Estonia go down 3–1 at home to Croatia in UEFA U-17 finals
Estonia lost 3–1 before a home crowd against Croatia on Thursday in their UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals Group A encounter.
Estonia is hosting the U17 Euros, with eight teams competing.
The eight teams are competing across two groups: Group A consists of Estonia as hosts, Belgium, Croatia, and Spain, while Group B is made up of Montenegro, France, Italy, and Denmark.
The hosts had also gone down 4–1 against favorites Spain in the opening game Monday, while Croatia lost their first match too: a 2–0 defeat to Belgium.
Estonia's lone goal before 3,000 fans at the A. Le Coq Arena Thursday came courtesy of Aston Visse (Kuressaare), who dispossessed Croatian defender Filip Pavic (Bayern Munich) before finding the back of the net. However, that was only really a consolation goal, as the visitors had already scored a trio of goals. Nik Žužic beat Estonian goalkeeper Harly Ollin in the 2nd and 35th minutes, while Jona Benkotic converted a penalty 10 minutes into the second half to make it 3–0.
Estonia face Belgium in their final Group A match on Sunday. The Belgians have won once so far, while Spain are unbeaten.
The championships started Sunday with eight teams taking part from the original 54 who went through qualifying. The games are being hosted in Tallinn and in Rakvere, and among the young players taking part are footballers already playing in France's Ligue 1 and Italy's Serie A, as well as the German Bundesliga.
The tournament's economic impact is estimated at close to half a million euros thanks to accommodation bookings for teams and supporters.
Players born on or after January 1, 2009, are eligible to participate.
The top two finishers in each of the two groups will advance to the semifinals. The 2026 UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals run until Sunday, June 7.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
