Today is semi-finals day at the IBSA Blind Football European Championships 2017 in Berlin, Germany, following five intense match days during the round-robin stage.

England and France progress to the semis from Group A, while Russia and Spain topped Group B and qualified.

England impressed in the group, winning all four games and posting a +22 goal difference. In the final match of the group they defeated Germany to knock the hosts out of the semis and ensure France completed the group in second place (7 points).

Caption: England penalty kick against Italy.

In Group B qualification also went down to the wire, with Spain securing second place thanks to a 1-1 draw against Turkey in yesterday's last match. Russia had already made sure of its place in the semis earlier with a 2-0 victory over Belgium.

The semi-finals will take place this afternoon, with England meeting Spain at 17:00 and Russia taking on France at 19:30.

Turkey's failure to qualify means a new name will go on the European Champions trophy, as the reigning champions will now have to contend fifth place with Germany on Friday. The winner of the match qualifies for the IBSA Blind Football World Championships in Madrid, Spain, in June 2018.

On Friday, Italy and Belgium will face each other in the 7th-8th place play-off, while Romania and Georgia will play for 9th and 10th place.

Group standing after round-robin stage

Caption: Group A.

Caption: Group B.

Hasan Satay continues to lead the goalscorers table on 11, followed by Russia's Denis Egorov and England's Robin Williams on six.
 

Follow live streams of all the matches with English audiodescription on the IBSA Blind Football Facebook group, and with German audiodescription on the official championships Youtube channel. 

Championships web site.