Poland in command of Group 9

Poland and mini-tournament hosts Finland made their way through UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round Group 9 at the expense of Israel and Albania.

Winning starts
Israel qualified in 2005 and have proved strong at this level, but lost their opening fixture 3-0 to Poland. Robert Trznadel took four minutes to give Poland the lead and in added time substitutes Lukasz Szafran and Alabidyn S-latef Zeyn made the scoreline more emphatic. Finland also enjoyed success on Matchday 1 lead as they defeated Albania 4-1. Teemu Pukki struck on seven and 39 minutes and Jaakko Ruuskanen followed his 51st-minute penalty with another goal soon after. Hanri Toivomäki provided Albania with some consolation with a late own goal.

Poland through
Two days later Israel took a 15th-minute advantage against Albania through Liron Diament but Jurgen Agolli made it 1-1 five minutes later. Israel ended with ten men after Zion Tzemah received a 64th-minute red card. Poland then secured their progress as Alan Stulin and Michal Janota scored in a 2-0 win against Finland.

Finland pip Israel
Finland now knew they had to secure a point against Israel to progress and went ahead after 29 minutes through Pukki. Raz Cohen equalised four minutes from the end but Israel could not score again and will take no further part in the competition. Poland ensured first place with two David Blacha goals against Albania.