visconti,Moise Kean, Davide Merola (Emanuel Vignato 65).

Attendance: 4092Yellow cards: Croatia - Jurica Pršir (41), Michele Šego (77); Italy - Manolo Portanova (68)Referee: Fabio Verissimo (POR)Assistant referees: Samat Tergeussizov (KAZ), Paul Robinson (NIR)Fourth official: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)

Croatia: Dominik Kotarski; Filip Hlevnjak, David Čolina, Ivan Nekić, Stipe Radić; Bartol Franjić, MarkoHanuljak (Tomislav Krizmanić 55), Jurica Pršir (Roko Baturina 67); Leon Kreković (Josip Mitrović 55),Antonio Marin, Michele Šego.

Turkey: Berke Özer; Ramazan Civelek, Ozan Kabak, Berk Cetin; Abdussamed Karnuçu, Sefa Akgün(Egehan Gök 75), Recep Gül (C) (Hasan Adıgüzel 65), Kerem Kesgin, Atalay Babacan (Umut Güneş 70);Malik Karaahmet, Yunus Akgün.

Attendance: 1004Yellow cards: Croatia - Bartol Franjić (55), Tomislav Krizmanić (78)Referee: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)Assistant referees: Mircea Grigoriu (ROU), Manuel Fernandes (AND)Fourth official: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)

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Spain: Álvaro Fernández; Mateu Morey, Juan Miranda, Hugo Guillamón, Víctor Chust; Antonio Blanco,Moha, Jandro Orellana; Ferrán Torres (Victor Gomez Perea 80+1), Abel Ruiz (C) (Nacho Díaz 80+3),Sergio Gómez (José Alonso 61).

Italy: Simone Ghidotti; Axel Campeol, Matteo Anzolin, Davide Bettella (C), Antonio Candela; AndreaRizzo Pinna, Fabrizio Caligara (Davide Merola 56), Roberto Biancu, Emanuel Vignato (Elia Visconti 69),Manolo Portanova (Hans Nicolussi Caviglia 73); Pietro Pellegri.

Attendance: 744Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE)Assistant referees: Radek Kotik (CZE), Mika Lamppu (FIN)Fourth official: Fran Jović (CRO)

Spain: Mohamet Ramos; Juan Miranda, Hugo Guillamón (C), Victor Gomez Perea, Eric García; AlvaroGarcia Segovia (Antonio Blanco 70), Jandro Orellana, José Alonso, César (Ferrán Torres 57); SergioGómez, Nacho Díaz (Abel Ruiz 70).

Croatia: Dominik Kotarski; David Čolina, Stipe Radić, Mario Vušković, Tin Hrvoj; Bartol Franjić (LeonKreković 72), Marko Hanuljak, Tomislav Krizmanić; Michele Šego, Josip Mitrović (Jurica Pršir 69), RokoBaturina (Antonio Marin 41).

Attendance: 1121Yellow cards: Spain - Victor Gomez Perea (41); Croatia - Tin Hrvoj (65), Tomislav Krizmanić (80+3)Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)Assistant referees: Atom Sevgulyan (ARM), Ian Bird (WAL)Fourth official: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)

Italy: Simone Ghidotti; Raoul Bellanova, Matteo Anzolin, Davide Bettella (C), Antonio Candela (AxelCampeol 78); Andrea Rizzo Pinna, Roberto Biancu, Manolo Portanova (Flavio Junior Bianchi 63); EliaVisconti (Emanuel Vignato 51), Davide Merola, Pietro Pellegri.

Turkey: Berke Özer; Ramazan Civelek, Ozan Kabak, Berk Cetin; Abdussamed Karnuçu, Sefa Akgün(Egehan Gök 76), Recep Gül (C) (Hasan Adıgüzel 41), Kerem Kesgin, Atalay Babacan; Malik Karaahmet,Yunus Akgün (Umut Güneş 59).

