spain cruise past hosts | estonia 1-4 spain in u17 euro opener

MATCH INFO
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Estonia U17 1-4 Spain U17
Date: May 25, 2026
Competition: UEFA European Under-17 Championship - Group A
Venue: Lilleküla Staadion, Tallinn

spain defeated tournament hosts estonia 4-1 in the opening match of the 2026 uefa under-17 championship. a dominant first-half performance from the young spaniards was enough to secure the three points, though estonia made history by scoring their first-ever goal in a u17 euro finals.

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Goals

• minute 16 mikel urrestarazu strike: 0-1 spain. a deflected shot from urrestarazu finds the back of the net to open the scoring and quiet the home crowd.
• minute 30 sergi mayans strike: 0-2 spain. another deflected effort, this time from mayans, quickly doubles the spanish advantage.
• minute 35 enzo alves finish: 0-3 spain. the captain shows his class with a deft chip over the goalkeeper to put spain firmly in control.
• minute 42 ron neltsas finish: 1-3 estonia. history for the hosts! neltsas nudges the ball in just before halftime to score estonia's landmark first-ever u17 finals goal.
• minute 49 ebrima tunkara penalty: 1-4 spain. tunkara confidently converts from the spot early in the second half to restore the three-goal cushion.

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How It Went

spain dominated possession and territory from the first whistle, immediately putting the estonian defense under intense pressure. their relentless attacking paid off quickly, racing into a 3-0 lead within 35 minutes thanks to strikes from urrestarazu, mayans, and captain alves. despite being outplayed, the home crowd was given a massive moment to celebrate right before the break when neltsas scored a historic goal for estonia on their tournament debut. however, spain quickly reasserted their dominance after the restart with a penalty from tunkara and comfortably saw out the remainder of the match to take all three points in group a.

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Quick Take

• a comfortable and clinical start for spain as they look to make a deep run in the tournament.
• captain enzo alves showed serious quality with a beautiful chipped finish.
• massive congratulations to ron neltsas and estonia for making history with their first finals goal.
• the host nation fought hard but were ultimately outclassed by a very strong spanish side.
• spain instantly take control of group a alongside belgium, who beat croatia in the other group fixture.