2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Holland
10-23 June 2007

England will be one of eight teams competing at next summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship after their 3-0 play-off victory over Germany.

Theo Walcott's brace in Leverkusen on Tuesday night sealed a place at the Finals in Holland which begin on 10 June 2007.

As hosts the Dutch qualify automatically and England will be facing them in a friendly in Alkmaar next month as part of their preparations.

The six other places, like the Three Lions', were determined by two-legged play-off matches this week and now the final line-up of teams is complete.

There were two major turnarounds in the other ties. Sweden took a 3-0 lead from Serbia last Friday night, but in the return on Tuesday the Serbs thumped the home side 5-0 to book their place in the Finals. While Portugal suffered a 4-1 defeat in Russia in the first leg, but responded in style in the Porto return, coming away with a 3-0 win to edge the tie on away goals.

The Czech Republic and Italy have also made it to the Netherlands with narrow one-goal wins. The Czechs beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1 in the first match but found themselves a goal down and heading out in Sarajevo until an equaliser seven minutes from time clinched the play-off 3-2 on aggregate.

A 0-0 draw between Italy and Spain last Friday meant that it would go down to the wire in Palencia on Tuesday. Two first half goals from the visitors left Spain needing three to go through but their 60th minute strike was mere consolation.

The two remaining ties, played a day after the others were nicely poised going into the second-leg; both Belgium v Bulgaria and France v Israel both ended 1-1 on Saturday.

The second games saw Israel completely tear up the form book, disposing of the French 1-0 on the night, 2-1 overall. It was more of a formality for Belgium, though. They toppled Bulgaria 4-1 in Sofia on Wednesday to take the tie 5-2 on aggregate.

All eight teams will go into the draw at Arnhem's City Hall on 24 November, and they will be split into two groups with games being played from 10-17 June next year at the four venues; Arnhem, Groningen, Heerenveen and Nijmegen.

The top two in each group with go into the Semi-Finals, with the Final taking place at FC Groningen's Euroborg stadium on Saturday 23 June 2007.

TheFA.com will be with the England team every step of the way between now and June and we'll be following them closely through their preparation matches, all of which will be confirmed here soon...

Play-Off Results (winners appear first)
Serbia 5-3 Sweden (0-3, 5-0)
Czech Republic 3-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina (2-1, 1-1)
Portugal 4-4 Russia (Portugal win on away goals) (1-4, 3-0)
England 3-0 Germany (1-0, 2-0)
Italy 2-1 Spain (0-0, 2-1)
Belgium 5-2 Bulgaria (1-1, 4-1)
Israel 2-1 France (1-1, 1-0)