Euro U21: England on the verge of exit after losing to Portugal

England’s chances of progressing to the knockout stage of the Euro Under-21 Championship were dealt a huge blow following defeat by Portugal.

The result leaves England pointless after two games after losing to Switzerland earlier this week.

England must now beat Croatia and Portugal must defeat Switzerland in the third group game to have any chance of progressing.

Even that might not be enough, though. It would then come down to the head-to-head records between England, Croatia and Switzerland for one place in the quarter-finals.#

Portugal put England under pressure from the off and Ben Godfrey needed to head Mota’s shot off the goal line.

Godfrey again came to the rescue before halftime with a last-ditch tackle to deny Mota at the near post as England failed to record a shot in the first half.

Portugal finally broke the deadlock in the 64th minute. Mota’s persistence paid off when his shot nestled past Aaron Ramsdale into the bottom corner.

Trincao put the game was put to bed 10 minutes later from the penalty spot after Marc Guehi fould Goncalo Ramos.

England’s campaign continues when they meet Croatia on Wednesday.

Cover Photo: Wembley by Georges-adrien Carcanis under license from CC BY NC-ND 2.0.