Rubensson pips finalists to honour

Seven different players found the target in the UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship finals but none could overtake Sweden striker Elin Rubensson as the season's overall leading scorer.

Spain's Amanda Sampedro, Raquel Pinel and Paloma Lazaro scored in their 3-0 semi-final defeat of the Netherlands before Megan Campbell gave the Republic of Ireland a 1-0 victory against Germany. In the final no one scored in regulation time before Spain beat Ireland 4-1 on penalties but Germany's Lena Petermann, Melanie Leupolz and Silvana Chojnowski ensured they overcame the Netherlands 3-0 for third place.

Lazaro and Petermann's goals were their eighth of the season including qualifying, but that left them one behind Rubensson despite Sweden missing out on the finals. Indeed, she registered in every game of their campaign other than the 2-1 loss to Ireland that ended their hopes.

Rubensson's career tally of 15 in the competition equals the record of Kyra Malinowski, who scored three in the first qualifying round for Germany before her promotion to the U19s. Malinowski managed 12 for the champions last season including a semi-final hat-trick and five in the decider with Spain.