Roundup of the opening round of group matches at 2025 UEFA Under-21s Euro as England began their title defence.
Lee Carsley’s Three Lions came into the tournament as defending champions and found themselves in a favourable group with Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia as they targeted another title.
Spain, France Portugal and Netherlands were also other household teams in action as the next generation of future senior international talent looked to impress in this tournament.
Group A
Cesar Tarrega netted a 90th-minute winner to put Spain top of Group A with a 3-2 victory over hosts, Slovakia, after quick-fire goals from Marc Pubill and Mateo Joseph put the 2023 runners-up in front only for Samuel Kopasek and Tomas Suslov to pull Slovakia level.
Tommaso Baldanzi’s left-footed finish saw Italy snatch a 26th-minute winner over Romania.
| Position | Team | Points | GD |
| 1 | Spain | 3 | +1 |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | +1 |
| 3 | Slovakia | 0 | -1 |
| 4 | Romania | 0 | -1 |
Group B
Nick Woltemade’s hat-trick saw Germany open their campaign with a clinical 3-0 demolition of Slovenia to top Group B.
England commenced their title defence with a 3-1 win over Czech Republic, in which Harvey Elliott and Jonathan Rowe put the Three Lions ahead before Charlie Creswell’s header sealed the win, after Daniel Fila had halved the Czechs’ deficit with a header of his own.
| Position | Team | Points | GD |
| 1 | Germany | 3 | +3 |
| 2 | England | 3 | +2 |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 0 | -2 |
| 4 | Slovenia | 0 | -3 |
Group C
Vasilios Gordeziani’s injury-time winner saw Georgia top Group C with a 2-1 win over Poland, in which Nodar Lominadze’s opener was cancelled out by Jakub Kaluzinski’s penalty.
Portugal and France played out a goalless draw in their opening group game.
| Position | Team | Points | GD |
| 1 | Georgia | 3 | +1 |
| 2 | France | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Portugal | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Poland | 0 | -1 |
Group D
William Osula’s 88th-minute winner completed a 3-2 comeback win for Denmark over Ukraine, having twice fought back through Clement Bischoff and William Bøving to cancel out goals from Nazar Voloshyn and Maksym Braharu.
Second-half goals from Luciano Valente and Ernest Poku rescued Netherlands a 2-2 draw against Finland, after the Finnish held a 2-0 lead at half-time through Casper Terho and Topi Keskinen.
| Position | Team | Points | GD |
| 1 | Denmark | 3 | +1 |
| 2 | Finland | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Ukraine | 0 | -1 |
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