Report: England MU17s 0-2 Luxembourg

England men’s under-17s suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Luxembourg, meaning they will not qualify for this summer’s UEFA Under-17 European Championships.

With only three teams in Group 5 due to Russia’s omission and England MU17s losing 3-1 to France on Saturday, Tom Curtis’ side needed a good result against Luxembourg to stand a chance of qualifying for this summer’s EUROs and then hope other results went their way.

But a first-half penalty from Tim Flick and a second-half goal from Thomas Souchard ensured the Young Lions would not be in the tournament in Israel.

England had a decent start, as Chelsea’s Tudor Mendel-Idowu forced Tiago Pereira Cardoso into a save after just five minutes.

Leo Castledine also had a wayward effort just after the quarter of an hour mark but it was Luxembourg who were to take the lead from the spot courtesy of Flick’s penalty into the bottom left corner.

Stoke City’s Emre Tezgel had efforts either side of the break but it was Luxembourg who were to get the next goal thanks to Souchard, eight minutes after the restart.

Captain Joshua Feeney forced Pereira Cardoso into a save soon after, as did Castledine and a few others midway through the second half, but the Young Lions’ EURO qualification campaign was to end in disappointment. 

The Young Lions also ended the match with nine men after Castledine and Tottenham forward Jamie Donley were sent over in the 87 and 89th minutes respectively.

England: 13 True Grant (Manchester City); 12 Habeeb Ogunneye (Manchester United), 15 Ishe Samuels- Smith (Everton), 3 Jake Batty (Blackburn Rovers); 17 Leo Castledine (Chelsea), 4 Rio Kyerematen (Tottenham Hotspur), 6 Joshua Feeney (Aston Villa), 8 Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), 16 Tudor Mendel-Idowu (Chelsea); 10 Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), 19 Emre Tezgel (Stoke City)

Substitutes: 14 Calum Scanlon (Liverpool) for Ogunneye 32, 11 William Alves (Leicester City) for Medel-Idowu 46, 18 Archie Gray (Leeds United) for O’Reilly 58, 20 Jamie Donley (Tottenham Hotspur) for Batty 69, 9 Dominic Ballard (Southampton FC) for Kyerematen 69

Substitutes not used: 22 Ben Cisse (West Bromwich Albion), 2 Jayden Barber (Aston Villa), 5 Tyler Fredricson (Manchester United), 7 Amario Cozier-Duberry (Arsenal)

Bookings: Emre Tezgel 28, Leo Castledine 81

Red cards: Leo Castledine 87, Jamie Donley 89

Head coach: Tom Curtis