The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship started on 31 May 2007 with a qualifying competition and finishes on 15 October 2008, before the final tournament on 15–23 June 2009. 51 of the 52 other nations in UEFA's jurisdiction, including Montenegro and Serbia who competed separately for the first time, went through a series of qualifiers to decide the seven other teams to join Sweden at the finals. Andorra did not take part.

The first stage of the qualifying competition is a group stage followed by play-offs. Each group winner, as well as the four highest ranked second place teams, will advance to the play-off. The play-off will determine which seven nations join Sweden in the final tournament. Sweden, as hosts, qualify automatically.

Groups

Summary

Teams that have secured a place in the play-offs are highlighted in green, in their respective qualifying groups. The teams are ordered by final group position.

Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Group 10
ItalyTurkeyEnglandSpainSwitzerlandFinland DenmarkAustriaSerbia BelarusGermany IsraelWales France
Croatia Greece Albania Faroe Islands AzerbaijanUkraine Czech Republic Armenia LiechtensteinPortugal Montenegro Bulgaria Republic of IrelandRussia Poland Kazakhstan GeorgiaNetherlands Norway Macedonia EstoniaScotland Slovenia LithuaniaSlovakia Belgium Iceland CyprusHungary Latvia San MarinoNorthern Ireland Moldova LuxembourgRomania Bosnia and Herzegovina Malta

Group 1

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Italy10730215+1624
Croatia107122012+822
Greece105322013+718
Albania103341013−312
Faroe Islands10118518−134
Azerbaijan10037621−153

Group 2

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Turkey8611186+1219
Ukraine8503167+915
Czech Republic8422195+1414
Armenia8314816−810
Liechtenstein8008431−270

Group 3

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
England8710171+1622
Portugal8422137+614
Montenegro8224512−78
Bulgaria821549−57
Republic of Ireland8125414−105

Group 4

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Spain8800212+1924
Russia8503146+815
Poland8305911−29
Kazakhstan8206918−96
Georgia8206622−166

Group 5

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Switzerland8512165+1116
Netherlands8512103+716
Norway833276+112
Macedonia823356−19
Estonia8107119−183

Group 6

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Finland8611116+519
Denmark8512134+916
Scotland8512176+1116
Slovenia8125413−95
Lithuania8017218−161

Group 7

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Austria8620126+620
Slovakia83321511+412
Belgium83141213−110
Iceland814369−37
Cyprus8206915−66

Group 8

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Serbia8521245+1917
Belarus8521155+1017
Hungary84041413+112
Latvia832376+111
San Marino8008132−310

Group 9

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Germany8521243+2117
Israel8521165+1117
Northern Ireland84041312+112
Moldova840468−212
Luxembourg8008132−310

Group 10

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Wales8602206+1418
France8521165+1117
Romania8431115+615
Bosnia and Herzegovina8116717−104
Malta8107324−213

Ranking of second-placed teams

GrpTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
10France8521165+1117
9Israel8521165+1117
8Belarus8521155+1017
6Denmark8512134+916
5Netherlands8512103+716
1Croatia*85121610+616
2Ukraine8503167+915
4Russia8503146+815
3Portugal8422137+614
7Slovakia83321511+412

(*) Since Group 1 had six teams, only results against the top five ranked teams are taken into account. As Azerbaijan finished last, Croatia's 3-2 and 1-0 wins are disregarded for the purpose of calculating best runners-up overall.

Play-offs

The play-off first legs were played on 10–11 October, while the second legs were played on 14–15 October.

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Germany Germany2–1France France1–11–0
Denmark Denmark0–2Serbia Serbia0–10–1
Turkey Turkey1–2Belarus Belarus1–00–2
Austria Austria3–3(p)Finland Finland2–11–2
Wales Wales4–5England England2–32–2
Italy Italy3–1Israel Israel0–03–1
Switzerland Switzerland3–4Spain Spain2–11–3

Top scorers

PosGoalsPlayerNationality
17Chedwyn EvansWalesWales
=7Rouwen HenningsGermanyGermany
36Lazaros ChristodoulopoulosGreeceGreece
=6Antonis PetropoulosGreeceGreece
=6Eren DerdiyokSwitzerlandSwitzerland
=6Gojko KačarSerbiaSerbia
75Ádám SzalaiHungaryHungary
=5Xhevahir SukajAlbaniaAlbania

External links