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The U19 European Championship in Romania is nearing its climax. The group stage and semi-finals are over, and the finalists are ready.
In the first semi-final, Spain and Germany met at the Arcul de Triumf stadium in Bucharest. Spain came from the group stage with three wins out of three possible. Germany, on the other hand, had to fight much harder to advance to the semi-finals.
In the last match of the group stage, the Germans faced a solid Norwegian team in Voluntari. Granaas gave Norway the lead after 72 minutes. German national teams never give up. After 85 minutes, Ouedraogo deservedly equalized with a beautiful long-range shot. One minute into extra time, El Mala completed the turnaround, setting the final score at 2-1 to Germany.
Spain and Germany have served football audiences many a spectacular match, and the semi-final evening in Bucharest was no exception. Moerstedt gave Germany the lead after barely half an hour. However, this was to be the big night for Spanish favorite Pablo Garcia. A quarter of an hour into the second half, Garcia tied the score at 1-1. It was his first goal of the night. After 78 minutes, El Mala put Germany ahead 2-1, but Garcia was far from done for the night. One minute into stoppage time, he equalized. Five minutes later, he curled the ball beautifully into the far corner. This sent Spain into the lead, 3-2. At that time, everyone in the stands thought that Spain had advanced to the final. Nine minutes into stoppage time, Spain’s Cuenca sent the ball into his own goal. With 3-3, extra time was needed to decide a winner.
The football party was by no means over! First, Marques sent Spain up 4-3, before Moerstedt scored two quick goals, sending Germany back into the lead, 5-4. But Spain did not give up. After 113 minutes, Virgili equalized to 5-5. One minute before full time, Pablo Garcia was the great player of the evening. He sent Spain to the sky with his fourth goal. It was Spain’s sixth goal of the evening.
Spain won 6-5 in a fantastic performance. It will go down as one of the most entertaining and dramatic football matches of 2025. Later Monday night, the Netherlands played against Romania. They met to settle for the second final spot. This exciting match took place at Rapid Bucharest’s magnificent Giulesti Stadium.
The Netherlands were considered favorites in advance, after impressing greatly in the group stage. The home crowd has flocked to Romania’s matches in the championship. For the semi-final against the Netherlands, the Giulesti Stadium was almost full. But despite the support of an enthusiastic crowd, the home team was a match too small for the favourites from the Netherlands.
De Oranje controlled the game from the first kick of the ball, and after just under an hour the Dutch led 3-0 through goals from Konadu, Smit and Sliti. Romania got their consolation goal when Barbu scored after 68 minutes, but the victory was never threatened, and the Netherlands controlled the match to win 3-1.
Who's ready for the #U19EURO final? 👀 pic.twitter.com/U0UTioZTwb
— UEFA Men's Youth (@UEFAMensYouth) June 23, 2025
Thursday’s final in Bucharest will therefore be a showdown between football greats the Netherlands and Spain. There is nothing to be happy about, in a European Championship that has so far offered a number of fantastic and dramatic matches, there is no reason to believe that the meeting between the championship’s two best teams will be anything else.
For Norway, the European Championship ended with a 1-2 loss to Germany in the group stage. It was a very disappointing result for Norway’s coach Even Sel. Once again, he had to watch his team give up the lead towards the end of the match. The same happened against England in the first match in the group stage. The match was the last at G19 level for the Norwegian 2006-group. Despite results and the split up, the Norwegian coach, meeting the press after the match against Germany, looked far from defeated.
Sel told fotball.no; “It’s sad that it’s over. It’s been a fantastic group of players to work with and we have a hard-working and very good support system. We have had good performances and preperations. We have qualified for the European Championship as one of seven countries. We won six out of six matches in the qualifiers and have done a lot of good down here.” He continued; “I have to say thank you to the players and the entire team for the effort and the good work that has been put in over the past few years.”
It remains to be seen whether next year’s edition of the Norwegian G19 team will be able to qualify for another European Championship, in 2026 in Wales. If so, it will be the fourth year in a row, a huge achievement for a nation with just under 5 million inhabitants.
But it’s only next year, for everyone who loves football, the highlight of this year’s European Championship still remains: the final between the Netherlands and Spain on Thursday in Bucharest. It will definitely be a football match you will remember!
Author; Geir Jacobsen
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