The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Poland in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship tournament final.

A total of 52 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition, with Gibraltar as the only absentee. Players born on or after 1 January 1994 are eligible to participate.

Format

The qualifying competition consists of two rounds:

  • Qualifying group stage: The 52 teams are drawn into nine groups – seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams. Each group is played in home-and-away round-robin format. The nine group winners qualify directly for the tournament final, while the four best runners-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) advance to the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The four teams are drawn into two ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last two qualified teams.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of a group, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  5. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the group matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
  6. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  10. Position in the UEFA Under-21 national team coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

To determine the four best runners-up from the qualifying group stage, the results against the teams in sixth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied (Regulations Article 14.02):

  1. Higher number of points;
  2. Superior goal difference;
  3. Higher number of goals scored;
  4. Higher number of away goals scored;
  5. Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  6. Position in the UEFA Under-21 national team coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

In the play-offs, the team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs qualifies for the tournament final. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e., the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e., if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out (Regulations Articles 15.01 and 15.02).

Schedule

The qualifying matches are played on dates that fall within the FIFA International Match Calendar.

StageFIFA International Dates
Qualifying group stage23–31 March 2015
8–16 June 2015
31 August – 8 September 2015
5–13 October 2015
9–17 November 2015
21–29 March 2016
29 August – 6 September 2016
3–11 October 2016
Play-offs7–15 November 2016

Qualifying group stage

Draw

The draw for the qualifying group stage was held on 5 February 2015, 09:00 CET (UTC+1), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The teams were seeded according to their coefficient ranking calculation based on the following:

Groups 1–7 each contained one team from each of Pots A–F, and Group 8–9 each contained one team from each of Pots A–E. Precautions: certain national teams were not drawn up in the same group. Azerbaijan and Armenia continued to dispute the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Russia's continued 2014-15 intervention in Ukraine.

tournament final hosts
TeamCoeffRank
Poland25,40224
Teams entering qualifying group stage
TeamCoeffRank
Pot A Team Coeff Rank Spain 41,470 1 England 36,252 2 Italy 36,129 3 Germany 35,370 4 France 35,107 5 Czech Republic 34,516 6 Portugal 33,887 7 Netherlands 33,422 8 Denmark 31,989 9Pot B Team Coeff Rank Russia 31,346 10 Switzerland 31,296 11 Sweden 30,365 12 Serbia 29,837 13 Israel 29,766 14 Ukraine 28,950 15 Slovakia 27,982 16 Romania 27,668 17 Belgium 27,539 18Pot C Team Coeff Rank Turkey 27,497 19 Slovenia 27,252 20 Austria 27,177 21 Greece 26,982 22 Scotland 25,812 23 Croatia 25,286 25 Norway 24,859 26 Armenia 24,441 27 Montenegro 24,402 28
Spain41,4701
England36,2522
Italy36,1293
Germany35,3704
France35,1075
Czech Republic34,5166
Portugal33,8877
Netherlands33,4228
Denmark31,9899
TeamCoeffRank
Russia31,34610
Switzerland31,29611
Sweden30,36512
Serbia29,83713
Israel29,76614
Ukraine28,95015
Slovakia27,98216
Romania27,66817
Belgium27,53918
TeamCoeffRank
Turkey27,49719
Slovenia27,25220
Austria27,17721
Greece26,98222
Scotland25,81223
Croatia25,28625
Norway24,85926
Armenia24,44127
Montenegro24,40228
Pot D Team Coeff Rank Finland 23,851 29 Wales 23,818 30 Hungary 23,776 31 Iceland 23,521 32 Bosnia and Herzegovina 22,912 33 Georgia 22,606 34 Moldova 22,431 35 Republic of Ireland 21,936 36 Belarus 20,638 37Pot E Team Coeff Rank Bulgaria 20,317 38 Cyprus 18,809 39 Macedonia 18,126 40 Lithuania 17,511 41 Azerbaijan 17,414 42 Kazakhstan 17,076 43 Albania 16,014 44 Latvia 15,836 45 Estonia 15,726 46Pot F Team Coeff Rank Faroe Islands 14,896 47 Northern Ireland 14,651 48 Luxembourg 11,251 49 Malta 10,838 50 San Marino 10,163 51 Andorra 8,950 52 Liechtenstein 8,125 53
TeamCoeffRank
Finland23,85129
Wales23,81830
Hungary23,77631
Iceland23,52132
Bosnia and Herzegovina22,91233
Georgia22,60634
Moldova22,43135
Republic of Ireland21,93636
Belarus20,63837
TeamCoeffRank
Bulgaria20,31738
Cyprus18,80939
Macedonia18,12640
Lithuania17,51141
Azerbaijan17,41442
Kazakhstan17,07643
Albania16,01444
Latvia15,83645
Estonia15,72646
TeamCoeffRank
Faroe Islands14,89647
Northern Ireland14,65148
Luxembourg11,25149
Malta10,83850
San Marino10,16351
Andorra8,95052
Liechtenstein8,12553

Notes

  • Teams marked in bold have qualified for the tournament final.
Did not enter
TeamCoeffRank
Gibraltar054

Groups

Group 1

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Czech Republic107212910+1923Final tournament—1–03–34–12–14–1
2Belgium106041411+3182–1—1–22–00–12–1
3Montenegro104421311+2160–33–0—0–03–31–0
4Malta10325920−11110–72–30–1—1–03–2
5Latvia102351013−391–10–20–01–2—0–2
6Moldova10217818−1071–30–21–00–00–3—

Group 2

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Italy10730173+1424Final tournament—1–11–01–02–03–0
2Serbia10721278+1923Play-offs1–1—3–13–25–05–0
3Slovenia105051811+7150–32–0—3–13–04–0
4Republic of Ireland104061417−3121–41–32–0—3–01–0
5Lithuania10316517−12100–00–21–03–1—1–0
6Andorra10109126−2530–10–40–50–21–0—

Group 3

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Macedonia10631137+621Final tournament—2–20–01–02–02–0
2France10622178+9201–1—2–02–02–01–0
3Iceland10532139+4183–03–2—2–42–01–1
4Ukraine104241412+2140–21–00–1—4–01–1
5Scotland10226817−980–11–20–02–2—3–1
6Northern Ireland10028618−1221–20–30–11–21–2—

Group 4

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Portugal10820345+2926Final tournament—0–01–04–02–04–0
2Israel10631214+17210–3—4–04–03–04–0
3Greece104151314−1130–40–1—2–13–15–0
4Albania103341120−9121–61–10–0—2–12–0
5Hungary103341916+3123–30–02–12–2—4–0
6Liechtenstein100010140−3901–70–40–20–20–6—

Group 5

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Denmark10910243+2128Final tournament—1–03–10–04–12–0
2Bulgaria10523117+4170–3—2–00–03–02–0
3Romania105141514+1160–30–2—2–14–03–0
4Wales104421412+2160–43–11–1—1–12–1
5Luxembourg10136518−1360–10–00–11–3—1–0
6Armenia10019621−1511–30–12–31–31–1—

Group 6

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Sweden10730247+1724Final tournament—1–14–23–25–03–0
2Spain10721319+2223Play-offs1–1—0–35–05–06–0
3Croatia106222411+13201–12–3—1–02–14–0
4Georgia1041517170130–12–52–2—3–04–0
5Estonia10118326−2340–30–20–40–1—0–0
6San Marino10019130−2910–20–30–30–31–2—

Group 7

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Germany101000358+2730Final tournament—4–24–03–14–34–1
2Austria107122212+1022Play-offs1–4—2–07–04–31–0
3Finland104241310+3140–10–1—0–02–03–0
4Azerbaijan10235819−1190–30–20–1—3–01–1
5Russia102351519−490–21–11–12–2—2–0
6Faroe Islands10019328−2510–60–11–60–10–3—

Group 8

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Slovakia8611216+1519Final tournament—4–25–03–12–0
2Netherlands84221510+5141–3—0–01–04–0
3Turkey832378−1111–10–1—1–00–1
4Belarus8224711−481–02–20–2—2–2
5Cyprus8116419−1540–31–40–30–1—

Group 9

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1England8620203+1720Final tournament—6–13–13–05–0
2Norway85121210+216Play-offs0–1—2–12–12–0
3Switzerland8332118+3121–11–1—3–03–1
4Kazakhstan8116314−1140–10–30–1—0–0
5Bosnia and Herzegovina8035213−1130–00–10–01–2—

Ranking of second-placed teams

To determine the four best second-placed teams from the qualifying group stage which advance to the play-offs, only the results of the second-placed teams against the first, third, fourth and fifth-placed teams in their group are taken into account, while results against the sixth-placed team (for groups with six teams) are not included. As a result, eight matches played by each second-placed team will count for the purposes of determining the ranking.

PosGrpTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
16Spain8521229+1317Play-offs
22Serbia8521188+1017
37Austria85122012+816
49Norway85121210+216
54Israel8431134+915
68Netherlands84221510+514
73France8422138+514
81Belgium84041010012
95Bulgaria832387+111

Play-offs

Draw

The draw for the play-offs was held on 14 October 2016, 13:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Matches

The two play-off winners qualify for the tournament final.

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Serbia2–1Norway2–00–1
Austria1–1 (a)Spain1–10–0

Qualified teams

The following 12 teams qualify for the tournament final.

TeamQualified asQualified onPrevious appearances in tournament1 only U-21 era (since 1978)
PolandHosts26 January 20155 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1994)
Czech RepublicGroup 1 winners7 October 201612 (19782, 19802, 19882, 19902, 19922, 19942, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2015)
ItalyGroup 2 winners11 October 201618 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015)
MacedoniaGroup 3 winners11 October 20160 (debut)
PortugalGroup 4 winners6 September 20167 (1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2015)
DenmarkGroup 5 winners6 September 20166 (1978, 1986, 1992, 2006, 2011, 2015)
SwedenGroup 6 winners10 October 20167 (1986, 1990, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2009, 2015)
GermanyGroup 7 winners7 October 201610 (19823, 19903, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2015)
SlovakiaGroup 8 winners6 October 20167 (19782, 19802, 19882, 19902, 19922, 19942, 2000)
EnglandGroup 9 winners6 October 201613 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015)
SerbiaPlay-off winners15 November 20169 (19784, 19804, 19844, 19904, 20045, 20065, 2007, 2009, 2015)
SpainPlay-off winners15 November 201612 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2009, 2011, 2013)

1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

2 As Czechoslovakia

3 As West Germany

4 As Yugoslavia

5 As Serbia and Montenegro

Top goalscorers

Players with six goals or more.

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

External links