2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition to determine the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Romania and Georgia in the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament.

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
Tournament details
Dates25 March 2021 – 27 September 2022
Teams53 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played255
Goals scored778 (3.05 per match)
Top scorer(s)Portugal Gonçalo Ramos (12 goals)

Apart from Romania and Georgia, all remaining 53 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition. Players born on or after 1 January 2000 were eligible to participate.

Format

The qualifying competition consisted of the following two rounds:

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

Tiebreakers

In the qualifying group stage, teams were 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 were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):[1]

  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 were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were 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 best runner-up from the qualifying group stage, the results against the teams in sixth place were discarded. The following criteria were applied (Regulations Article 15.02):[1]

  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.

Schedule
Stage Draw date FIFA International Dates
Qualifying group stage 28 January 2021[2] Matchday 1 (1–3 September 2021)[lower-alpha 1]
Matchday 2 (6–7 September 2021)
Matchday 3 (7–8 October 2021)
Matchday 4 (11–12 October 2021)
Matchday 5 (10–12 November 2021)
Matchday 6 (14–16 November 2021)
Matchday 7 (24–25 March 2022)
Matchday 8 (28–29 March 2022)
Matchday 9 (2–6 June 2022)
Matchday 10 (6–14 June 2022)
Play-offs 21 June 2022[3] 1st leg (23 September 2022)
2nd leg (27 September 2022)
  1. Some matches of Matchday 1 were played on 25 and 29 March 2021 and some matches were played on 4–8 June 2021

Qualifying group stage

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

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, the following teams would not be drawn in the same group.[4]

  • Armenia and Azerbaijan
  • Gibraltar and Spain
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo
  • Kosovo and Serbia
  • Kosovo and Russia
  • Russia and Ukraine[5]

Group A
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Norway 10 8 0 2 26 11 +15 24 Final tournament — 3–2 3–1 3–1 2–1 3–0
2  Croatia 10 7 1 2 25 10 +15 22 Play-offs 3–2 — 2–3 0–0 2–0 2–0
3  Finland 10 6 1 3 18 13 +5 19 0–2 0–2 — 3–1 3–0 1–0
4  Austria 10 5 1 4 22 13 +9 16 2–1 1–3 2–3 — 6–0 2–0
5  Azerbaijan 10 2 1 7 12 24 −12 7 1–2 1–5 1–1 0–3 — 3–0
6  Estonia 10 0 0 10 0 32 −32 0 0–5 0–4 0–3 0–4 0–5 —
Source: UEFA

Group B
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 10 9 0 1 32 9 +23 27 Final tournament — 3–2 0–4 4–0 4–0 4–0
2  Israel 10 6 1 3 19 10 +9 19 Play-offs 0–1 — 2–2 3–0 2–1 2–0
3  Poland 10 5 3 2 26 9 +17 18 1–2 1–2 — 1–1 5–0 3–0
4  Hungary 10 4 2 4 16 17 −1 14 1–5 1–2 2–2 — 1–0 4–0
5  Latvia 10 2 1 7 5 19 −14 7 1–3 1–0 0–2 0–2 — 2–0
6  San Marino 10 0 1 9 0 34 −34 1 0–6 0–4 0–5 0–4 0–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group C
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group C

On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA announced that Russia was suspended from all competitions.[6] On 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that Russia would no longer be allowed to take part in the competition, that their previous results were nullified, and that Group C would continue with five teams.[7][8]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 8 8 0 0 37 5 +32 24 Final tournament — 3–2 3–0 8–0 7–1 4–1
2  Slovakia 8 5 0 3 18 10 +8 15 Play-offs 2–3 — 2–1 3–1 4–0 Canc.
3  Northern Ireland 8 2 1 5 8 18 −10 7 0–6 1–0 — 4–0 0–2 Canc.
4  Lithuania 8 2 1 5 7 22 −15 7 0–2 0–2 1–1 — 2–1 0–3
5  Malta 8 2 0 6 10 25 −15 6 0–5 1–3 4–1 1–3 — Canc.
6  Russia[lower-alpha 1] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified 1–0 3–0 1–0 Canc. 6–0 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian national teams from all competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[9] On 2 May 2022, UEFA declared all of their results to be null and void.[10]

