City Youngsters Readied For U21 European Championships
- Seven Leicester City youngsters are heading to this month’s UEFA U21 European Championships
- Six Foxes could potentially come up against each other in Group C
- The tournament begins on Sunday 16 June, while the final takes place two weeks later
The group stages commence on Sunday 16 June as Poland face Belgium in Reggio Emilia before joint-hosts Italy see their side take on Spain in Bologna.
City’s potential representation, meanwhile, may see James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Demarai Gray and Hamza Choudhury all gain further international caps after being selected in Aidy Boothroyd’s 23-man England Under-21s squad.
The young Lions first take on France in Cesena on Tuesday 18 June (8pm BST kick-off), before clashes with Romania on Friday 21 June (5:30pm BST kick-off) – again in Cesena – and Croatia in San Marino three days later (8pm BST kick-off).
The four Englishmen – two of which are City Academy graduates – could come up against two familiar faces during their encounter with Romania and Croatia, with Alex Pascanu and Filip Benković called up respectively.
In Group C, either side of their clash with England, Pascanu’s Romania will open their finals campaign against Croatia in San Marino on Tuesday 18 June (5:30pm BST kick-off) and play their last group stage game against France in Cesena on Monday 24 June (8pm BST kick-off).
Benković’s Croatia, meanwhile, contest a clash with France on Friday 21 June (8pm BST kick-off) in between their encounters with Romania and England.
Finally, Development Squad ‘keeper Daniel Iversen will aim to feature for Denmark when they take on Germany on Monday 17 June (8pm BST kick-off) and Austria on Thursday 20 June (5:30pm BST kick-off) – both in Udine – before concluding their Group B action against Serbia in Trieste on Sunday 23 June (8pm BST kick-off).
Each group winner and the best runner-up will qualify for the U21 European Championships Semi-Finals, which take place on Thursday 27 June in either Bologna or Reggio Emilia, while the final will be hosted in Udine on Sunday 30 June.
Updates of each youngster’s progress can be found on LCFC.com and the Club’s social media channels throughout the tournament.