Belgium knocked out France and reached the UEFA Euro U-17 final for the first time
Belgium's under-17 football team secured a place in the UEFA Euro U-17 2026 final with a 2:1 victory against France in the semi-final played on Thursday, 4 June 2026, at Kadrioru Stadium in Tallinn. According to official UEFA data, the match was played as part of the final tournament, which is being held in Estonia from 25 May to 7 June, and Belgium will fight for the title against Italy. The result carries special weight because the Belgian selection thereby achieved its first appearance in the final of the European championship in this age group. Before the match, France had a significantly richer record in the closing stages, including three European under-17 titles, but the Belgian generation led by Sven Vermant ended a run of semi-final disappointments and made the biggest step forward in the history of its U-17 national team.
UEFA confirmed in the official schedule that Belgium celebrated a 2:1 victory against France, while in the other semi-final Italy, after a 1:1 draw against Spain, advanced with better penalty-taking, 4:2. The final is scheduled for Sunday, 7 June, at Lilleküla Stadium in Tallinn, starting at 19:00 Central European Time, or 20:00 local Estonian time. Thus the final stage of the tournament produced the pairing Belgium – Italy, a meeting of two national teams that reached the final in Estonia by different paths, but with enough stability to survive the most demanding matches of the competition. For Belgium, this is a sporting and developmental success that goes beyond a single victory, because this is a category in which players who will enter senior professional football in the following years are most often formed.
A reversal compared with last year's semi-final duel
Belgium and France also met in the semi-final of the same competition in 2025, when France won 3:2 and then played the final against Portugal. According to UEFA's overview of the semi-finalists, this year's duel had reversed roles: Belgium entered the knockout stage as winner of Group A, while France were runners-up in Group B. It was precisely that detail that gave the match additional competitive weight, because until this year Belgium had failed to reach the final in four previous U-17 semi-finals. Defeats in the semi-finals in 2007, 2015, 2018 and 2025 formed the background to this result, and the victory over France ended a run that had long kept Belgium's U-17 team one step away from the final match.
France arrived in Estonia as one of the most respected European youth national teams, with titles from 2004, 2015 and 2022 and with the status of last year's finalist. UEFA stated before the semi-final that France were playing their fourth semi-final in the last five editions of the competition, which shows continuity of work in that age category. Belgium, on the other hand, were seeking confirmation with this generation that the results from qualifying and the group stage were not accidental. The 2:1 victory in Tallinn can therefore be read as a result of maturity at the decisive moment, but also as a sign that the Belgian youth system has once again moved close to the very top of European football.
Belgium reached the final through a group with Croatia, Spain and Estonia
Belgium's path to the final began in Group A, in which Croatia, Spain and hosts Estonia also played. According to UEFA's results from the final tournament, Belgium opened the competition with a 2:0 victory against Croatia in Rakvere, then lost 0:1 to Spain at the same stadium, and confirmed their progress with a 1:0 victory against Estonia at Lilleküla Stadium. Such a performance was enough for first place in the group, ahead of Spain and Croatia in a very evenly balanced outcome. Belgium were not the most efficient team of the tournament at that stage, but they showed defensive solidity and the ability to turn small margins into key points.
The match against France was a continuation of that competitive pattern. Belgium did not reach the final through a series of big victories, but through control of details, discipline and efficiency at moments when the match was being decided. UEFA's material after the semi-final singled out Jayden Onia Seke among the prominent Belgian figures, while the official squad list showed that before the final stage he had been one of the more important attacking players in the Belgian selection. In the publicly available UEFA pages after the match, the result, stadium, referees and context of the encounter were confirmed, while the full textual match report of all goals was not displayed equally clearly in the reviewed official summaries. For that reason, the most important confirmed fact remained the very weight of the result: Belgium secured a place in the final against the three-time European champions.
France opened the tournament in Group B with a 0:1 defeat to Italy, but then convincingly beat Denmark 4:0 and Montenegro 5:0. Those results suggested that the team of coach José Alcocer had risen after the opening defeat, and the 9:1 goal difference in the group showed attacking potential. However, the semi-final brought a different rhythm. According to UEFA's reporting from the match, after the encounter Alcocer congratulated Belgium and said that his team had not played all 90 minutes at the required level, stressing that it is difficult to advance in a semi-final if the opponent is allowed to score twice. That statement summed up French frustration well: the second half was not enough to make up for what had been lost in the earlier part of the match.
Vermant's generation changed Belgian U-17 history
Belgian coach Sven Vermant, according to UEFA, emphasized after the match his pride in Belgium's first qualification for the U-17 Euro final and highlighted the unity of the players and coaching staff. Vermant, as a former professional footballer and current coach, placed the victory in the context of long work in football, and not merely one successful match. For youth national teams, such statements are not a mere formality, because at tournaments of this type the result is always viewed together with player development. The final brings visibility, but equally important is the way young players cope with the pressure of international competition.
Before this tournament, Belgium had a history of good but unfinished performances at the U-17 Euro. UEFA's overview of the semi-finalists states that the Belgian national team managed to get out of the group in seven of ten final-tournament appearances, but that until 2026 it had never reached the final. Such a ratio shows stability, but also the boundary that this generation is now moving. In developmental football, this can have a long-term effect: players who experience the final of a major youth competition encounter pressure, media attention and the demands of matches in which there is no room for mistakes earlier in their careers.
