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England and Germany to battle for European Under-21 title on Saturday

England beat Netherlands 2-1 in semi-finals with Harvey Elliott scoring twice. Germany beat France 3-0

Jun 26, 2025 04:44 280

England and Germany to battle for European Under-21 title on Saturday  - 1

England and Germany will play in the final of the European Under-21 Championship, which is being held in Slovakia, BTA reported.

The trophy match is on Saturday, June 28, at 10:00 p.m. in Bratislava.

With two goals from Harvey Elliott, England won 2-1 over the Netherlands and will try to defend their title from 2023, when they defeated Spain in the final in Batumi.

The Germans, who were eliminated last in the group two years ago, now beat France 3-0 at the stadium in Kosice.

England won the tournament for the first time in 39 years in 2023, and now under the leadership of Lee Carsley they can repeat the feat of the back-to-back triumphs in 1982 and 1984.

The Netherlands goalkeeper Robin Rufs made two excellent saves before the break to deny Elliott, and by the end of the first half both teams were struggling in the sweltering heat of the stadium in Bratislava.

The start of the second half was a bit of a letdown for "Tulips", who could have opened the scoring through their left-back Jan Maatsen, but James Breedel prevented the goal.

In the 62nd minute, Harvey Elliott opened the scoring with his third goal of the tournament, receiving a pass from Elliot Anderson. 10 minutes later, Noah Ohio equalized, capitalizing on a mistake by defender Charlie Cresswell.

But five minutes before the end of the match, the Liverpool striker scored the second goal with a precise shot into the bottom right corner, thus qualifying the Three Lions for a second consecutive final.

The German youth team showed excellent efficiency and pulled 2-0 after a quarter of an hour of play. Niklas Wieper opened the scoring in the 8th minute after a pass from Voltemade, who doubled the lead in the 14th minute with a precise finishing shot.

France could also have scored, but Mathis Tell, Ismael Doucoure and substitute Tierno Barry missed. So in the 3rd minute of added time, Brian Gruda made it 3:0 for Germany.