German glee and Danish delight

Germany and Denmark secured their places in the second round of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship after dominating qualifying Group 4.

Superior goal difference
Both sides finished with seven points, with Germany winning the section by virtue of a superior goal difference. Malta finished in third place with three points - not enough to keep alive their own qualification hopes, with Hungary currently standing as the best third-placed side overall. Luxembourg finished bottom with no points.

Six for Germany
Host nation Germany got their campaign off to the best possible start, brushing aside Luxembourg 6-1 at Ludwigspark in Saarbrücken.

Danish delight
Meanwhile, Malta took a surprise lead against Denmark in Elversberg, Dyson Falzon opening the scoring in the 16th minute. However, two goals in three minutes shortly before half-time, from Morten Rasmussen and Martin Vingaard, turned the match in Denmark's favour and Per Andersen's side went on to emphasise their superiority in the second half. Kasper Lorentzen added a third in the 50th minute before Rasmussen scored twice more to complete his hat-trick. Jonathan Caruana was sent off for Malta for a second yellow card with two minutes remaining.

Free-scoring Germany
Both first-day winners also recorded victories in their second games, Germany comprehensively overwhelming Malta 9-1 with Mario Gomez opening the scoring after only two minutes. Daniyel Cimen made it 2-0 from the penalty spot, before Lukas Podoloski scored twice to give Dieter Eilts's team a four-goal cushion at the interval. The scoring continued in the second period, with Gomez, Ersan Tekkan and Paul Thomik all on target and, although Caruana pulled a goal back, Tekkan and Thomik each scored their second goals to complete a comfortable win.

Devastating spell
Denmark enjoyed a 3-0 success against Luxembourg, with all the goals coming in the a 15-minute spell midway through the first half. Lorentzen broke the deadlock in the 17th minute, before Johan Absalonsen scored a second four minutes later and Martin Vingaard a third 13 minutes before the break.

Entertaining draw
With qualification already assured, Germany and Denmark shared four goals at the Waldstadion Homburg, Henrik Smedegaard giving Andersen's team a 19th-minute lead. Stephan Bork equalised for Germany just six minutes later, only for Rasmussen to restore Denmark's lead from the penalty spot early in the second half. It seemed Denmark would hold on for the three points that would have enabled them to top the section, but Tekkan struck with seconds left, equalising with another penalty to make the final score 2-2.

Consolation win
In the other game, Andre Schembri gave Malta the lead in the 13th minute, but Luxembourg drew level through Tim Lehnen eight minutes before half-time. Cleaven Frendo re-established Malta’s lead ten minutes into the second half before Schembri sealed the win with 16 minutes to go, with Luxembourg's Jérôme Bigard shown the red card three minutes later.

Second-round qualifiers:

N.B. Seeds in bold. The winners of each second-round group will join hosts Switzerland at next summer's final tournament.