In the Belgian team, attacking potential was watched especially closely. UEFA's player list before the semi-final named Kiyan Achahbar as Belgium's top scorer including qualifying, with five goals, while Xander Dierckx, Jayden Onia Seke, Ilyas Benktib and others formed a group of players that made the Belgian game more varied. In the final tournament, however, Belgium did not depend exclusively on one scorer. The goals were distributed, and the team won the more important matches by narrow margins, which in youth football is often a sign of tactical adaptability and emotional control.
France left without a new final despite strong status
For France, the defeat in Tallinn is painful because the team arrived in Estonia with a clear ambition of reaching another final. According to UEFA's data, before this match France had six wins and three defeats in U-17 semi-finals, and the success against Belgium in 2025 was part of fresh competitive memory. In the group, they showed great attacking breadth, because in two victories after the defeat to Italy they scored nine goals. Still, the semi-final again confirmed that youth competitions rarely follow a linear logic of form; one match can erase the impression from the group if the opponent manages the key periods of play better.
Alcocer's statement after the match, according to UEFA's reporting, was unusually direct for youth football. The French coach said that the players were disappointed because they had been fighting for the final, but at the same time admitted that Belgium played well and deserved the victory. Such a tone confirms that the defeat cannot be reduced only to bad luck or one episode. France tried in the second part to bring the match back into balance, but Belgium had already created an advantage that was ultimately enough to advance.
This result does not diminish the breadth of the French youth system, but it places it in a realistic competitive framework. France remain one of the most successful European nations in the U-17 category, but the defeat to Belgium shows that the gap among the best national teams at this age can change quickly. Generations change from year to year, and success often depends on how quickly a team accepts the demands of the final stage. In this case, Belgium responded better to those demands.
The Estonian final tournament and a format without extra time
UEFA Euro U-17 2026 is being held in Estonia from 25 May to 7 June, and the host is organizing the final tournament in this age category for the first time. UEFA stated that matches are being played at four stadiums: Lilleküla Stadium, Kadrioru Stadium and Kalevi Keskstaadion in Tallinn, and Rakvere linnastaadion in Rakvere. The Belgium and France semi-final was played at Kadrioru Stadium, and the final will be played at Lilleküla Stadium, Estonia's main football stadium. Estonia had previously hosted UEFA's European Under-19 Championship in 2012, the Women's U-17 Euro finals in 2023 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2018 at Lilleküla Stadium, which gives additional context to the organization of this tournament.
The final tournament is being played in a reformed format with eight national teams, which increases the importance of every match in the group. Two groups of four teams provide only three rounds for reaching the semi-finals, so one defeat does not have to be decisive, but a second slip-up often means the end. Belgium are the best example of such dynamics: the defeat to Spain did not stop them because in the remaining matches they took a sufficient number of points. France also advanced despite defeat to Italy, but in the semi-final there was no longer any room for repair.
According to UEFA's explanation of the final-stage rules, in the U-17 knockout phase there is no extra time if the score is level after 90 minutes. In that case the winner is decided by penalty kicks, which happened in the other semi-final between Italy and Spain. That provision intensifies the drama of the final stage because teams cannot count on an additional 30 minutes to correct mistakes. Belgium did not need that against France, because they held the 2:1 advantage until the end of regular time, while Italy reached the final through penalties.
The final against Italy as a new test of Belgian maturity
The Belgium – Italy final brings a meeting of two national teams that had already shown different profiles in the groups. Italy finished first in Group B, after victories against France and Montenegro and a 3:3 draw with Denmark. In the semi-final against Spain they survived penalties, which points to a team capable of playing high-pressure matches in which the decision comes after a draw. Belgium, meanwhile, reached the final through a result with strong symbolism: they eliminated the national team that had stopped them at the same stage a year earlier.
Italy won the title in the U-17 competition in 2024, while Belgium entered Sunday's final without a previous trophy at this level. That difference in competition history will not decide the match, but it defines the narrative of the final. For Italy, it is an attempt to confirm continuity after the 2024 title and a new semi-final appearance in 2025, while Belgium have the chance for the first time to finish the tournament as European champions. In youth football, the final is simultaneously the result of the current generation and a signal of the work of the national system, because success is also measured by how many players later move into older age groups and professional clubs.
Belgium's victory over France already remains one of the most important results of the final tournament in Estonia. It changed Belgian U-17 history, ended the French attempt to reach another final and set up a final stage in which, on 7 June, a team in its first final will meet a team that already knows how European titles are won in this category. After the semi-final in Tallinn, Belgium are no longer just the pleasant surprise of the tournament, but a finalist that reached the last match with a victory against one of the strongest European youth national teams.
Sources:
- UEFA – official page of the Belgium U-17 – France U-17 match, data on the match, stadium, referees and post-match statements (link)
- UEFA – schedule and results of the UEFA Euro U-17 2026 final tournament, data on the semi-finals, final, stadiums and knockout-stage rules (link)
- UEFA – introduction of the UEFA Euro U-17 2026 semi-finalists, data on Belgium's and France's paths, previous results and historical performance in semi-finals (link)
- UEFA – information on the final tournament in Estonia, competition dates, groups, stadiums and broader organizational context (link)