2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 14 teams joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Hungary and Slovenia in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament.[1]

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
Tournament details
Dates20 March 2019 – 18 November 2020
Teams53 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played255
Goals scored822 (3.22 per match)
Top scorer(s) Eddie Nketiah (13 goals)

Apart from Hungary and Slovenia, all remaining 53 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition. Players born on or after 1 January 1998 are eligible to participate.

Format

The qualifying competition would originally consist of the following two rounds:[2]

  • Qualifying group stage: The 53 teams are drawn into nine groups: eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams. Each group is played in home-and-away round-robin format. The nine group winners and the best runners-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) qualify directly for the final tournament, while the remaining eight runners-up advance to the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The eight teams are drawn into four ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last four qualified teams.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe which caused the postponement of matches in the qualifying group stage, UEFA announced on 17 June 2020 that the play-offs would be cancelled. Instead, the nine group winners and the five best runners-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) qualify for the final tournament.[3][4][5]

Tiebreakers

In the qualifying group stage, teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):[2]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  5. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Wins in all group matches;
  10. Away wins in all group matches;
  11. Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  12. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

To determine the five 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 15.02):[2]

  1. Points;
  2. Goal difference;
  3. Goals scored;
  4. Away goals scored;
  5. Wins;
  6. Away wins;
  7. Disciplinary points;
  8. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the UEFA Executive Committee approved on 28 August 2020 the following principles for the qualifying phase of the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship:[6]

  • If a team cannot field the minimum required number of players (at least 13 players including at least one goalkeeper) due to positive SARS-CoV-2 tests and the match cannot be rescheduled, the team responsible for the match not taking place are considered to have forfeited the match and lost 0–3.
  • If UEFA comes to the conclusion that both or none of the teams are responsible for the match not taking place, the outcome of the match will be decided by drawing of lots, either home win 1–0, home loss 0–1 or draw 0–0, carried out by the UEFA administration.

Schedule

The qualifying matches are played on dates that fall within the FIFA International Match Calendar. The qualifying group stage was originally to end in October 2020, but was extended to November 2020 due to the postponement of the matches in March 2020. The play-offs, originally scheduled to be played between 9–17 November 2020, were cancelled.[3][4][5]

Stage Draw date FIFA International Dates
Qualifying group stage 11 December 2018 18–26 March 2019
3–11 June 2019
2–10 September 2019
7–15 October 2019
11–19 November 2019
23–31 March 2020 (matches not played due to COVID-19 pandemic)[7]
31 August – 8 September 2020
5–13 October 2020
9–18 November 2020 (new dates for matches postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic)[5]

Qualifying group stage

Draw

The draw for the qualifying group stage was held on 11 December 2018, 09:00 CET (UTC+1), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[8]

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

Each group contained one team from each of Pots A–F (Pots A–E for five-team group). Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, Spain and Gibraltar, and Serbia and Kosovo would not be drawn in the same group.[8]

Final tournament co-hosts
Team
 Hungary
 Slovenia
Teams entering qualifying group stage
Pot A
Team
 Germany
 England
 Spain
 Portugal
 Denmark
 France
 Italy
 Serbia
 Croatia
Pot B
Team
 Austria
 Sweden
 Belgium
 Slovakia
 Poland
 Romania
 Czech Republic
 Netherlands
 Israel
Pot C
Team
 Greece
 Ukraine
 Norway
 Russia
 Turkey
 Iceland
 Wales
  Switzerland
 Montenegro
Pot D
Team
 Bulgaria
 Finland
 Republic of Ireland
 Georgia
 Kosovo
 Scotland
 North Macedonia
 Belarus
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pot E
Team
 Northern Ireland
 Albania
 Moldova
 Lithuania
 Kazakhstan
 Latvia
 Azerbaijan
 Armenia
 Cyprus
Pot F
Team
 Luxembourg
 Malta
 Estonia
 Faroe Islands
 Gibraltar
 Andorra
 San Marino
 Liechtenstein
Notes
  • Teams marked in bold qualified for the final tournament.

Group 1
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 10 8 1 1 27 5 +22 25 Final tournament — 3–0 2–0 4–1 6–0 5–0
2  Iceland 10 7 0 3 19 12 +7 21 1–2 — 1–0 1–0 6–1 3–0
3  Republic of Ireland 10 6 1 3 15 8 +7 19 0–0 1–2 — 4–1 1–0 3–0
4  Sweden 10 6 0 4 31 12 +19 18 3–0 5–0 1–3 — 10–0 4–0
5  Armenia 10 1 0 9 4 33 −29 3[lower-alpha 1] 0–1 0–3[lower-alpha 2] 0–1 0–3[lower-alpha 3] — 2–0
6  Luxembourg 10 1 0 9 3 29 −26 3[lower-alpha 1] 0–4 0–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked on head-to-head goal difference: Armenia +1, Luxembourg −1.
  2. The Armenia v Iceland match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Iceland after being cancelled as Armenia could not travel to the match due to positive SARS-CoV-2 tests in the team.[9]
  3. The Armenia v Sweden match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Sweden after being cancelled as Armenia could not travel to the match due to positive SARS-CoV-2 tests in the team.[9]

