2025 Under-17 EURO: Meet the contenders

The UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals run from 19 May to 1 June in Albania.

We introduce the contenders. The final tournament draw was made on 31 March in Tirana. The top two in each group will advance to the knockout phase.

Match dates

Group A: 19, 22, 25 May
Group B: 20, 23, 26 May
Semi-finals: 29 May
Final: 1 June

GROUP A

Albania (hosts)

Round 1: Group 3 third place (played in Albania)
D1-1 vs Croatia, L0-5 vs Netherlands, W1-0 vs Faroe Islands
Round 2: Group B6 runners-up (played in Albania), qualified for final tournament as hosts
W4-1 vs Azerbaijan, L1-2 vs Wales
Top scorers: Evangjelos Gjoka, Gabriel Kulla 3
2023/24: Qualifying round
Previous U17 best: First final tournament

• Albania previously played at the predecessor U16 EURO in 1994, drawing with Belarus in between losing to Austria and Spain. This is the first UEFA final tournament hosted by Albania.

France

Round 1: Group 11 winners (played in Cyprus)
W6-0 vs Gibraltar, W2-0 vs Cyprus, W1-0 vs Slovakia
Round 2: Group A3 winners (played in France)
W4-0 vs Finland, W4-1 vs Denmark, W5-1 vs Greece
Top scorers: Djylian Nguessan 5
2023/24: Group stage
Previous U17 best: Winners x 3 (2004, 2015, 2022)

• France have qualified for the eighth time in the last nine editions. In 2024 they beat Portugal 2-1 on Matchday 3 but went out behind both the eventual runners-up and England in a three-way head-to-head goal difference tie-breaker.

Germany

Round 1: Group 7 runners-up (played in Germany)
W4-0 vs Andorra, W8-2 vs Belarus, D3-3 vs Czechia
Round 2: Group A2 winners (played in Spain)
D2-2 vs Austria, W3-2 vs Spain, W4-1 vs Norway
Top scorer: Lennart Karl 7
2023/24: Elite round
Previous U17 best: Winners x 2 (2009, 2023)

• Germany are FIFA U-17 World Cup holders after winning in 2023 following their EURO triumph (when they beat France in both finals on penalties).

Portugal

Round 1: Group 5 winners (played in Portugal)
W10-0 vs Liechtenstein, W5-1 vs Finland, W4-2 vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Round 2: Group A4 winners (played in Portugal)
W2-0 vs Hungary, W3-1 vs Netherlands, W3-1 vs Serbia
Top scorer: Anísio Cabral 5
2023/24: Runners-up
Previous U17 best: Winners x 2 (2003, 2016)

• Portugal have qualified for the sixth tournament in a row.

GROUP B

Italy (holders)

Round 1: Group 9 winners (played in San Marino)
W5-0 vs San Marino, W4-0 vs Wales, W7-0 vs Norway
Round 2: Group A1 winners (played in Croatia)
W1-0 vs Slovakia, W2-1 vs Ukraine, W2-1 vs Croatia
Top scorer: Thomas Campaniello 6
2023/24: Winners
Previous U17 best: Winners x 1 (2024)

• Italy had lost in three U17 EURO finals before beating Portugal to clinch the title in Cyprus last season. Thomas Campaniello and goalkeeper Alessandro Longoni from last season's squad took part in qualifying this time.

Belgium

Qualifying round: Group 4 winners (played in Belgium)
W3-1 vs Kazakhstan, W2-1 vs Kosovo, W2-1 vs Ukraine
Round 2: Group A6 winners (played in Poland)
W1-0 vs Republic of Ireland, W2-1 vs Iceland, D2-2 vs Poland
Top scorers: René Mitongo Muteba 4
2023/24: Elite round
Previous U17 best: Semi-finals (2007, 2015, 2018)

• Belgium have got out of the group stage in five of their eight previous U17 EURO finals appearances.

England

Round 1: Group 1 winners (played in Malta)
W4-0 vs Malta, W4-0 vs Latvia, W4-2 vs Sweden
Round 2: Group A7 winners (played in England)
W2-0 vs Israel, W3-2 vs Slovenia, W5-0 vs Northern Ireland
Top scorers: Max Dowman, Finlay Gorman, Alejandro Rodriguez 3
2023/24: Quarter-finals
Previous best: Winners x 2 (2010, 2014)

• England have qualified for a record 17th time. In 2024 they lost to Italy in the quarter-finals.

Czechia

Round 1: Group 7 winners (played in Germany)
W3-0 vs Belarus, W8-0 vs Andorra, D3-3 vs Germany
Round 2: Group A5 winners (played in Switzerland)
W3-2 vs Sweden, D1-1 vs Türkiye, W3-1 vs Switzerland
Top scorers: Petr Potměšil 5
2023/24: Quarter-finals
Previous U17 best: Runners-up (2006)

• Last season, Czechia got past the group stage for only the second time since reaching the 2006 final.