Armenia and Ukraine advance

Armenia and Ukraine may have ended France's bid to qualify for a second consecutive UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals by taking the top two places in Group 11 in the first qualifying round of the 2003/04 edition.

Opening wins
After the first set of matches, though it seemed that France were in a good position to go through at the expense of group hosts Ukraine. Jimmy Briand's 54th-minute goal gave France an opening 1-0 victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Borispol and Ndoumbouk Balep Ba struck on 65 minutes for Armenia to edge out Ukraine in Kiev.

France held
Armenia's 2002/03 campaign consisted of defeats against Italy, Slovakia and Lithuania, and had only one victory to show for their efforts since winning their preliminary round group in 1997/98, but by holding France 0-0 in Borispol they left themselves just a point from advancing.

Bosnians eliminated
Later that day in Kiev Ukraine revived their campaign by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-3. Oleksandr Yatsenko scored either side of half-time to put the home team 2-0 up, but on 54 minutes Admir Dervisi - only just on as a substitute - pulled one back with a penalty and nine minutes later Josip Cutuk equalised. With a quarter-hour to go through, Ukraine were back ahead after an Oleksandr Aliyev penalty, and the same player scored again two minutes later, to ensure Dervisi's second successful spot kick was only a consolation.

Armenia advance
In the deciding matches, Armenia booked their place in the second qualifying round as they overcame already-eliminated Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1 in Borispol. The game was marred 18 minutes in when Dervisi and Armenia's Armen Petrosyan were both sent off, and it seemed that Bosnia-Herzegovina could scupper their opponents when Damir Tusunovic put them ahead two minutes before half-time. But interval substitute Zhora Hovhannisyan turned the game by scoring on 51 and 69 minutes, and Mkhitar Grigoryan and Edgar Manucharyan completed the victory.

Ukraine delight
The crucial game was in Kiev, though, where Ukraine needed to beat France to pip them to the next stage. It seemed it was France who were in line to progress, however, when Arnold Muvemba gave them a 44th-minute lead. But just as in Borispol, the game turned at the interval, and five minutes into the second half, Aliyev converted a penalty equaliser and 14 minutes later scored what proved to be the winner, France's misery compounded by Anthony Scaramozzino's added-time sending-off.

Second qualifying round
Ukraine and Armenia will now enter the second qualifying round draw while France must wait and see if they can finish with the best record of any third-placed side across the 12 first-round groups. If they do so they will take the final place in the next round and thus far they are top of the rankings, having edged out Bulgaria on fair play ranking. However there are still another eight groups left to play.