Trio of academy players reach U17 European finals

The international break was a successful one for Ethan Nwaneri, Brayden Clarke and Chido Obi-Martin who helped their nations book spots at the U17 Euros.

Ethan helped England make it to the finals in Cyprus this summer by scoring in all three of their qualifiers during the past week, which were held at St George’s Park.

The Young Lions began the Elite Round with a 5-1 win against Northern Ireland, with our midfielder getting on the scoresheet in the 63rd minute after his side had initially trailed 1-0.

He played 80 minutes of that game, before starting the second group game against Hungary as England won 5-0, with Ethan blasting into the top corner on 56 minutes.

They rounded off the group with a meeting with France but fell to a 2-1 loss, however had done enough to qualify as one of the best runners-up. With his side two goals down and a man short following a red card, Ethan pulled one back with a deflected strike - his 12th goal in 23 under-17 caps.

Also in the finals are Wales, for whom recent signing Brayden started their wins against Sweden and Bulgaria in Romania that sealed their spot in the tournament for the second successive time. The defender has now represented the Red Dragons on 17 occasions at under-17 level.

Chido also helped Denmark qualify, starting all three of their matches in Georgia as they finished top of their group, finishing with a flourish with a 7-0 win against the hosts where our striker opened the scoring, taking his tally to nine goals in 13 under-17 appearances.

Meanwhile, Gunners loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy came on a sub in England under-21s' 5-1 win in Azerbaijan and 7-0 rout of Luxembourg as the holders took a step closer to reaching the 2025 Euro finals. also trying to get there are Mika Biereth's Denmark, who started a 1-1 draw with Austria before playing in their 3-0 qualifying win against Lithuania.

Reuell Walters also debuted for England’s under-20s as he featured in their 3-1 win against Czechia. Reuell played 78 minutes of the European Elite League encounter in Karvina, and a third win in succession leaves England fourth in the eight-team table after six matches.