England Under-17s learn Euro Finals opponents at draw in Baku

Friday 08 Apr 2016
The draw took place in Baku, Azerbaijan

England Under-17s will face holders France, Denmark and Sweden in the group stage of next month's Euro Finals in Azerbaijan.

Steve Cooper's side were drawn out in Group C at the ceremony in Baku's Olympic Stadium on Friday morning, after securing their spot at the Finals following progress from the Elite Qualifying Round last month.

UEFA European U17 Championship

The Finals
5-21 May 2016
Azerbaijan

The Young Lions will now be able to step up their preparations for the Finals, which start with the group stages on Thursday 5 May and ends with the Final on Saturday 21 May.

England first opponents will be Sweden on Friday 6 May, followed by France three days later and rounding off the group against Denmark on Thursday 12 May.

Two nations from each of the four groups will progress to the quarter finals, which take place on 14 and 15 May, before the four winners progress into the semi-final on 18 May.

The games will be staged at four different venues in Azerbaijan, the Baku Olympic Stadium, Qarabağ Stadium, 8km Stadium and Dalga Arena.

England have won this competition twice in recent years, in 2014 and 2010, and are one of the most frequent competitors in the Finals, having reached 11 out of the 15 U17s Final tournaments.

Watch the goals from England's victory over Turkey in the Elite Qualifying Round in March

And Cooper's side will be keen to impress again, after emerging from their Elite Round with victories over Turkey and Finland before finishing their group with a 1-1 draw against Ukraine on home soil. 

They will now meet up again at St. George's Park in late April, before travelling out to Azerbaijan at the end of the month.

The UEFA European U17 Championship trophy at the draw in Azerbaijan

England have won the UEFA Euro U17 Championship trophy twice, in 2010 and 2014

And the U17s' progress to the finals has been just part of a hugely successful last few weeks for all our England sides.

John Griffith's Women's U17s also qualified for their tournament next month and Aidy Boothroyd's Men's U19s side beat Spain on their turf to progress from the Elite Round - and they will learn their fate for the U19s Euro Finals in Germany next week.

Mo Marley's Women's U19s are midway through their qualification and are also well set to qualify for this summer's Euros. The Women's U23s also enjoyed recent success on their trip to La Manga and Mark Sampson's Lionesses will bid to continue their good form against Belgium and Bosnia & Herzegovina this week. 

In the last international week, there's also been numerous wins for our Men's U18s and U20s, while Gareth's Southgate's U21s remain unbeaten in their European qualifiers. Finally of course, England Men's seniors enjoyed a famous comeback win in Berlin against World Champions Germany.

The draw

Group A: Azerbaijan, Portugal, Belgium, Scotland

Group B: Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Group C: France (holders), Denmark, England, Sweden

Group D: Italy, Serbia, Netherlands, Spain

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels