Final-day draws decide top two

Belgium and Bulgaria held their nerve in a final-day draw to progress past Austria and Georgia in UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round Group 3, but only three points separated the four rivals.

Bulgarian cruise
That the pool would end so tightly did not seem likely after the first game. Bulgaria cruised to a 4-0 win against Austria in Aalter, Ivan Tsachev opening the scoring on 15 minutes before Branimir Kostadinov took over with a hat-trick, two of those goals coming after the break.

All square
Later that day mini-tournament hosts Belgium began their campaign in Deinze against Georgia and were 1-0 up just three minutes in through Jelle Vossen. However, Levan Mchedlidze and Tamaz Chargeishvili both struck before the half-hour mark and Belgium only salvaged a point when Toby Alderweireld equalised 15 minutes from the end.

Early goals
Georgia, though, had no response two days later as Jürgen Peutsch and Julius Perstaller scored on eleven and 26 minutes respectively for Austria in Oudenaarde, setting up a 2-0 lead that was never relinquished, Georgia losing Amiran Sanaia to a second booking late on. That result meant that Bulgaria could have qualified for the Elite round by defeating Belgium, but instead the group hosts prevailed 1-0 in Deinze thanks to substitute Dieter Wittesaele's winner three minutes before the end.

Hosts through
All four teams still had hopes of going through before the decisive round of matches. Belgium were in the happy position of only needing a point against Austria in Aalter, but fell behind on 19 minutes to a Peter Jandrisevits goal. However, Vossen equalised in the 56th minute, and although Perstaller restored the Austrian advantage on the hour, Vossen struck again ten minutes later to secure a 2-2 draw and a place in the next stage for the Belgians.

Austria denied
Austria now had to hope that Georgia had defeated Bulgaria in Oudenaarde. But Tsachev put the Bulgarians into a 20th-minute lead, and David Janelidze's added-time penalty gave Georgia a point that was good news for Belgium, as it meant they finished first in the group. Austria, however, were pipped by Bulgaria on head-to-head record due to their opening result, a defeat which also left the Austrians with an inferior record to Ukraine in the race to finish as the best third-placed side, which also carries an Elite round berth.