Report: England MU17s 8-0 Faroe Islands

England MU17s kicked off their 2023-24 UEFA European Under-17 Championship campaign with an 8-0 win over the Faroe Islands.

The Young Lions have travelled to Croatia for their first-round qualifiers where they will play three games in the hope of securing progress to the elite round of qualifying.

The top two in each of the 13 groups, plus the five third-placed teams with the best records against those who have qualified from their pool, will progress to the elite round.

March’s elite round will then determine the 15 teams who will join hosts Cyprus at the UEFA U17 EURO finals.

Manchester United’s Jack Fletcher opened the scoring for England on 12 minutes after being set up by Callum Olusesi.

Tottenham Hotspur forward Mikey Moore then doubled the advantage midway through the half following an assist by Newcastle United’s Leo Shahar.

An own-goal from Jósef Ólavsson made it three just before half-time and within two minutes of the restart Chelsea striker Shumaira Mheuka added his name to the scoresheet after being set up by Moore.

Debutant Jesse Derry, of Crystal Palace, then made it 5-0 after an assist by Joshua King.

Head coach Greg Lincoln made four changes just before the hour mark and two of them grabbed the remaining three goals.

Manchester City’s Divine Mukasa scored on 70 minutes and again on 77 minutes, with his club team-mate Christian Dunbar-McDonald grabbing a goal in-between.

Next up for England MU17s will be Kosovo on Monday (11am GMT) before Group 9 will conclude when the Young Lions take on hosts Croatia on Thursday 9 November (12pm GMT).

England: 1 Thorsten Spike Brits (Manchester City), 2 Leo Shahar (Newcastle United), 3 Christian McFarlane (New York City), 4 Joshua King (Fulham), 5 Stephen Mfuni (Manchester City), 6 Kian Noble (Manchester City), 7 Jesse Derry (Crystal Palace), 8 Jack Fletcher (Manchester United), 9 Shumaira Mheuka (Chelsea), 10 Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur), 11 Callum Olusesi (Tottenham Hotspur)

Substitutes: 14 Luca Fletcher (Manchester City) for Mheuka, 17 Christian Dunbar-McDonald (Manchester City) for Moore 58, 19 Ollie Harrison (Chelsea) for King 58, 20 Divine Mukasa (Manchester City) for J Fletcher 58, 15 Jay Robinson (Southampton) for Derry 69

Substitutes not used: 13 Douglass Lukjanciks (Everton), 12 Leke Drake (Manchester City), 16 Finlay Cartwright (Middlesbrough), 18 Harry Amass (Manchester United)

Head coach: Greg Lincoln

Goals: J Fletcher 12, Moore 24, Ólavsson 44 (og), Mheuka 47, Derry 54, Mukasa 70', 77, Dunbar-McDonald 73

Bookings: Noble 41