Luxembourg share glee with Greece

Ireland denied
In the U17 finals as hosts in 2006, the only time Luxembourg had previously moved on in a youth tournament was in the 1984 U18 Championship when they lost 3-1 on aggregate to the Netherlands but their opponents were forced to forfeit. But staging this mini-tournament, Luxembourg drew with Ireland and Greece before beating Andorra 3-1 to go into the Elite round. Greece overcame Ireland 1-0 to finish top.

Greece top
Greece moved to the top of the group on Matchday 1 with a 4-0 win against Andorra; Nikolaos Karelis scored on two and 66 minutes before Panagiotis Stamogiannos made it three and Nuno Miguel Da Silva Pereira put through his own goal. Ireland seemed to be on course to beat Luxembourg with a first-half Michael Rafter goal but two minutes from time Tom Laterza equalised.

Hendrick hat-trick
The hosts then held Greece 0-0 two days later to allow Ireland to vault into first place by beating Andorra 5-1. Jeffrey Hendrick's strike on 37 minutes was cancelled out early in the second half by Canier Llanes but Hendrick restored Ireland's lead. Daniel Joyce made it 3-1 and Hendrick completed his hat-trick with a penalty before substitute Ryan Connolly struck to take Ireland top on goals scored.

Home heroics
Ireland, who reached the finals for the first time last season and have played in the last four Elite rounds, now only needed a draw against Greece to continue in the competition but lost to a fourth-minute Alexandros Tachmazidis goal. That meant a win for Luxembourg against Andorra would be enough and Aydine Correia set them on their way with two first-half goals. Da Silva pulled one back nine minutes after the restart but Maurice Deville swiftly responded to send Luxembourg through at Ireland's expense.