Netherlands recover to join Northern Ireland

Last season's UEFA European Under-17 Championship runners-up the Netherlands needed a final-day win against Northern Ireland to make their way through to the Elite round. Paul Kee's side also progressed from qualifying round Group 8 and Malta have given themselves a great chance.

Malta wait
A 2-1 defeat by Malta in their second game left the Netherlands three points adrift of Northern Ireland, but a 49th-minute goal on Matchday 3 from Jürgen Locadia, who scored in each of his side's three games in the section, was enough to give the Jong Oranje first place on head-to-head record. Malta ended two points adrift after being held 0-0 by hosts Andorra, but are in pole position to go through as one of the two third-placed sides with the best record against the top pair in their group from the 13 sections, eleven of which are complete.

Duo win
The Netherlands, under the stewardship of Hans Schryver with regular coach Albert Stuivenberg leading last season's squad at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, made a solid start, Jip Bartels, Jürgen Locadia, Stefano Denswil and Fernando Lewis scoring in a 4-0 win against Andorra. Northern Ireland defeated Malta 2-0 with first-half goals from Ryan Wilson and Michael McLennan.

Jong Oranje recover
Kee's team repeated that scoreline against Andorra, Joshua Carson striking on 22 and 25 minutes. Malta secured their first competitive win against the Netherlands at any level, and perhaps their best ever result in this tournament, as Sacha Borg and substitute Dylan D'Agostino converted second-half penalties prior to Locadia's injury-time consolation. The Netherlands saved their campaign against Northern Ireland, while Malta will hope their draw with Andorra does not end theirs. They will know for sure by Sunday having knocked Bulgaria out of the provisional third-place reckoning. Their tally of four points is already their highest-ever in this tournament and Malta have never before progressed through a round of a UEFA youth competition.