Key events
16 min: Martel narrowly avoids a booking after a late sliding challenge on Anderson just outside the England box.
13 min: Anderson draws a foul from his defender and wins a free kick in a dangerous area. The midfielder steps up to take it and sends a cross deep into the box. Cresswell rises up to head it towards goal but his effort is off-target.
12 min: That early goal has given the Young Lions plenty of confidence. They are looking very composed on the ball with barely any nerves showing.
9 min: A Germany cross is sent into the England box and Hinshelwood does well to deal with it, bringing the ball down with his chest for Beadle to claim.
6 min: Hutchinson goes for goal from close range with the outside of his boot, forcing a save from Atubolu. It deflects back out to Collins, who looks to clear the danger, but instead the ball falls straight to Elliott on the edge of the six-yard box. The midfielder does well to find a small gap in the defence, perfectly slotting his shot into the bottom-right corner!
GOAL! England 1-0 Germany (Harvey Elliott, 5)
The Liverpool man strikes again! England have an early lead!
4 min: Hutchinson looks to play a cross deep into the box, but nobody is there to get on the end of it and Germany win back possession.
2 min: England look to move forward as Hinshelwood plays a pass through to Hutchinson on the wing, but he is quickly closed down by Collins.
KICK-OFF
We’re underway in Bratislava!
The teams are out. The national anthems have been sung. The U21 European Championship final is just a few moments away!
With the final just a matter of moments away, Ben McAleer has looked at the top 10 standout players from this summer’s U21 European Championship in Slovakia – with four finalists included.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann are both in attendance this evening. England senior head coach Tuchel has flown over from the USA after watching Manchester City’s 5-2 win over Juventus on Thursday. Young Lions captain James McAtee believes that his presence will give England a boost in the final. The midfielder said: “I think it would be an extra motivation for the lads to win and more of a reason to try and impress the first team manager.”
David Kent has emailed in, perhaps starting a debate about who should have the senior England head coach role for next summer’s World Cup. He says:
“Given Tuchel’s shaky start as head coach of the seniors, I think if the Under 21s win this then the FA should strongly consider promoting Lee Carsley before the World Cup. Two international tournament wins is hugely impressive and you get the feeling Carsley learned from his interim experience. Tuchel seems to be taking us backward, do we really still need to be relying on Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker in 2025? I think not. Let’s show some faith in English coaching and give Carsley a chance.”
Thoughts?
Ed Aarons
It turns out that behind the quiet demeanour, Lee Carsley is much more confident than often comes across. After England Under-21s lost to Germany in their final group match of the European Championship last week – a result that meant both teams progressed to the quarter-finals – the manager sought out his opposite number, Antonio Di Salvo. “He said that they would see us in the final,” revealed the German…
During his pre-match press conference, the England head coach Lee Carsley revealed that he felt his team’s second-half performance against Germany earlier in the tournament was a turning point. He explained: “After the game, I was more than confident that this team had clicked and we were in a good position. It was a bit tongue-in-cheek. I thought that we’d be there. I wasn’t sure if they would be there. I was confident that we were going to do well in this tournament. I’ve got a lot of belief in this team.
“I knew the second half against Germany, we clicked. In the first half, it would be fair to say, especially the first 20 minutes, we did not play well…”
England U21s have won the European Championship three times already – in 1982, 1984 and, most recently, in 2023. You might be wondering what those title-winning players went on to achieve following their respective victories, but look no further. Connor Myers has looked back at every England player who has lifted the trophy, from Tommy Caton and Terry Fenwick to Curtis Jones and Cole Palmer.
As always, feel free to email me this evening with any thoughts, feelings, opinions, predictions and all that jazz. Where are you watching/reading from? You might be tuning in from Glastonbury, or your back garden – either way, I want to hear from you!
Team news
England starting line-up: James Beadle; Tino Livramento, Jarell Quansah, Charlie Cresswell, Jack Hinshelwood; Harvey Elliott, Alex Scott, Elliot Anderson, Omari Hutchinson; James McAtee (C), Jay Stansfield. Substitutes: Ronnie Edwards, Hayden Hackney, Tom Fellows, Jonathan Rowe, Brooke Norton-Cruffy, Tommy Simkin, Archie Gray, CJ Egan-Riley, Samuel Iling-Junior, Ethan Nwaneri, Teddy Sharman-Lowe, Tyler Morton.
Germany starting line-up: Noah Atubolu; Nnamdi Collins, Nathaniel Brown, Bright Arrey-Mbi, Tim Oermann; Brajan Gruda, Eric Martel (C), Rocco Reitz, Paul Nebel; Nelson Weiper, Nick Woltemade. Substitutes: Tjark Ernst, Nahuel Noll, Max Rosenfelder, Ansgar Knauff, Merlin Röhl, Nicolo Tresoldi, Jan Thielmann, Lukas Ullrich, Jamil Siebert, Caspar Jander, Elias Baum, Paul Wanner.
Preamble
Hello, good evening and welcome to coverage of the European Under-21 Championship final! Reigning champions England face Germany in Bratislava tonight with both teams eyeing their fourth title. These two sides faced each other just last Wednesday, with Germany clinching a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Ansgar Knauff and Nelson Weiper. However, the Young Lions head coach Lee Carsley is confident that his team can bounce back and take revenge when it most matters.
Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann – the head coaches of the respective nations’ senior men’s teams – will both be in attendance at Tehelné Pole later this evening, scouting potential talent for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The question is, who will be celebrating at the end of the night?
Kick-off is at 8pm BST – you don’t want to miss it!
