England MU19s 0-0 Switzerland

England men’s under-19s had to settle for a point against Switzerland at the Skytteholms IP venue in Stockholm after closely-fought contest.

Ian Foster’s side kicked off their UEFA Under-19 European Championship qualifying campaign with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Andorra on Wednesday.

Switzerland had endured a 2-1 defeat to hosts Sweden earlier this week so today’s result means England are currently four points, with the other two teams in the group playing later today.

The Young Lions will then finish their group against the hosts Sweden on Tuesday 16 November (5pm GMT kick-off), knowing a top two finish will see them progress to the elite round.

In the elite round, played in the spring, the qualifiers and the two teams given byes compete in seven mini-tournament groups of four, with the winners joining the hosts Slovakia in the UEFA Under-19 European Championship finals next year.

There was little to separate the two sides in the first half this afternoon. England had four attempts in the opening 45 minutes but none of them were on target, with two wide of the mark and another two blocked. Whilst Switzerland failed to have an effort at goal.

It was a similar story at the start of the second period and the first save from either goalkeeper was not until the 57th minute when Harvey Vale forced a stop with a shot to the near post from 12 yards out.

There were more openings as the game went on but clear-cut chances were few and far between and in the end both teams had to settle for a point.

England: 1 Matthew Cox (Brentford), 2 Daniel Oyegoke (Brentford), 3 Callum Doyle (Sunderland, loan from Manchester City), 4 Carney Chukwuemeka (Aston Villa), 5 Levi Samuels-Colwill (Huddersfield Town, loan from Chelsea) ©, 6 Jamal Baptiste (West Ham United), 8 Alex Scott (Bristol City), 9 Dane Scarlett (Tottenham Hotspur), 10 Aaron Ramsey (Aston Villa), 11 Harvey Vale (Chelsea), 12 Luke Chambers (Liverpool)

Substitutes: 14 Nile John (Tottenham Hotspur) for Chambers 71

Substitutes not used: 13 Tobi Oluwayemi (Celtic), 7 Sam Iling-Junior (Juventus), 15 Ronnie Edwards (Peterborough United), 16 Charlie Webster (Chelsea), 17 Jude Soonsup-Bell (Chelsea), 18 James Balagizi (Liverpool), 19 Daniel Jebbison (Burton Albion, loan from Sheffield United), 20 Omari Giraud-Hutchinson (Arsenal)

Head coach: Ian Foster