England and Spain players dragged off pitch in chaotic scenes at the end of the U21 Euros quarter final clash on Saturday.
England’s Under 21 team secured a 3-1 victory over Spain in the European Championship quarter-final at Anton Malatinsky Stadium, advancing to the semi-final.
However, the match was overshadowed by a post-match brawl involving nearly all outfield players.
Tensions escalated after a late, reckless challenge by a Spanish forward on England’s Tino Livramento.
Key incidents included England’s Charlie Cresswell clashing with Spain’s Mateo Joseph, Tyler Morton confronting Spanish staff, and Napoli’s Rafa Marin receiving a red card for joining the fray despite being an unused substitute.
England’s James McAtee was cautioned, and assistant manager Ashley Cole intervened to restore order. England now awaits potential disciplinary action from Italian official Cristhian Mosquera.
Dirty bastard. This is why it kicked off at the end. #englandU21 pic.twitter.com/jkOsrREUvG
— Gavin Puszczalowskyi (@gavp77) June 21, 2025
England through after beating Spain 3-1 in Trnava, and it seems it got a little too much for some at the end here. #EUROU21 pic.twitter.com/fJh8aoTBuH
— Josh Donaldson (@Josh_Don) June 21, 2025
Now the Spanish players are trying to fight Charlie Cresswell 😂😂 #U21EURO pic.twitter.com/2Y4WdInPbR
— 🇨🇩🇸🇱 (@8Flavs) June 21, 2025
It was this incident that seemed to cause the scuffles after the final whistle, and England captain McAtee addressed it during his post-match interview. “I never saw the challenge,” the Manchester City youth product said, as per Daily Mail. “I saw the boys start going into it, so always going in to help. It’s part of football, and you just have to stick together as a team.
“It’s a big game, we know that. It’s two big teams in the tournament, so them kicking off, we can’t sit back and just let them do it, we have to give them a bit back, so I am happy with the boys.”
Commenting on the drama to Channel 4, Liverpool’s Harvey Elliot said: “It was always going to happen because of the passion from both teams.
“It is one of those where I was trying to calm everyone down.
“End of the day, we have got everything to lose.
“They don’t, they can get players sent off. We can’t lose players for the semi-final.”
Under-21 boss Carsley said: “I think there are better ways to build camaraderie! But I think we had something similar in the final [two years ago].
“Emotions run very high and in those kinds of scenarios you don’t want anyone to get sent off, anyone to throw a punch or get themselves in trouble.
“You try and be as respectful to both sides but you can see how much it means to the players. To represent your country in a quarter-final, it means a lot.
“We probably have to give them a bit of leeway. Thankfully it didn’t go over the top but it’s still not nice to see.
“We are always trying to fly the flag and encourage younger players especially to take up football and enjoy the game… but the passion was just a bit much.”
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Twitter users reacted after seeing England and Spain players dragged off the pitch in chaotic scenes at the U21 Euros…
@NCSL1892: It all started when the forward followed through on Tino after he cleared it
@WaldWanReformed: The stupid twat completely missed too
@DManNotts: I imagine cresswell would batter their entire team single handedly, babies
@yoonitedLEEDS: It’s not like the Spanish to lose their arses when they’ve lost
@PaulCoffield4: I’m assuming the English won, and the Spanish, who think it’s their god given right to win tournaments, flopped out.
@thesurgeonuk: This is a normal Sunday league challenge where I’m from 👀😂
@AliKhann1995: That Spanish player is pure scum. Only positive is that Tino Livramento came out unscathed 🙏 #NUFC
@groundhopper978: Exactly. Fella flew in off the ground and if he caught him would’ve broke his leg all because they were heading home.
@Samt14go: This is vile from the Spain player could’ve genuinely broken Tinos fucking leg what a little cunt #NUFC
@longylufc28: @LUFC need to bring Charlie cresswell back to the club he’s what we have been missing the fight and standing up for himself and teammates
@bassett442: Respect it from the Spaniards. Some will call it poor sportsmanship but it’s called passion. If you’ve not been at the races you may as well have a scrap to make up for it. Not losing scot free and got to leave by making a mark. 💪🏻
@Finders73: If the Spanish can’t beat the English at football I’d say they probably shouldn’t try to beat us at fighting. It’s our specialist subject lads
@henryswainjourn: Charlie Cresswell is one hard bastard, three of them hanging off him 😂
@henryswainjourn: That’s a straight red even without contact
Go on lads. #ALAW pic.twitter.com/ks5v0cTgiv
— Aussie Leeds Aren’t We? (@AusLeedsArentWe) June 22, 2025