Attendance: 700Yellow cards: Italy - Pietro Pellegri (58); Turkey - Sefa Akgün (26), Yunus Akgün (31), Ozan Kabak (44)Referee: Jens Maae (DEN)Assistant referees: Aleksei Vorontsov (RUS), Jevgenijs Morozovs (LVA)Fourth official: Mario Zebec (CRO)

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Scotland: Jon Mccracken; Lewis Mayo, Daniel Church, Stephen Welsh, Jonathan Mitchell, JordanHouston; Elliot Watt, Glenn Middleton (Aaron Reid 76), Sebastian Ross (Lewis Hutchison 74), LewisSmith (Innes Cameron 55); Jack Aitchison (C).

Faroe Islands: Bjarti Vitalis Mørk; Sjúrdur Pauli Chin Nielsen, Dann Fróðason, Asbjørn Heðinsson;Andrias Edmundsson, Hanus Sørensen, Stefan Radosavlevic (C) (Bjarni Brimnes 73), Elias El Moustage,Símun Sólheim (Jákup Joensen 80+2), Sølvi Sigvardsen; Steffan Abrahamsson Løkin (Sveinur LavaOlsen 66).

Attendance: 511Red Cards: Faroe Islands: Asbjørn Heðinsson (72)Yellow cards: Faroe Islands - Asbjørn Heðinsson (40), Asbjørn Heðinsson (72)Referee: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)Assistant referees: Atom Sevgulyan (ARM), Jevgenijs Morozovs (LVA)Fourth official: Fran Jović (CRO)

Hungary: Balázs Ásványi; Martin Majnovics, Balázs Opavszky (C), Gergő Bolla; Krisztián Kovács, AndrásCsonka; Krisztofer Szerető (Norbert Szendrei 71), Szabolcs Schön, Márk Bencze, Kevin Csoboth(Norman Timári 73), Alexander Torvund (Tamás Kiss 80+1).

France: Nathan Cremillieux; Vincent Collet, Hakim Guenouche, William Bianda, Andy Pelmard; ClaudioGomes, Yacine Adli (Alan Kereoudan 74), Aurélien Tchouaemi (Alexis Flips 57), Maxence Caqueret (C);Amine Gouiri, Willem Geubbels (Wilson Isidor 57).

Attendance: 892Yellow cards: Hungary - Martin Majnovics (45), András Csonka (46)Referee: Dimitrios Massias (CYP)Assistant referees: Mika Lamppu (FIN), Manuel Fernandes (AND)Fourth official: Tihomir Pejin (CRO)

France: Nathan Cremillieux; Vincent Collet, Hakim Guenouche, William Bianda, Maxence Lacroix;Claudio Gomes (C) (John Da 63), Yacine Adli, Maxence Caqueret (Alexis Flips 51), Mathis Picouleau;Amine Gouiri (Wilson Isidor 51), Alan Kereoudan.

Faroe Islands: Bárður Á Reynatrøð; Sjúrdur Pauli Chin Nielsen, Dann Fróðason; Andrias Edmundsson,Magnus Holm Jacobsen (Bjarni Brimnes 59), Hanus Sørensen, Stefan Radosavlevic, Elias El Moustage,Símun Sólheim (Sveinur Lava Olsen 41), Sølvi Sigvardsen; Tórur Jacobsen (Filip Í Liða 73).

Attendance: 712Yellow cards: France - William Bianda (80+2); Faroe Islands - Magnus Holm Jacobsen (34), Elias ElMoustage (40+3)Referee: Jens Maae (DEN)Assistant referees: Ian Bird (WAL), Samat Tergeussizov (KAZ)Fourth official: Mario Zebec (CRO)

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Scotland: Jon Mccracken; Lewis Mayo, Daniel Church, Stephen Welsh, Jonathan Mitchell, Kerr McInroy,Jordan Houston; Zak Rudden (Innes Cameron 65), Glenn Middleton (Robbie Deas 58), Sebastian Ross(Elliot Watt 78); Jack Aitchison (C).

Hungary: Balázs Ásványi; Martin Majnovics, Balázs Opavszky (C) (Gergő Bolla 71), Attila Mocsi;Krisztián Kovács, András Csonka; Krisztofer Szerető, Norbert Szendrei (Alexander Torvund 50), SzabolcsSchön (Norman Timári 78), Márk Bencze, Kevin Csoboth.

