Harvey Elliott made offensive gesture after England beat Germany to win U21 Euros and it could result in UEFA ban

Harvey Elliott was pictured making an offensive gesture just moments after England retained their Under-21 European Championship crown with a dramatic win over Germany – and it could land him in trouble.

It was another night to remember for Lee Carsley and his team, who took an early 2-0 lead in Bratislava following goals from Elliott and Ipswich Town forward Omari Hutchinson.

But after Germany forced the game into extra-time with goals either side of half-time, England had to dig deep in the final stages.

And they did exactly that. Just two minutes after being introduced, Jonathan Rowe netted the winner after a perfectly-weighted cross from Tyler Morton found the Marseille forward's head in the opening stages of extra-time.

Rowe's effort was enough to secure victory and jubilant celebrations followed as Harvey Elliott could be seen cupping his ears in the direction of their opponents before sticking two fingers up.

It is unclear who the Liverpool midfielder's V-sign gesture was aimed towards, but his actions brought plenty of reaction from fans on social media.

One said: "Harvey Elliott with a parting message to the Germans," while another wrote: "Love the fact that the German commentators were saying he just wanted to remind everyone that he’s won the trophy twice."

A third commented: "Love that flicking the v’s is still a thing. I thought everyone had gone middle finger these day. Nothing more quintessentially more English than this."

A fourth said: "Game has never been so back," and a fifth added: "What a country."

Based on previous incidents in UEFA-based competitions, Elliott could be punished for the gesture.

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— luke (@louorns) June 28, 2025

Last year, for example, Jude Bellingham was fined €30,000 and given a suspended one-match ban by the governing body after being found guilty of “violating the basic rules of decent conduct” following an incident at Euro 2024.

Bellingham was seen making a crotch-grabbing gesture towards Slovakia's bench at the tournament.

Elliott, meanwhile, could have breached the rule in article 11/2b against Germany, which requires anyone subject to UEFA regulations to respect the "principles of ethical conduct, loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship".