Germany dethrone France on penalties

Germany won their first UEFA European Under-17 Championship for 14 years at Hungary 2023, edging out holders France on penalties in the final.

France, who had themselves beaten holders Netherlands in the 2022 final, had already lost to Germany in the group stage. But the final could have gone either way before somehow ending 0-0, with Germany triumphant 5-4 on penalties.

Germany had served notice of their intentions in the group stage, beating Portugal 4-0 even before their 3-1 comeback win against France, and then defeating Scotland for good measure. France drew 1-1 with Portugal to take second on goal difference.

In Group A, hosts Hungary began with a 3-0 win against finals debutants Wales but both were to end three points adrift of Poland (who beat Hungary 5-3) and the Republic of Ireland.

Spain topped Group B, with Serbia second a point ahead of Italy and Slovenia. England and Switzerland went through from Group D with a game to spare as both defeated the Netherlands (missing their first final since 2017) and Croatia.

Poland, scorers of ten group goals, kept it up in the quarter-finals as they beat Serbia 3-2 with an 89th-minute winner. Germany ousted Switzerland on penalties, Spain defeated Ireland 3-0 and France edged out England with a last-minute spot kick. England did beat Switzerland 4-2 to join the four semi-finalists in the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

In those semi-finals, there was another high-scoring game involving Poland but this time, despite leading twice, they lost 5-3 to Germany. France fell behind to Spain with 21 minutes left but recovered to win 3-1.

Germany, however, were ultimately to celebrate in Budapest as France missed a shoot-out kick that would have clinched victory before a loss in sudden death. Paris Brunner, joint top scorer on four goals, was named Player of the Tournament.