Group 2
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 10 9 0 1 32 10 +22 27 Final tournament — 3–1 3–2 1–0 5–0 5–0
2   Switzerland 10 9 0 1 26 8 +18 27 3–1 — 2–1 4–1 2–1 3–0
3  Georgia 10 5 0 5 17 14 +3 15 0–2 0–3 — 2–1 1–0 4–0
4  Slovakia 10 4 0 6 22 21 +1 12 3–5 1–2 3–2 — 2–1 6–0
5  Azerbaijan 10 2 0 8 6 18 −12 6 1–2 0–1 0–3 2–1 — 1–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 1 0 9 3 35 −32 3 0–5 0–5 0–2 2–4 1–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group 3
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 3
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 10 9 1 0 34 9 +25 28 Final tournament — 5–1 5–0 2–1 2–0 3–1
2  Austria 10 6 0 4 24 16 +8 18 1–2 — 1–5 3–0 4–0 4–0
3  Albania 10 4 2 4 16 21 −5 14 0–3 0–4 — 1–2 2–1 3–1
4  Turkey 10 4 1 5 15 18 −3 13 2–3 3–2 2–2 — 3–0 1–0
5  Kosovo 10 3 0 7 9 20 −11 9 0–6 0–1 0–1 3–1 — 1–0
6  Andorra 10 1 2 7 10 24 −14 5 3–3 1–3 2–2 2–0 0–4 —
Source: UEFA

Group 4
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 4
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Czech Republic 10 6 3 1 20 4 +16 21 Final tournament — 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 6–0
2  Croatia 10 6 2 2 37 7 +30 20 1–2 — 1–2 5–0 7–0 10–0
3  Scotland 10 5 3 2 16 5 +11 18 2–0 2–2 — 0–1 0–0 2–0
4  Greece 10 5 1 4 10 11 −1 16 0–2 0–1 1–0 — 1–0 5–0
5  Lithuania 10 3 1 6 9 15 −6 10 0–1 1–3 0–1 2–0 — 3–0
6  San Marino 10 0 0 10 0 50 −50 0 0–6 0–7 0–7 0–1 0–3 —
Source: UEFA

Group 5
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 5
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Russia 10 7 2 1 22 4 +18 23 Final tournament — 2–2 2–0 1–0 4–0 2−0
2  Poland 10 6 2 2 19 8 +11 20 1–0 — 1–1 1–0 4–0 3–1
3  Bulgaria 10 5 3 2 14 5 +9 18 0–0 3−0 — 0–1 3–0 1–0
4  Serbia 10 3 3 4 12 9 +3 12 0–2 1–0 1–2 — 6−0 1–1
5  Estonia 10 1 2 7 3 34 −31 5 0–5 0–6 0–4 0–0 — 2–1
6  Latvia 10 0 4 6 7 17 −10 4 1–4 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group 6
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 6
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 10 9 1 0 20 1 +19 28 Final tournament — 3–0 3–0 3–0 2–0 2–0
2  North Macedonia 10 5 3 2 20 12 +8 18 0–1 — 1–1 1–1 7–1 2–1
3  Israel 10 3 4 3 12 14 −2 13 1–1 1–1 — 1–2 3–1 0–0
4  Kazakhstan 10 3 1 6 12 21 −9 10 0–1 1–4 1–2 — 2–3 0–4
5  Faroe Islands 10 3 0 7 11 25 −14 9 0–2 1–2 3–1 1–3 — 1–0
6  Montenegro 10 2 1 7 11 13 −2 7 0–2 1–2 1–2 1–2 3–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group 7
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 7
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 10 9 0 1 46 5 +41 27[lower-alpha 1] Final tournament — 4–2 2–0 5–0 5–1 5–0
2  Portugal 10 9 0 1 29 9 +20 27[lower-alpha 1] 2–1 — 4–1 3–0 2–1 4–0
3  Norway 8 3 1 4 14 16 −2 10 0–4 2–3 — Canc. 2–1 6–0
4  Belarus 9 2 2 5 15 21 −6 8 0–7 0–2 1–1 — 1–2 10–0
5  Cyprus 9 2 1 6 8 24 −16 7 0–7 0–4 1–2 1–1 — 1–0
6  Gibraltar 8 0 0 8 0 37 −37 0 0–6 0–3 Canc. 0–2 Canc. —
Updated to match(es) played on 18 November 2020. Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked on head-to-head goal difference: Netherlands +1, Portugal −1.

Group 8
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 8
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Denmark 10 8 2 0 21 9 +12 26 Final tournament — 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 5–1
2  Romania 10 6 2 2 22 7 +15 20 1–1 — 3–0 4–1 3–0 4–1
3  Ukraine 10 5 1 4 17 11 +6 16 2–3 1–0 — 0–2 3–0 4–0
4  Finland 10 4 1 5 14 15 −1 13 0–1 1–3 0–2 — 1–1 4–0
5  Northern Ireland 10 2 3 5 7 13 −6 9 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–3 — 0–0
6  Malta 10 0 1 9 4 30 −26 1 1–3 0–3 1–4 0–1 0–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group 9
Main article: 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 9
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 8 6 0 2 22 10 +12 18 Final tournament — 2–3 1–0 2–1 4–1
2  Belgium 8 4 1 3 18 9 +9 13 4–1 — 0–0 5–0 4–1
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 3 2 3 9 7 +2 11 0–2 3–2 — 1–0 4–0
4  Wales 8 3 0 5 8 15 −7 9 1–5 1–0 1–0 — 3–0
5  Moldova 8 2 1 5 6 22 −16 7 0–5 1–0 1–1 2–1 —
Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

To determine the five best second-placed teams from the qualifying group stage which qualify to the final tournament, 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 in six-team groups are not included. As a result, eight matches played by each second-placed team are counted for the purposes of determining the ranking.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 7  Portugal 8 7 0 1 22 9 +13 21 Final tournament
2 2   Switzerland 8 7 0 1 18 8 +10 21
3 1  Iceland 8 5 0 3 14 12 +2 15
4 4  Croatia 8 4 2 2 20 7 +13 14
5 8  Romania 8 4 2 2 15 6 +9 14
6 5  Poland 8 4 2 2 15 7 +8 14
7 9  Belgium 8 4 1 3 18 9 +9 13
8 6  North Macedonia 8 3 3 2 16 10 +6 12
9 3  Austria 8 4 0 4 17 15 +2 12
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) away goals scored; 5) wins; 6) away wins; 7) disciplinary points; 8) coefficient ranking.

Play-offs

The draw for the play-offs was supposed to be held on 16 October 2020 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, to decide the matchups and the order of legs. The matches were supposed to be played between 9–17 November 2020, with the four play-off winners qualifying for the final tournament. However, the play-offs were later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualify for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in Under-21 Euro1
only U-21 era (since 1978)
 HungaryCo-hosts3 December 2018[1]4 (1978, 1980, 1986, 1996)
 SloveniaCo-hosts3 December 2018[1]0 (debut)
 ItalyGroup 1 winners15 November 202020 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
 FranceGroup 2 winners12 November 20209 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2006, 2019)
 EnglandGroup 3 winners13 October 202015 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
 Czech RepublicGroup 4 winners17 November 202013 (19782, 19802, 19882, 19902, 19922, 19942, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017)
 RussiaGroup 5 winners13 October 20206 (19803, 19823, 19903, 1994, 1998, 2013)
 SpainGroup 6 winners13 October 202014 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019)
 NetherlandsGroup 7 winners13 October 20208 (1988, 1990, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2013)
 DenmarkGroup 8 winners13 October 20208 (1978, 1986, 1992, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019)
 GermanyGroup 9 winners17 November 202012 (19824, 19904, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
 Portugal1st best runners-up15 November 20208 (1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2015, 2017)
  Switzerland2nd best runners-up13 October 20203 (2002, 2004, 2011)
 Iceland3rd best runners-up24 November 20201 (2011)
 Croatia4th best runners-up17 November 20203 (2000, 2004, 2019)
 Romania5th best runners-up17 November 20202 (1998, 2019)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Top goalscorers

There have been 822 goals scored in 255 matches, for an average of 3.22 goals per match (as of 18 November 2020).

13 goals

11 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

For full lists of goalscorers, see sections in each group:

References
  1. "VAR to be used in UEFA Champions League knockout phase". UEFA. 3 December 2018.
  2. "2019-21 UEFA European Under-21 Championship regulations" (PDF). UEFA.
  3. "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. "Updated UEFA competitions calendar". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  5. "Under-21 EURO: New format and schedule announced". UEFA.com. 17 June 2020.
  6. "UEFA Executive Committee approves new principles for upcoming national team matches". UEFA.com. 31 August 2020.
  7. "COVID-19: latest updates on UEFA competitions". UEFA.com. 17 March 2020.
  8. "2020/21 Under-21 qualifying draw". UEFA.com.
  9. "AB: Armenian under-21 national team". UEFA.com. 24 November 2020.
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