Ruiz level with José Gomes as top U17 EURO scorer

Ruiz level with José Gomes as top U17 EURO scorer

Abel Ruiz is the joint-top scorer in the history of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship.The Barcelona player, who helped Spain to win the title at England's expense on Friday night, has scored 16 goals in the competition since he made his debut at home to Andorra – a match in which he found the net – in a qualifying round fixture in October 2015.

Mboula, Ruiz fire Spain to victory over the Dutch

The UEFA European Under-17 Championship consists of three distinct stages: the qualifying round, the elite round and the final tournament. The format changed for 2014/15 with the expansion of the final tournament from eight to 16 teams.Qualifying roundThe qualifying round, played in autumn, is made up of 13 groups of four countries playing in one-venue mini-tournaments. The top two from each pool progress alongside the five third-placed sides with the best record against the leading pair in their groups.Elite roundIn the elite round, held in early spring, those 31 qualifiers plus the top seed – given a bye this far – compete i...