Holders move onwards behind Turkey

UEFA European Under-17 Championship holders Germany needed a last-day comeback win against Turkey to join their opponents in progressing from qualifying round Group 5 in FYR Macedonia.

Three-way tie-break
A 1-0 loss to Finland on Matchday 2 had left Germany in third place and two minutes in against Turkey they went behind to a Taskin Calis goal. Shawn Parker equalised immediately, however, and with 15 minutes left Alexander Hahn clinched a 2-1 win for Germany, who finished level on six points with Turkey and Finland. In the three-way head-to-head tie-break, Turkey ended top and Germany second, but Finland are in a good position to join them in the Elite round as one of the two third-placed teams in the 13 groups with the best record against the leading pair in their section.

Väyrynen winner
The crucial result turned out to be Turkey's opening 2-0 win against Finland, with goals from Artun Akçakin and Calis. Germany overcame FYR Macedonia by the same scoreline, Parker striking twice in the last 17 minutes. Turkey then beat FYR Macedonia 2-1, Akçakin scoring twice, the second a penalty, before Destan Hadzija's consolation, while Tim Väyrynen's goal five minutes from the end gave Finland victory against Germany.

Finland victory
Finland went into Matchday 3 knowing that a one-goal Germany victory against Turkey would leave them unable to finish in the top two, but still did what they had to do by beating FYR Macedonia 5-2. Mikael Lähde's opener was cancelled out by Hadzija on the stroke of half-time, but Väyrynen scored on 47 minutes and added a penalty before Viktor Angelov pulled one back after an hour. Substitute Jaako Hietikko and Jusu Karvonen made sure of Finland's victory late on.