England under-17s will face Spain in the UEFA under-17 Euros quarter-finals after comfortably beating Denmark 3-0 in Azerbaijan. Reiss Nelson was as prolific as ever, netting his third of the tournament in as many games and moving to outright top goalscorer.
Having scored six in six during qualifying, the Arsenal striker has been hugely impressive. Nelson opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, combining well with Dujon Sterling as he did in the opening match against Sweden, a 2-1 defeat.
Reiss Nelson scores his 9th of the tournament as England head to semi-finals
Like the goal against Sweden, Sterling pulled the ball back from the byline and Nelson converted to give England the lead. The North London duo, with Sterling heralding from Tottenham Hotspur, are proving to be extremely effective.
It had been fairly even before England's opener, although Steve Cooper's side deserved to be in front after multiple chances. Luka Racic had the first effort on goal early on for Denmark while Nelson had shots saved twice by Oskar Snorre. 16-year-old Ben Morris was also denied by the Denmark goalkeeper as well as hitting wide. Dennis Adeniran forced a good save from Snorre too. Denmark's best chance of the first half came through Carlo Holse.
Chelsea's Mason Mount nets England's second of the afternoon
Moments after being denied by Snorre, Mason Mount put it past him to stretch England's lead to two, 11 minutes after half-time. Nelson cut back sensibly and laid it off for Mount, driving it precisely past Snorre from outside the box.
Denmark made two substitutions to try and beat neighbours Sweden to the quarter-finals, with the Swedes beating France, the holders, 1-0. Sørensen came on for Torp while Okkels and Mikkelsen replaced Buch Jensen and Wind. Luka Racic had multiple efforts saved, blocked or saw them go wide.
George Hirst scores late on for England while Jens Odgaard finishes for Denmark
Yet it was England who got the next goal. After George Hirst replaced Nelson with less than 10 minutes remaining, he netted within just five. The Sheffield Wednesday striker ran straight through on goal and calmly placed it past the 'keeper to secure the win. In added time Denmark got a consolation goal with Jens Odgaard finishing a chance set up by Mads Roerslev.
England will now face Spain who beat Italy 4-2 in an excellent game earlier on Thursday afternoon. Francisco Garcia, Abel Ruiz and Pol Lozano scored for Spain as well as Manchester City's wonderkid Brahim Diaz while Andrea Pinamonti and Marco Olivieri (penalty) netted for the Italians.
Denmark, after this loss, finished third in Group C on four points while the holders France, who England defeated 2-0 on Monday, finished with just one point in a hugely disappointing attempt at retaining their title.