England and Germany booked their places at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 after progressing to the semi-finals of the UEFA U-17 European Championship in Croatia.

In the first of Saturday’s two quarter-finals, England defeated Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Velika Gorica, with Jadon Sancho bagging the only goal of the game on 13 minutes. The goal saw the Manchester City starlet take his tournament tally to four. The result sees the Young Lions qualify for a second consecutive U-17 World Cup and a fourth global finals at this level in their history.

Saturday’s other quarter-final saw Germany come from behind to defeat the Netherlands 2-1 in Zapresic. It was the Dutch that looked the stronger side in the first half, having taken the lead just before half-time through Zakaria Aboukhlal. The Germans, however, turned things decisively in their favour after the break. Elias Abouchabaka levelled matters, having scored in three successive matches in the competition, before Jann-Fiete Arp dramatically fired home Germany’s winner with a minute remaining. Like England, Germany’s win sees them qualify for a second consecutive U-17 World Cup and a tenth overall appearance in their history.

England and Germany join Spain and Turkey in qualifying for October’s U-17 World Cup. On Friday, Turkey overcame Hungary 1-0 in their quarter-final clash in Velika Gorica, while France recorded a 3-1 victory against neighbours Spain in Varazdin. In Tuesday semi-finals at Croatia 2017, Spain will face Germany in Varazdin, while Turkey take on England in Zapresic.

The fifth and final European spot for India 2017 will be determined via a play-off between Hungary and France, the best-ranked losing quarter-finalists, on 16 May in Zagreb.