England’s U19s and U17s discovered their opponents at next spring’s Elite Round stage of their respective European Championships.
The draws took place at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on 6 December, with England U20 goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe helping to conduct the U19 draw as well as collect the Fair Play award following the Young Lions’ record at last summer’s Euro Finals in Finland.
And Keith Downing’s squad will have home advantage for their Elite Round games next March as they will host a group containing Czech Republic, Denmark and Greece.
Only the nation which finishes top of that group will progress to the U19 Euro Finals in Armenia from 14 to 27 July.
For the U17 Elite Round, England were drawn out with Croatia, Denmark and Switzerland, with the Danes hosting those fixtures between 21 and 27 March.
The group winner will automatically qualify for May’s Euro Finals in the Republic of Ireland, but there is also a chance that second spot could progress should they be among the seven best runners-up from the eight different groups.
The day also the draw for next season’s first qualifying stage made, with England set to face Bosnia & Herzegovina, hosts FYR Macedonia and Luxembourg between 13 and 19 November.
As was the case this term, Steve Cooper’s U17s automatically received a bye to the Elite Round as a result of their top-two seeding.
Full details on where and when England U19s’ fixtures will be played will be made available in due course.
