England Under-19s are the champions of Europe.
Keith Downing’s Young Lions made history by beating Portugal 2-1 in Gori to become the first England side to win the UEFA U19 European Championship.
Second-half goals from Aston Villa defender Easah Suliman and Manchester City striker Lukas Nmecha – either side of Dujon Sterling’s own goal – were enough to secure a hard-fought victory.
It means a third trophy of the summer will now have pride of place at St. George’s Park after last month’s triumphs at the Toulon Tournament and the FIFA U20 World Cup.
It also caps a sensational 2017 tournament record for the men’s development teams after 23 victories from the 27 games played from the U17s upwards.
With both nations aiming to make it third time lucky in the final of this tournament, it proved to be a tight, cagey first-half in front of a 4,100 capacity crowd at the scenic Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium.
England did seem to build in confidence once they had registered their first real chance of the match in the 27th minute. From a swift counter attack, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts skipped past Diogo Dalot down the right to cut back for Mount seven yards out but the Portugal full-back recovered well to make a vital block.
From there, the Young Lions started to look more purposeful in possession and Ryan Sessegnon went close in the 38th minute when he dragged a low effort from the left across the face of goal.
Sessegnon then put Dalot under pressure at the far post in an attempt to reach Dujon Sterling’s well-worked cross from the right.
Any nerves creeping in at that stage were alleviated just five minutes after the break. Mount’s free-kick from 25 yards beat Diogo Costa but not the right post, however Suliman reacted quicker than his Portuguese counterparts to head home and wheel away in delight.