Attendance: 677Yellow cards: Scotland - Zak Rudden (26), Jonathan Mitchell (50), Robbie Deas (80+3); Hungary -Dominik Szoboszlai (52)Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)Assistant referees: Goce Petreski (MKD), Aleksei Vorontsov (RUS)Fourth official: Duje Strukan (CRO)

France: Nathan Cremillieux; Vincent Collet, William Bianda, Andy Pelmard, Maxence Lacroix; ClaudioGomes (Alexis Flips 75), Yacine Adli (Aurélien Tchouaemi 80+3), Maxence Caqueret (C), MathisPicouleau; Amine Gouiri, Willem Geubbels (Wilson Isidor 65).

Scotland: Jon Mccracken; Lewis Mayo, Daniel Church, Stephen Welsh, Jonathan Mitchell, Kerr McInroy(Sebastian Ross 63), Jordan Houston; Elliot Watt, Zak Rudden (Innes Cameron 73), Glenn Middleton(Robbie Deas 78); Jack Aitchison (C).

Attendance: 511Yellow cards: France - Mathis Picouleau (54), William Bianda (78); Scotland - Jonathan Mitchell (8), KerrMcInroy (38), Glenn Middleton (69), Stephen Welsh (80+2)Referee: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)Assistant referees: Idan Yarkoni (ISR), Radek Kotik (CZE)Fourth official: Tihomir Pejin (CRO)

Faroe Islands: Bárður Á Reynatrøð; Sjúrdur Pauli Chin Nielsen, Dann Fróðason, Asbjørn Heðinsson;Andrias Edmundsson, Magnus Holm Jacobsen, Hanus Sørensen, Stefan Radosavlevic (Jákup Joensen80+2), Elias El Moustage, Sølvi Sigvardsen (Filip Í Liða 65); Tórur Jacobsen (Bjarni Brimnes 69).

Hungary: István Oroszi; Martin Majnovics (Márk Bencze 49), Attila Mocsi, Gergő Bolla; Krisztián Kovács,Dominik Szoboszlai (C), András Csonka (Norman Timári 60), Tamás Kiss; Krisztofer Szerető (DominikAlex Arday 72), Kevin Csoboth, Alexander Torvund.

Attendance: 409Yellow cards: Faroe Islands - Asbjørn Heðinsson (56), Magnus Holm Jacobsen (67)Referee: Fran Jović (CRO)Assistant referees: Paul Robinson (NIR), Goce Petreski (MKD)Fourth official: Duje Strukan (CRO)

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Germany: Luca Plogmann; Pascal Hackethal, Jan Boller, Lars Lukas Mai; Sahverdi Cetin, ErikMajetschak (C) (Elias Abouchabaka 51), Yannik Keitel, Kilian Ludewig (Alexander Nitzl 59), John Yeboah;Jann-Fiete Arp, Dennis Jastrzembski (Maurice Malone 41).

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jasmin Kršić; Dobrica Tegeltija (Enio Zilić 54), Rijad Sadiku (C), JusufGazibegović, Armin Imamović, Nemanja Vještica, Domagoj Marušić; Stefan Santrač, Džani Salčin (MarkoBrkić 29); Milan Šikanjić (Elvis Mehanović 54), Eldin Omerović.

Attendance: 1192Yellow cards: Bosnia and Herzegovina - Eldin Omerović (70), Stefan Santrač (80)Referee: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)Assistant referees: Aleksei Vorontsov (RUS), Paul Robinson (NIR)Fourth official: Mario Zebec (CRO)

Serbia: Miloš Gordić; Jovan Vladimir Pavlović, Dimitrije Kamenović; Ivan Ilić, Marko Janković, ŽeljkoGavrić, Armin Djerlek (C) (Mateja Zuvić 70), Mihajlo Nešković (Jovan Kokir 60); Aleksandar Kostić, FilipStuparević, Milutin Vidosavljević (Slobodan Tedić 37).

Republic of Ireland: Brian Maher; Kameron Ledwidge, Jordan Doherty (C), Nathan Collins; AaronBolger, Luke Nolan, Callum Thompson (Tyreik Wright 64), Richard O'Farrell, Gavin Kilkenny (AaronConnolly 41); Rowan Roache, Adam Idah (Brandon Kavanagh 78).

Attendance: 482Yellow cards: Serbia - Ivan Ilić (40+1), Mateja Zuvić (73); Republic of Ireland - Jordan Doherty (31),Kameron Ledwidge (46)Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE)Assistant referees: Jevgenijs Morozovs (LVA), Idan Yarkoni (ISR)Fourth official: Tihomir Pejin (CRO)

Germany: Luca Plogmann; Pascal Hackethal, Jan Boller, Lars Lukas Mai; Erik Majetschak (C), YannikKeitel, Kilian Ludewig (Dominik Becker 70), John Yeboah; Jann-Fiete Arp (Eric Hottmann 54), EliasAbouchabaka (Alexander Nitzl 63), Dennis Jastrzembski.

Serbia: Miloš Gordić; Svetozar Marković, Jovan Vladimir Pavlović, Dimitrije Kamenović; Ivan Ilić, MarkoJanković, Željko Gavrić (Mihajlo Nešković 68), Armin Djerlek (C) (Mateja Zuvić 62), Slobodan Tedić(Vanja Zvekanov 76); Aleksandar Kostić, Filip Stuparević.

Attendance: 587Yellow cards: Germany - Jan Boller (48), John Yeboah (51); Serbia - Ivan Ilić (15), Filip Stuparević (52)Referee: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)Assistant referees: Goce Petreski (MKD), Atom Sevgulyan (ARM)Fourth official: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE)

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Republic of Ireland: Brian Maher; Kameron Ledwidge, Jordan Doherty, Nathan Collins; Lee O'Connor(C) (Callum Thompson 66), Aaron Bolger, Luke Nolan, Richard O'Farrell; Rowan Roache (BrandonKavanagh 71), Adam Idah, Aaron Connolly.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jasmin Kršić; Dobrica Tegeltija, Rijad Sadiku (C), Jusuf Gazibegović, ArminImamović, Nemanja Vještica; Stefan Santrač, Emir Sejdović (Marko Brkić 71), Milan Savić; EldinOmerović (Domagoj Marušić 53), Elvis Mehanović (Milan Šikanjić 55).

Attendance: 500Yellow cards: Republic of Ireland - Aaron Bolger (40)Referee: Fabio Verissimo (POR)Assistant referees: Manuel Fernandes (AND), Mircea Grigoriu (ROU)Fourth official: Duje Strukan (CRO)

Republic of Ireland: Brian Maher; Kameron Ledwidge, Jordan Doherty, Nathan Collins; Lee O'Connor(C) (Gavin Kilkenny 54), Aaron Bolger, Luke Nolan, Richard O'Farrell; Rowan Roache (Callum Thompson70), Adam Idah, Aaron Connolly.

Germany: Luca Plogmann; Alexander Nitzl, Pascal Hackethal, Dominik Becker (Erik Majetschak 53), JanBoller, Lars Lukas Mai (Kilian Ludewig 66); Sahverdi Cetin; Noah Awuku, Jann-Fiete Arp (C), EliasAbouchabaka (Eric Hottmann 57), Maurice Malone.

Attendance: 434Yellow cards: Republic of Ireland - Aaron Connolly (48)Referee: Fabio Verissimo (POR)Assistant referees: Mika Lamppu (FIN), Samat Tergeussizov (KAZ)Fourth official: Jens Maae (DEN)

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jasmin Kršić; Enio Zilić (Dobrica Tegeltija 63), Rijad Sadiku (C), JusufGazibegović, Armin Imamović, Nemanja Vještica; Stefan Santrač, Džani Salčin (Domagoj Marušić 48),Emir Sejdović (Marko Brkić 68), Milan Savić; Milan Šikanjić.

Serbia: Miloš Gordić; Svetozar Marković, Jovan Vladimir Pavlović, Dimitrije Kamenović; Marko Janković,Željko Gavrić, Armin Djerlek (C) (Vanja Zvekanov 68), Slobodan Tedić (Mihajlo Nešković 18), MatejaZuvić (Jovan Kokir 54); Aleksandar Kostić, Filip Stuparević.

Attendance: 504Yellow cards: Bosnia and Herzegovina - Džani Salčin (17), Emir Sejdović (42), Stefan Santrač (58);Serbia - Jovan Kokir (71)Referee: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)Assistant referees: Radek Kotik (CZE), Ian Bird (WAL)Fourth official: Mario Zebec (CRO)

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Netherlands: Jasper Schendelaar; Lutsharel Geertruida, Tijn Daverveld, Mitchell Bakker, Kik Pierie;Achraf El Bouchataoui (C), Dogucan Haspolat (Juan Familio-Castillo 53), Thijs Oosting; MohamedMallahi, Thomas Buitink (Myron Boadu 31), Zakaria Aboukhlal.

Ukraine: Dany Ltaif; Roman Slyva, Ihor Snurnitsyn, Illia Malyshkin; Artur Vashchyshyn, Heorhii Tsitaishvili(Vadym Mashchenko 53), Ievgenii Isaienko, Petro Kharzhevskyi (C), Bohdan Biloshevskyi; VladyslavSupriaha (Artem Kholod 48), Olexiy Kashchuk.

Attendance: 881Referee: Jens Maae (DEN)Assistant referees: Mircea Grigoriu (ROU), Ian Bird (WAL)Fourth official: Duje Strukan (CRO)

Norway: Mads Christiansen; Fabian Rimestad, Erik Tobias Sandberg (C); Emil Kalsaas, Colin Rosler,Johan Hove, Mikael Ugland, Jørgen Larsen (Edvard Sandvik Tagseth 41), Elias Flø (Håkon Evjen 63);Erik Botheim, Erling Braut Håland (Anders Waagan 72).

England: Josef Bursik; Timothy Eyoma, Lewis Gibson, Marc Guehi (C), Jonathan Panzo; GeorgeMcEachran, Phil Foden (Daniel Loader 79), Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Jadon Sancho; Rhian Brewster (ReoGriffiths 80+3), Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Attendance: 713Yellow cards: Norway - Erik Tobias Sandberg (41), Erik Botheim (71)Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)Assistant referees: Radek Kotik (CZE), Atom Sevgulyan (ARM)Fourth official: Fran Jović (CRO)

England: Josef Bursik; Timothy Eyoma, Lewis Gibson, Marc Guehi (C), Jonathan Panzo; GeorgeMcEachran, Phil Foden (Daniel Loader 59), Tashan Oakley-Boothe (Aidan Barlow 66), Jadon Sancho(Emile Smith Rowe 74); Rhian Brewster, Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Ukraine: Dany Ltaif; Roman Slyva, Ihor Snurnitsyn, Illia Malyshkin (Bohdan Kurtiak 41); ArturVashchyshyn (Vikentii Voloshyn 75), Ievgenii Isaienko, Petro Kharzhevskyi (C), Bohdan Biloshevskyi,Vadym Mashchenko (Heorhii Tsitaishvili 41); Vladyslav Supriaha, Olexiy Kashchuk.

Attendance: 663Yellow cards: England - Tashan Oakley-Boothe (63); Ukraine - Ihor Snurnitsyn (47), Heorhii Tsitaishvili(61), Olexiy Kashchuk (72), Roman Slyva (74)Referee: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)Assistant referees: Samat Tergeussizov (KAZ), Idan Yarkoni (ISR)Fourth official: Mario Zebec (CRO)

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Netherlands: Jasper Schendelaar; Lutsharel Geertruida, Mitchell Bakker, Kik Pierie, Tommy St Jago;Achraf El Bouchataoui (C), Juan Familio-Castillo, Thijs Oosting (Delano Ladan 62); Mohamed Mallahi(Justin De Haas 75), Thomas Buitink (Dogucan Haspolat 56), Zakaria Aboukhlal.

Norway: Mads Christiansen; Fabian Rimestad, Erik Tobias Sandberg (C); Emil Kalsaas, Colin Rosler,Johan Hove, Mikael Ugland (Jørgen Larsen 31), Håkon Evjen (Anders Waagan 64), Edvard SandvikTagseth, Halldor Stenevik; Erling Braut Håland (Erik Botheim 41).

Attendance: 699Yellow cards: Netherlands - Thijs Oosting (30), Jasper Schendelaar (50); Norway - Håkon Evjen (36)Referee: Dimitrios Massias (CYP)Assistant referees: Mika Lamppu (FIN), Aleksei Vorontsov (RUS)Fourth official: Tihomir Pejin (CRO)

England: Josef Bursik; Timothy Eyoma, Lewis Gibson, Marc Guehi (C), Jonathan Panzo; GeorgeMcEachran, Phil Foden (Aidan Barlow 67), Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Jadon Sancho (Emile Smith Rowe62); Rhian Brewster (Daniel Loader 56), Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Netherlands: Jasper Schendelaar; Lutsharel Geertruida, Tijn Daverveld, Mitchell Bakker, Kik Pierie;Achraf El Bouchataoui (C), Dogucan Haspolat, Juan Familio-Castillo, Thijs Oosting (Delano Ladan 71);Zakaria Aboukhlal (Thomas Buitink 61), Bradly Van Hoeven (Tommy St Jago 49).

Attendance: 1054Red Cards: Netherlands: Tijn Daverveld (47)Yellow cards: England - Lewis Gibson (75)Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE)Assistant referees: Manuel Fernandes (AND), Mircea Grigoriu (ROU)Fourth official: Duje Strukan (CRO)

Ukraine: Dany Ltaif; Roman Slyva, Ihor Snurnitsyn, Illia Malyshkin; Artur Vashchyshyn (MykytaTitaievskyi 25), Heorhii Tsitaishvili, Ievgenii Isaienko (Vadym Mashchenko 52), Petro Kharzhevskyi (C),Bohdan Biloshevskyi; Vladyslav Supriaha, Olexiy Kashchuk.

Norway: Mads Christiansen; Fabian Rimestad (Andreas Uran 65), Erik Tobias Sandberg (C), AndersWaagan (Erling Braut Håland 61); Emil Kalsaas, Colin Rosler (Jesper Daland 80+2), Johan Hove, JørgenLarsen, Edvard Sandvik Tagseth, Halldor Stenevik; Erik Botheim.

Attendance: 719Yellow cards: Ukraine - Heorhii Tsitaishvili (57), Bohdan Biloshevskyi (73), Petro Kharzhevskyi (80+1)Referee: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)Assistant referees: Paul Robinson (NIR), Jevgenijs Morozovs (LVA)Fourth official: Fran Jović (CRO)

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Match officials

Name Country Date of birth FIFA

Referees

Mohammed Al-Hakim Sweden 15/04/1985 2015

Fabio Verissimo Portugal 26/12/1982 2015

Fran Jović Croatia 13/06/1984 2014

Nicolas Laforge Belgium 21/12/1986 2015

Jens Maae Denmark 10/03/1982 2014

Dimitrios Massias Cyprus 27/03/1981 2015

Dominik Ouschan Austria 28/01/1984 2015

Anastasios Papapetrou Greece 13/01/1985 2016

Donatas Rumšas Lithuania 21/03/1988 2016

Assistant referees

Ian Bird Wales 22/06/1985 2016

Mircea Grigoriu Romania 27/10/1988 2015

Radek Kotik Czech Republic 13/11/1982 2015

Mika Lamppu Finland 05/07/1988 2016

Jevgenijs Morozovs Latvia 26/07/1986 2012

Manuel Fernandes Andorra 28/08/1982 2015

Goce Petreski FYR Macedonia 15/08/1979 2014

Paul Robinson Northern Ireland 29/06/1983 2016

Atom Sevgulyan Armenia 31/05/1987 2014

Samat Tergeussizov Kazakhstan 11/10/1985

Aleksei Vorontsov Russia 28/08/1980 2012

Idan Yarkoni Israel 28/10/1982 2017

Fourth officials

Tihomir Pejin Croatia 11/10/1983 2014

Duje Strukan Croatia 16/05/1984 2017

Mario Zebec Croatia 24/09/1982 2016

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Fair play rankings

Pos. Team Points Matches played

1 Italy 8.833 3

2 Croatia 8.767 3

3 England 8.75 6

4 Germany 8.67 5

5 Republic of Ireland 8.563 4

6 Spain 8.558 6

7 Norway 8.5 3

8 Faroe Islands 8.417 3

9 Turkey 8.35 5

10 Serbia 8.333 3

11 France 8.32 5

12 Netherlands 8.25 4

13 Bosnia and Herzegovina 8.25 3

14 Hungary 8.05 5

15 Scotland 7.917 3

16 Ukraine 7.667 3

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