Spain, England on collision course

England beat Spain in last season's UEFA European Under-17 Championship final but only one of the competition's two most consistent qualifiers will make it to Serbia as they are matched in elite round Group 5, which begins on Saturday in Belgium, with Northern Ireland also involved.

Belgium
Belgium have been in good form, winning the Minsk tournament in January with a 3-1 defeat of Serbia in the final and the next month coming top in La Manga, drawing with Poland and Denmark before beating Norway 2-1. Their only reverse was a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands on 8 February, Eric Abrams's side caught out in the first half. "I had 22 players and I wanted to see them all in action," he said. "In the first half I wanted to try out some things, with an eye on the elite round."

Qualifying round: Lithuania 5-2, Denmark 0-2, Wales 4-0 (Group 8 runners-up)

Key players: Bernard Malanda-Adje (defender, LOSC Lille Métropole), Umberto Carvalho (midfielder, KRC Genk), Marvin Ofori-Appiah (midfielder, KRC Genk)

Spain
Ginés Meléndez's side warmed up with home friendlies against Georgia last month, winning 2-1 thanks to Federico Vico and Iker Hernández goals before a 0-0 draw. Training sessions have been attended by the likes of Vicente del Bosque and former U16 European champion Iker Casillas, just as the whole FIFA World Cup squad watched last year's narrow 2-1 final loss to England in Vaduz last May. Winger Gerard Deulofeu impressed in that tournament and is back again this year. Meléndez – whose nation have only missed the junior finals once since 1987 – said: "This is going to be the most difficult qualification campaign I've ever experienced at this level. I told the players that they will have to fight hard in order to qualify and to lift Spain to where it deserves to be."

Qualifying round: Moldova 4-1, Finland 3-0, Russia 2-1 (Group 13 winners)

Key players: Alfonso Herrero (goalkeeper, Real Madrid CF), Carlos Garrido (defender, Sevilla FC), Pablo Iñiguez (midfielder, Villarreal CF), Gerard Deulofeu (forward, FC Barcelona)

England
Only twice since taking over in 2003 has John Peacock not managed to take England to the finals, last season producing his first title. England competed in the Algarve tournament in February and drew 1-1 with Romania and 2-2 against Portugal either side of a 3-1 loss to Germany which ended a long unbeaten run. "We rotated players round during the three games and everyone has had a fair amount of game time, which was the main objective of the trip," said Peacock. Defender Nathaniel Chalobah remains from the 2010 squad, while injured forward Matthias Fanimo has been replaced by Jake Caskey – son of 1993 European U18 Championship winning goalscorer Darren Caskey.

Qualifying round: Sweden 3-0, Georgia 1-1, Poland 1-0 (Group 3 winners)

Key players: Nathaniel Chalobah (defender, Chelsea FC), Hallam Hope (forward, Everton), Raheem Sterling (midfielder, Liverpool FC)

Northern Ireland
Manager Paul Kee has challenged his players to "showcase their talent" in this group. "It is a huge opportunity for our young players to increase their profile and experience the intensity of football at this level," said Kee, whose team's only fixtures since the qualifying round have been games against Celtic FC U19 and U18 squads during a Scottish training camp in February. Kee's plans have been hampered by the absence of captain Luke McCullough, the Manchester United FC defender sidelined with a groin injury.

Qualifying round: Montenegro 0-0, Azerbaijan 6-0, Portugal 1-3 (Group 5 runner-sup)

Key players: David Morgan (Nottingham Forest FC), Shay McCartan (Burnley FC), Josh Barton (Aston Villa FC), Dougie Wilson (Hull City AFC)