England were pegged back to a 3-3 draw by Croatia while France's stalemate with Romania ensured Under-21 European Championship hosts Italy were dumped out.

Jonjoe Kenny's terrific strike looked set to be enough to settle a frantic encounter in a Group C dead rubber on Monday, but Josip Brekalo snatched a late equaliser to ensure England ended their campaign winless.

Having not appeared in the opening two matches for Aidy Boothroyd's men, Reiss Nelson was handed a chance to impress in San Marino, and repaid his manager's faith when he won and converted an early penalty.

Wolfsburg forward Brekalo curled in a superb strike to restore parity, but sloppy Croatia defending enabled James Maddison to drill England back ahead after the restart. Lloyd Kelly's mistake gifted Croatia a second equaliser in the 62nd minute – Nikola Vlasic finishing in style from the edge of the area.

Partly at fault for Brekalo's first goal, Kenny – who kept his place despite conceding a penalty in the 4-2 defeat to Romania and Aaron Wan-Bissaka's return to fitness – atoned for his earlier mistake with a stunning long-range strike eight minutes later.

June 24, 2019

England could not hold out to claim maximum points, however, with Brekalo keeping his cool to slot through Dean Henderson's legs and secure a share of the spoils.

The points were also shared in Group C's other fixture, as France and Romania played out a 0-0 draw to secure their places in the semi-finals. Both sides knew a draw would be enough to send them through to the last four, though neither team let up in their search of a winner, with Adrian Rus squandering a great chance to earn Romania a third successive win in the closing stages.

Had Rus directed his header on target, France would have been out, but Sylvain Ripoll's side held firm to seal a point which sees them through as the best second-placed side. France's progression comes at Italy's expense and they will now meet Spain in the semi-finals, while Romania will face defending champions Germany.

Jonjoe Kenny

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