In the early hours of Thursday morning (29th), the U21 UEFA Europa League group stage came to a close. In Group D, an intricate "triangular competition" was quietly staged, with Switzerland, Italy and Norway all tied on three points. In one of the highlights of the match, Switzerland U21 lost 1-4 to leader France U21, but with a "goal difference" victory, they managed to squeeze into the second place and qualify for the tournament.
Prior to the match, Italy U21 was seen as a strong candidate to beat Norway U21, who had lost twice, however, surprisingly, Norway U21 won by a narrow margin of 1-0. Meanwhile, France U21 won 4-1 against Switzerland U21, making it three wins out of three.
With Switzerland, Italy and Norway tied on three points, a calculation of head-to-head results was at stake. Switzerland U21 had won against Norway U21, while Italy U21 had won against Switzerland U21, but failed to gain an advantage against Norway U21. Despite having the same head-to-head score and goal difference, Switzerland U21, with a total of 4 goals, were the winners of the group to advance to the last 8, where they will face Spain U21.
In the other Group C match, England U21, who had already locked up the right to qualify in advance, didn't slacken off and beat Germany U21 with a score of 2-0, advancing to the top of the group with a three-game winning record and knocking the previous champion, Germany U21, out of the tournament. Israel U21, on the other hand, beat Czech Republic U21 by a thrilling 1-0 score to advance to the second place in the group.
The U21 UEFA Europa League Top 8 list has now been announced, and the matchups are as follows:
Georgia U21 vs Israel U21
Spain U21 vs Switzerland U21
England U21 vs Portugal U21
