England U17s ended their Euro campaign on a high after a 3-1 victory over Sweden in Dublin.
Steve Cooper’s team knew they needed a win to stand any chance of progressing to the quarter finals, but with France beating the already-qualified Netherlands by 2-0 in the other group B game, it was out of England’s hands.
But the Young Lions stuck to their own target to claim three points and ensure they head home with a win under their belts after Sam Greenwood’s third of the tournament was supplemented by second-half strikes from Teddy Jenks and Joe Gelhardt.
England made a strong start to the game, as they knew they had to, and were rewarded for their early pressure when Greenwood put them ahead with a close range finish after Sam Robinson had set him up.
But they paid for not taking full advantage of their dominance in the first 20 minutes and were pegged back just before the half-hour mark when Tim Prica levelled things after being set up by Anthony Elanga.
Both teams enjoyed opportunities in the second half, without creating anything too clear cut, although the Young Lions always looked the more dangerous.
And they were back ahead in the 76th minute when Teddy Jenks scored his first goal for England before fellow substitute Gelhardt added a third to ensure a positive end to this year’s competition.
England: 13 James Trafford (Manchester City), 3 Haydon Roberts (Brighton & Hove Albion), 4 Miguel Azeez (Arsenal), 6 Teden Mengi (Manchester United), 7 Nonso Madueke (PSV Eindhoven), 8 Jensen Weir (Wigan Athletic), 9 Sam Greenwood (Arsenal), 11 Morgan Rogers (WBA) (c), 15 Matt Bondswell (RB Leipzig), 19 Samson Robinson (Manchester City), 20 Cole Palmer (Manchester City)
Substitutes: 14 Ben Knight (Manchester City) for Palmer 46, 18 Jeremy Sarmiento for Rogers 59, 16 Joe Gelhardt (Wigan Athletic) for Greenwood 65, 17 Lewis Bate (Chelsea) for Robinson 71, 12 Teddy Jenks (Brighton & Albion) for Weir 72
Substitutes not used: 1 Louie Moulden (Manchester City), 2 Malachi Fagan-Walcott (Tottenham Hotspur)
Head coach: Steve Cooper
Goals: Sam Greenwood 15, Teddy Jenks 76, Joe Gelhardt 82
Cautions: N/A
Sweden: 1 Oliver Dovin, 3 Noah Elle, 5 Niclas Bergmark, 6 Dennis Collander (c), 8 Tim Prica, 9 Anthony Elanga, 11 Isak Jansson, 13 David Edvardsson, 14 Aleksander Nilsson, 16 Taulant Peci, 199 Hussein Ali
Substitutes: 18 Sebastian Nanasi for Prica 67, 20 Oscar Uddenas for Jansson 67, 2 Viktor Widell for Peci 81, 17 Armin Gigovic for Edvardsson 82
Substitutes not used: 12 Victor Stulic, 7 Melker Roslin, 10 William Milovanovic, 15 Totte Holmkvist
Coach: Christofer Augustsson
Goals: Tim Prica 28
Cautions: Nilsson 72, Widell 85
