Perfect Croatia into first U19 finals

Croatia have qualified for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship for the first time after beating Scotland 1-0 in Zapresic to top Elite round Group 1 with a perfect record.

The section hosts went into the game after back-to-back wins knowing a point would be enough to progress to the July finals in northern France. Although they started cautiously, Franko Adrijašević's 19th-minute strike settled their nerves and they held on comfortably to gain all three points.

Ivan Grnja's side were wary of the pace Scotland possessed and left the dangerous Robert McHugh and Scott Robinson no space whatsoever in the early stages. Defensive midfielder Adrijašević then gave his side the lead with a powerful effort from 20 metres and Scotland struggled to respond, their frontmen getting no change out of centre-back pairing Tomislav Glumac and captain Renato Kelić.

Indeed, it was Scotland's goalkeeper, Marc McCallum, who was seeing more action and he had to be at his best to keep out Filip Ozobić's 64th-minute free-kick. Goalscorer in the first two games, Anton Maglica nearly added another with time running out but shot wide. Scotland had a late goal disallowed, but Croatia's defending was excellent throughout and coach Grnja congratulated his side, saying: "We worked step by step to come this far and now are one of the best eight teams in Europe."