2024 Under-19 EURO semi-final preview: Italy vs Spain, France vs Ukraine

The 2024 Under-19 EURO semi-finals are taking place on Thursday 25 July as Group A winners Italy face Group B runners-up Spain before Group B winners France meet Group A runners-up Ukraine for a place in Sunday's final at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast.

Italy vs Spain

Italy came out of top when the sides met in last year's semi-final with the Azzurrini going on to lift the trophy in Malta. Luca Lipani, who now captains Bernardo Corradi's Italy, headed the late winning goal to eliminate José Lana's Spain.

Lipani and Fabio Chiarodia are the two Italy players remaining from their 2023 squad, while three players in Spain's 2024 squad featured in last year's fixture: Dani Rodríguez, Assane Diao and Yarek Gasiorowski – the latter a key player in Lana's second Spain U19 EURO finals bid, having scored three goals in qualification and one against Türkiye in the group stage.

"Play with a smile and enjoy every moment," was Corradi's pre-tournament advice to his team, invaluable experience from the former Lazio, Valencia and Manchester City forward who also represented Italy at EURO 2004.

In the group stage, Italy beat Norway and hosts Northern Ireland in their first two matches before a heavily rotated starting XI lost to Ukraine on Matchday 3. Meanwhile, Spain remain unbeaten. An opening victory against Denmark was followed by draws with Türkiye and France.

Despite conceding a late equaliser against France and letting slip first place in Group B as a consequence, Spain centre-back Wassim Keddari said: "We feel amazing, we worked as a team, we competed as a team. We need to be more aggressive in duels, but we're playing in the right way and we need to keep going."

This will be the Azzurrini's seventh U19 semi-final. They have won five of the previous six, claiming the title in 2003 and 2023. Spain, however, have lost only two of their 11 semi-finals and have gone on to lift the trophy eight times, most recently in 2019.

Did you know? Francesco Camarda scored twice on Matchday 2 to become the youngest-ever goalscorer at an U19 EURO, aged 16 years 130 days. In June, he won the U17 EURO in Cyprus, scoring four goals. He could become the first player to win both the U17 and U19 EURO in the same year.

France vs Ukraine

On the back of opening victories against Türkiye and Denmark, France coach Bernard Diomède rotated his line-up for their Matchday 3 draw with Spain to "reward players for their perfect attitude and their hard work in training".

The former France winger, who was part of Les Bleus' victorious squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, boasts the highest-scoring team in the tournament with eight goals in the group stage, two of those coming from Saimon Bouabre, who is in the running for tournament top scorer.

Following goalless draws against hosts Northern Ireland and Norway in their first two matches, Ukraine coach Dmytro Mikhailenko highlighted his team's effectiveness in the final third as an area to focus on. However, their 3-2 defeat of Italy on Matchday 3 could the goalscoring spark his side have been seeking heading into the knockouts.

This will be France's 11th semi-finals appearance, but they have reached the final on only four occasions. They have gone on to lift the trophy three times – the first of those in 2005, the last time the tournament was held in Northern Ireland.

Ukraine, meanwhile, have reached three previous semi-finals, in 2004, 2009 and 2018, reaching the final in 2009 when they went on to claim the trophy on home soil.

Did you know? Midfielder Kristian Shevchenko is the son of Ukraine's all-time leading goalscorer Andriy Shevchenko, a 2002/03 UEFA Champions League winner with Milan and currently president of the Ukrainian Association of Football.

When and where is the 2024 Under-19 EURO final?

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The final will take place at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast, at 20:00 CET on Sunday 28 July.