The UEFA U-19 EURO qualification tournaments began today across Lithuania and Portugal, marking the start of the road to next summer’s finals for all three Baltic national teams. The biggest surprise came from Estonia’s U-19 side, who stunned hosts Portugal with a 1-1 draw thanks to a second-half goal by Maksimilian Skvortsov. Meanwhile, Latvia’s U-19s also opened with a draw against Scotland, while Lithuania suffered a respectable 0-2 loss to England.
Estonia Earn Historic Point Against Portugal
Estonia opened their campaign in Portugal, facing the tournament hosts in what looked like a one-sided matchup on paper. Head coach Siim Valtna started nine players who have already made senior appearances in Estonia’s Premium Liiga, along with two foreign-based talents – August Wagner (B.93, Denmark) and Aleksandr Lohmato (Frosinone, Italy).
Portugal’s squad, in contrast, was packed with talent from elite academies – Sporting, Benfica, and Braga. Six of their starters have already featured for their respective senior teams, making the hosts heavy pre-match favorites.
The home side dominated possession and chances but found it difficult to break down Estonia’s disciplined defense. They finally took the lead in the 38th minute through Rui Silva of Benfica’s academy, giving Portugal a 1-0 halftime advantage.
However, Estonia struck back midway through the second half. In the 62nd minute, 17-year-old Maksimilian Skvortsov from Levadia Tallinn capitalized on a rare counterattack to level the match at 1-1.
Portugal unleashed relentless pressure in the closing stages, recording 29 attempts, but could not beat goalkeeper Jan Vainula again. The final whistle confirmed a historic result for Estonia – a draw against one of Europe’s strongest youth sides.
Elsewhere in the group, Belgium edged North Macedonia 1-0. Estonia will next face Belgium in two days before wrapping up their group stage against North Macedonia. The top two teams and the best third-placed side from all qualification groups will advance to the Elite Round.
Latvia Battles to 2-2 Draw with Scotland
In Kaunas, Latvia’s U-19 team, led by head coach Viktors Dobrecovs, started their campaign strongly against Scotland. The match, held at the FC Hegelmann home ground, got off to a perfect start for the Latvians when Rūdolfs Kļavinskis delivered a corner in the 4th minute, and Matīss Siliņš, a product of Dinamo Zagreb’s academy, headed home to make it 1-0.
However, the lead didn’t last long. Just three minutes later, Ivans Struks (Southampton Academy) fouled an opponent in the box, and Josh Landers (West Ham Academy) converted from the spot to equalize.
Scotland then took the lead through a spectacular long-range strike by Tyler Fletcher, but Latvia responded quickly. A precise long ball from Aleksandrs Molotkovs found Helvijs Joksts (Tukums 2000), who calmly finished to make it 2-2 before halftime.
Both teams created chances after the break, but neither could find the winner, ending in a well-earned draw. Latvia’s starting eleven featured five Virslīga players and several footballers developing abroad in Scotland, Croatia, Finland, England, and Italy.
Latvia’s next test will be a tough one – a clash against England in two days.
Lithuania fall to England’s Premier League prospects
Hosts Lithuania faced a formidable England U-19 side in the evening fixture. Intriguingly, England’s squad included two players eligible to represent Lithuania – Airidas Golambeckis, captain of West Ham’s U-23s, and Divine Mukasa of Manchester City. Golambeckis started, while Mukasa came off the bench.
England’s lineup also featured several Premier League names such as Max Dowman (Arsenal), Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), and Chris Rigg (Sunderland).
Lithuania, with only three home-based players in the starting lineup, put up a brave fight but were clearly the underdogs. The breakthrough came in the 16th minute, when Shumaira Mheuka (Chelsea) – who made his Premier League debut last season – converted a penalty to make it 1-0.
Mheuka doubled England’s lead early in the second half, sealing his brace and the 2-0 victory. Despite the defeat, Lithuania did very well against a team full of Premier League prospects.
Lithuania will next host Scotland in two days.
Source: https://www.uefa.com/under19/
