Ukraine thwarted at the last

Ukraine missed out on a place in the finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Italy this May - despite not losing throughout their campaign - after only managing a 0-0 draw with Hungary in their final Elite round Group 3 qualifying match.

Goal difference
Ukraine, who reached the finals in 2004, went into Saturday's match at the top of the pool with four points, ahead of Croatia on goal difference, having beaten Portugal 3-0 in the qualifying round and then drawn 1-1 with Croatia.

Croatia qualify
Ukraine only needed to better Croatia's result against Portugal in the day's other match to go through, but Hungary, who had lost their two previous games, had other ideas, defending resolutely throughout to keep the score at 0-0. Croatia therefore qualified for the finals in place of Ukraine thanks to their 2-1 victory over Portugal.