The Second Round of qualifying saw some shock results and the early exit of some pre-tournament favourites such as Spain, Portugal and holders France.

John Peacock's England won their qualifying group in style, winning all three of their matches. First up were the highly-rated Serbia & Montenegro side, and it was they who took the lead after just a few minutes.

The hosts reacted in positive fashion and goals from Myles Weston, Theo Walcott and Joe Garner gave the Three Lions all three points.

James Vaughan gave England the lead on his first start in the second qualifying match against Northern Ireland and further strikes from Wolves' Mark Davies, who captained the side on his home ground, and Chelsea defender Michael Mancienne meant that England only needed a draw from the final game against the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish frustrated England in the first half and it took the Three Lions until just after the break to breach the stubborn visiting defence.

Hogan Ephraim and Theo Walcott put England on the verge of qualification which was made sure with Vaughan's second of the mini-tournament late on.

The French, winners of last season's edition, got off to a bad start in qualifying Group 6, losing to both Turkey and Azerbaijan and in the end it was the Turkish, playing on home soil, who qualified by winning all three of their games.

Group 3 was decided, like a number of other sections, on the last day with a late goal deciding the outcome of the qualifying berth. The group had got off to a surprise start when the Ukraine defeated 2002/03 champions Portugal in the opening game and it was they who led before the final round of matches.

Ukraine then slipped, only drawing 0-0 with the already-eliminated Hungary, which meant that hosts Croatia only needed to win their final game against the Portuguese.

Dejan Lovren gave the home side the lead, Portugal equalised through Martins Carriço but Stipe Glasovic struck a last-minute winner to secure Croatia's place in the Finals.

This will be Croatia's first appearance in a UEFA U17 Championship and that goes for Belarus, who beat Russia and Group 4 hosts Bulgaria to qualify with a game to spare.

There was drama in Groups 5 and 7 as once again sides left it late to grab a place in the Finals next month.

Israel had pulled off a surprise in winning their opening two games in Group 5 against hosts Austria and Greece and as such they only needed a point from their final match with Romania.

However, with Greece beating Austria, Israel were trailing the Romanians 1-0 thanks to Andrei Mutulescu's strike 13 minutes from time. Then, deep into injury time added on for stoppages, Israel won a penalty which Bar Buzaglo converted.

Hosts Germany seemed to have Group 7 wrapped up after they won their opening two matches, beating the Czechs 2-1 and Latvia 4-0.

In their final match they faced Holland, who had opened with a big win over Latvia but then were beaten by the Czech Republic.

That meant that the Dutch needed to beat the Germans to edge past the hosts and take the one qualifying place on offer.

They got off to a good start when Vorthoren gave the Dutch the lead after just seven minutes. The Germans soon hit back, however and after goals either side of half time from Sergej Evljuskin and Sebastian Tyrala, qualification was looked a long way off for Holland.

With five minutes to go, Anita Vurnon equalised and then, with the clock showing 80 minutes, Jeffrey Sarpong pounced to give his side the three points they needed and the better head-to-head record in the group.

Maybe the biggest surprise of all was left until last when Switzerland, who defeated Wayne Rooney's England en route to the 2001/02 title, knocked out Spain, traditionally one of Europe's strongest sides at youth level.

The Spanish and Swiss had both won their opening games, but the Swiss had a crucial one goal advantage in goal difference proved to be telling as the two sides' drew when they met each other in their second game.

Alberto Bueno Calvo gave the hosts the lead in the first half but Beqim Halimi equalised for the Swiss with 12 minutes left, which meant that the Spanish had a mountain to climb in their final game.

They needed to win and hope that either the Swiss failed to beat Denmark, or should Switzerland win, that they overturned that one-goal lead.

Spain duly beat Poland, but only by a solitary Bueno Calvo goal, and thus their hopes rested on the Danes taking a point off Switzerland.

Ivan Rakitic gave the Swiss an early lead but Nicklas Bendtner equalised for Denmark with nine minutes remaining, meaning the Swiss slipped behind Denmark in the provisional standings. But then Halimi again scored in the nick of time, meaning Spain fail to qualify for the U17 Finals for the first time.