WU17s seal EURO Finals spot

England will be heading to the UEFA Women’s U17 EURO Finals in Northern Ireland this May, after a 3-2 win over Italy on Thursday morning made it three wins from three in their final qualifying round.

Kerri Welsh’s Young Lionesses topped their League A group table to become one of eight teams heading to the Finals, which will take place from 4-17 May, and will also act as a qualifying stage for the 2026 FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup.

The draw for the Finals will take place at 2pm GMT on Wednesday 25 March, with the seven qualified nations joining hosts Northern Ireland in two groups of four before the top two teams in each group progress to the semi-finals.

England had already beaten Türkiye and Croatia in their first two games, which meant they went into Thursday’s game top of the table and knowing that a draw would be enough to take them to the Finals.

And they were given an early boost when Freya Hirons put her side ahead, after being set up Bryony Brodie which set England on their way.

But Italy found an equaliser just after the 20-minute mark when Matilde Oddina levelled things up with a direct free-kick to send the sides in level at half time.

It was Brodie who restored England’s lead five minutes after the restart with her own free-kick, before she added her second of the game just after the hour mark with Hirons returning the earlier favour with the assist.

Italy made it interesting in the last ten minutes when Angelica Ferranti made it 3-2 in the 79th minute, but England saw the game out, including almost ten minutes of stoppage time, to end their week with a perfect record.

England: 1 Evie Mitchell (Manchester United), 2 Zoe Ciccardini (Cheslea), 3 Katie Scott (Aston Villa) (c), 4 Romia Gagliano (FC Basel), 5 Lucy Robinson (Manchester United), 7 Mia Dixon (Arsenal), 10 Bryony Brodie (Arsenal), 11 Cairo Antoine (Arsenal), 15 Amarachukwu Nwankwo (Manchester City), 17 Sophia Burton (Manchester City), 20 Freya Hirons (Manchester City)

Substitutes: 19 Chelsea N’Drin (Liverpool) for Hirons 66, 16 Niobe Mellor-Antill (Manchester City) for Scott 77, 18 Aysia Matabaro (Chelsea) for Dixon 89, 12 Maisie Brickell (Chelsea) for Antoine 89

Substitutes not used: 6 Emilie Gay (Brighton & Hove Albion), 8 Annabelle Tang (Arsenal), 9 Abbie Jones (Sheffield United), 13 Erin Walker (Manchester City), 14 Alexandra De Beaulac (Players Development Academy)

Head coach: Kerri Welsh

Goals: Freya Hirons 9, Bryony Brodie 50, 63