The Portuguese under-17 team was defeated this Saturday by Romania 0-1in the second round of Round 2 of qualification for the category’s European Championship, being mathematically removed from the final stage of the competition. THE The only goal of the match was scored by Darius Tripon, in the 34th minutein a meeting in which the team coached by José Lima was unable to recover from the disadvantage.
This result comes after the opening round defeat to Italy, 2-3, leaving Portugal without any points in Group A2. Romania, which had already beaten Iceland 5-2 in the first round, now has six points and leads the group, while Italy remains with three points and Iceland also remains without a point. With only one round to play and a maximum possible three points to be achieved, Portugal had no chance of securing first place, the only one that guarantees direct qualification for the under-17 European Championship, to be held in Estonia between May 25th and June 7th.
In this way, the national team fails to participate in the final stage of the competition and loses the possibility of defending the European title won in 2025. The elimination also complicates the qualification for the under-17 World Cup, scheduled for November, in Qatar. 11 European teams qualify for this competition: the seven group winners of this phase and the four best runners-up.
Portugal will still play the last game of the qualifying phase against Iceland, next Tuesday, in a match that remains competitively relevant. Despite no longer being able to fight for qualification for the European Championship, the final classification in the group could influence the stay in League A and keep open, although with high difficulty, the indirect chances related to access to the World Cup.
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