England’s Isaiah Brown (right) trips Federico Dimarco, of Italy, during Monday’s decisive U-17 qualifier in Zlin, Czech Republic.

The line-up for the U-17 European Championship finals, which will be played in Malta between May 9 and 21, was completed when the final matches from the qualifying round of the elite group were played earlier this week.

Switzerland (Group 1), England (Group 4), Germany (Group 5) and Portugal (Group 7) were the last four sides to book a ticket for the tournament to join hosts Malta, the Netherlands, Scotland and Turkey.

On Sunday, Turkey edged through 5-4 on penalties at the expense of Poland after both teams had ended their commitments in perfect parity in Group Two.

Switzerland’s late goal against Spain in a must-win match not only eliminated the favourites but also ousted holders Russia who were hosting the mini-tournament.

England topped their group in the Czech Republic with maximum points after beating Italy 2-1 in a keen three-nation tussle which also had the host country in contention until the last round of matches.

Germany’s 1-1 draw against home team Serbia in another deciding clash was enough to earn them a place in the finals by virtue of a better goal difference.

For the record, Portugal have won the Under 17 competition four times, and one Under-16 title. Germany and the Netherlands have two U-17 titles, plus one in the Under-16, while Turkey have one success in each category.

The stage is now set for the draws to be held on April 9 in Valletta.

The draw, at St James Cavalier, will be conducted by UEFA Youth and Amateur Football committee chairman Jim Boyce along with tournament ambassadors Fr Hilary Tagliaferro and former Malta national team player David Carabott.

There will be two groups of four teams each, with the winners and runners-up in each section proceeding to the semi-finals.

The group matches will be played at the National Stadium, Hibs Stadium and the Gozo Stadium between May 9 and 15. The semi-finals and final are scheduled for the National Stadium on May 18 and 21 respectively.

The finals in Malta will be the last eight-team tournament before the expansion to a 16-nation event in Bulgaria next season.