England Under-21 into semi-finals of Euros after 3-1 victory over Spain
England have qualified for the semi-finals of the Under-21 European Championships after a 3-1 victory over Spain.
In a repeat of the 2023 final, early goals from Manchester City's James McAtee and Liverpool's Harvey Elliott put England 2-0 up, before Valencia's Javi Guerra made the score 2-1 at half-time from the penalty spot.
Despite a tense second-half, a late penalty from Nottingham Forest's Elliott Anderson ensured the victory and the pathway to the semi-finals for the reigning champions. They will face the Netherlands on Wednesday.
What a win. What a performance.
OUR #YOUNGLIONS ARE INTO THE #U21EURO SEMI-FINALS! 👏 pic.twitter.com/NhfXGuUvtS
— England (@England) June 21, 2025
Elliott told Channel 4 after the game: 'It's incredible. I am lost for words. We knew it was going to be very tough. The were going to play an incredible game against us.
'But the way the lads handled the pressure, even after conceding the goal, we deserved it so much. It's time to celebrate, but we need to start thinking of the semi-finals tonight.'
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Both sets of players clashed after the full-time whistle, with defender Rafa Marin being shown a red card, while McAtee was booked.
'It was always going to happen because of the passion from both teams,' Elliott said about the incident. It is one of those where I was trying to calm everyone down. At the end of the day, we have got everything to lose. They don't. We can't lose players for the semi-final.'
Earlier on Saturday Netherlands' 1-0 victory over Portugal confirmed their qualification for the semis. Denmark face France and Germany play Italy in the remaining two other quarter-finals on Sunday.
Analysis by Art de Roche
This was England's most complete performance of the tournament.
Considering their group-stage performances and Spain's history in the tournament, as joint-record winners and having reached the last five semi-finals, it would have been fair to call England underdogs pre-match.
Lee Carsley's side had teething issues with their 4-2-2-2 shape in the groups, but Jay Stansfield starting up front helped them find better balance against Spain.
The early penalty scare did not feel definite enough to stand, and they did well to capitalise on the corner to score and gain momentum.
That momentum bred a collective confidence that allowed Jarrell Quansah to show the individual quality that earned him a spot in the squad.
Ahead of England's second group game, the Liverpool centre-back spoke about taking inspiration from Joel Matip in the way he carried the ball forward from defence.
Coincidentally, it was one of these runs forward that led to his Liverpool team-mate Harvey Elliott putting England 2-0 up.
Another such run led to big England chance in the second half too, with Omari Hutchinson continuing to impress.
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While Quansah gave away a penalty to make it 2-1, England defended Spain's second half onslaught incredibly well both collectively and individually.
Jonathan Rowe's off-ball running was exceptional late in the game and he got his reward to earn the penalty to ensure it was England who would meet the Netherlands in Wednesday's semi-finals.
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