Italy defeated Portugal in Limassol to win the UEFA European Under-17 Championship for the first time, led by Federico Coletta’s opening goal and a double from Francesco Camarda.
Italy launched an early offensive and both Mattia Mosconi and Camarda came near before the first goal, which came in the seventh minute. The Italian squad was unchanged from their semifinal victory against Denmark. The ball was played to birthday boy Cristian Cama out on the left after Emanulele Sala picked up a stray pass inside the Portugal half. Coletta, the goal scorer against Denmark, met Cama’s curving cross with a bullet header.
When a Portugal defender miskicked, Camarda almost had a second, but Diogo Ferreira made a good save. Soon after, though, Camarda received a pass down the line from Cama on the left, cut in, dribbled past two Portugal players, and crashed the ball home at the near post, leaving the goalie helpless.
After that, Cama went near to scoring a goal of his own, but Portugal began to pose a danger later in the first half, mainly via Rodrigo Mora and Geovany Quenda. But five minutes into the second half, Mosconi found a way to put through Camarda, who scored Italy’s third goal and his own.
After that third goal, Italy even had more opportunities, while Rodrigo Mora in particular continued to strive for more to add to his finals-leading total of five. However, the great Portugal team had a tough evening, and the 7,120 Italy supporters at Limassol Stadium were celebrating well in advance of the game’s conclusion.
line -ups
Italy: Coletta, Liberali (Martini 70), Di Nunzio (Garofalo 70), Benjamin, Verda, Natali, Cama (Lauricella 79), Sala (Lontani 79), Camarda (Campaniello 90), Mosconi
Portugal: Diogo Ferreira; Edgar Mota, Rui Silva, Rafael Mota, Martim Cunha; Rodrigo Mota, Eduardo Felicíssimo (David Daiber 71), João Simões (Tiago Ferreira 63); Geovany Quenda (João Trovisco 71), Gabriel Silva (Afonso Patrão 63), Eduardo Fernandes (Cardoso Varela 63).
The European men’s under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA compete in the annual FIFA European Under-17 Championship, also known as the FIFA Under-17 Championship. With nine titles, Spain is the most successful team in this sport. Right now, Germany is the champion. The German U-17 squad made history in 2023 by being the first team in this age level to win both the European and World Championships in the same year.
Three phases make up the current competition format: a qualifying round, an elite round, and a final event. The elite round is held in the spring, whereas the first stage is held in the fall of the year prior. The host team competes in the final event in May alongside the champions of each elite round group. Players born on or after August 1st of the year they turned 17 were allowed to compete up until the 1997 tournament.
Since the 1998 competition, the deadline has been reverted to January 1st. The competition’s name was changed to the European Under-17 Championship in 2001–2002, although the eligibility requirements remained the same.
The annual international youth football championship for the men’s under-17 national teams of Europe, organized by UEFA, took place in 2024 and was also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2024. It was the 21st edition of the competition (40th if the Under-16 era is also included).Cyprus is the tournament’s host nation. Players born on or after January 1, 2007, are eligible to play for any of the 16 teams competing in the tournament.
Germany was the defending champion after defeating France in the 2023 final via penalty shootout, but was unable to defend their title after being disqualified from the championship match. Hungary and Cyprus were chosen to host the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final events in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
All 55 UEFA countries participated in the competition, and while hosts Cyprus automatically advanced, the other 54 teams had to compete in the qualifying round to determine the final 15 spots in the tournament. The qualifying round was held in autumn 2023, and the Elite round was held in spring 2024.
The annual European championship football competition for national teams of women under seventeen years old is known as the FIFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship, or simply FIFA Women’s Under-17 Championship. It is hosted by FIFA.
The competition was authorized by the UEFA Executive Committee on May 22, 2006, and it was first held in 2007–08. In even years, there is also a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament. Teams from national under-17 teams that are members of UEFA, the European governing body, are eligible to register for the competition. With eight championships, Germany is the most successful team in this tournament so far.
