Belgium surprise holders

Belgium showed that they are a side to reckon with by winning the Group 3 mini-tournament with a 100 per cent record to advance to the second round of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

Holders finish second
Defending champions Italy only finished as runners-up but also progressed to the next stage while Georgia finished third and hosts Estonia fourth. Belgium set out their stall from the off with a 3-0 victory against the Georgians. Nicolas Lombaerts opened the scoring and further goals from Michael Lacroix and Anthony Timo wrapped up the three points. Meanwhile Italy began their campaign with a 2-0 success against Estonia courtesy of first-half goals from Tonino Sorrentino and Simone Bentivoglio.

Alberti excellence
However the Italians struggled in their next fixture, beating the feisty Georgians 1-0 in a tough game that saw six players, four Georgians and two Italians, booked. Andrea Alberti scored the only goal of the match after 27 minutes as coach Paolo Berrettini's side secured their place in the next round. Belgium had a more comfortable time of it, seeing off Estonia 3-0 to also cruise into the next round. Lombaerts again got on the scoresheet alongside Gregory Rondeux and Luwamo Garcia.

Fine performances
In the final round of games, Belgium capped a fine series of performances with an impressive 3-1 win against the Italians which secured top spot. Mathieu Dejonckheere opened the scoring after just eleven minutes and Garcia doubled the Red Devils' advantage just before the half-hour mark.

Overmeire clincher
Italy threatened a comeback when Sorrentino scored two minutes before half-time but Belgium secured the victory with a 65th-minute Killian Overmeire strike. In the other final day game Georgia thrashed Estonia 8-1 - with Sandro Iashvili scoring four.

Too little too late
However it was too little too late for the Georgians whose overall record was not sufficient to keep them in contention to qualify for the next round as the best third-placed country from round one. Sweden currently occupy pole position in that race.

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.