Group D
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 10 9 1 0 41 3 +38 28 Final tournament — 1–1 2–1 1–0 6–0 11–0
2  Iceland 10 5 3 2 25 7 +18 18 Play-offs 0–1 — 1–1 3–1 5–0 9–0
3  Greece 10 5 2 3 16 10 +6 17 0–4 1–0 — 2–0 0–0 4–0
4  Belarus 10 4 0 6 16 15 +1 12 1–5 1–2 0–2 — 2–0 6–0
5  Cyprus 10 3 2 5 16 16 0 11 0–1 1–1 3–0 0–1 — 6–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 0 63 −63 0 0–9 0–3 0–5 0–4 0–6 —
Source: UEFA

Group E
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 10 8 2 0 32 3 +29 26 Final tournament — 2–0 3–0 5–0 3–1 6–0
2   Switzerland 10 7 2 1 22 6 +16 23 2–2 — 3–0 5–1 1–0 4–0
3  Moldova 10 3 3 4 7 12 −5 12 0–3 1–1 — 1–0 0–2 1–0
4  Wales 10 3 2 5 15 14 +1 11 0–1 0–1 0–0 — 1–1 2–0
5  Bulgaria 10 2 4 4 10 11 −1 10 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–4 — 5–0
6  Gibraltar 10 0 1 9 1 41 −40 1 0–7 0–4 0–4 0–7 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group F
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 10 7 3 0 19 5 +14 24 Final tournament — 4–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0
2  Republic of Ireland 10 6 1 3 16 10 +6 19 Play-offs 0–2 — 1–0 3–0 3–1 2–0
3  Sweden 10 5 3 2 22 8 +14 18 1–1 0–2 — 4–0 3–1 6–0
4  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 3 2 5 9 16 −7 11 1–2 0–2 1–1 — 2–1 1–0
5  Montenegro 10 3 2 5 14 17 −3 11 1–1 2–1 1–3 2–2 — 3–0
6  Luxembourg 10 0 1 9 2 26 −24 1 0–3 1–1 0–3 0–2 1–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group G
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 10 8 1 1 26 7 +19 25 Final tournament — 3–1 1–2 2–0 3–0 4–1
2  Czech Republic 10 7 1 2 23 6 +17 22 Play-offs 1–2 — 1–0 3–0 4–0 7–0
3  Slovenia 10 4 4 2 11 7 +4 16 2–2 1–1 — 0–0 3–0 2–0
4  Kosovo 10 3 3 4 8 13 −5 12 0–5 0–1 0–0 — 2–1 2–0
5  Albania 10 3 1 6 9 17 −8 10 0–3 0–1 2–0 1–1 — 2–0
6  Andorra 10 0 0 10 1 28 −27 0 0–1 0–3 0–1 0–3 0–3 —
Source: UEFA

Group H
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 10 8 2 0 31 5 +26 26 Final tournament — 5–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 7–0
2  Ukraine 10 7 2 1 20 11 +9 23 Play-offs 3–3 — 2–1 1–0 4–0 2–1
3  Serbia 10 3 3 4 10 11 −1 12 0–3 0–1 — 0–0 2–1 2–0
4  Faroe Islands 10 2 4 4 6 12 −6 10 1–1 0–4 1–1 — 1–1 2–0
5  North Macedonia 10 2 3 5 8 15 −7 9 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 — 3–1
6  Armenia 10 1 0 9 7 28 −21 3 1–4 0–2 1–4 2–0 1–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group I
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group I
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Belgium 8 6 2 0 14 2 +12 20 Final tournament — 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–0
2  Denmark 8 5 2 1 12 6 +6 17 Play-offs 1–1 — 3–2 1–1 3–0
3  Turkey 8 2 2 4 7 11 −4 8 0–3 1–2 — 1–1 0–0
4  Scotland 8 1 4 3 6 10 −4 7 0–2 0–1 0–2 — 2–1
5  Kazakhstan 8 0 2 6 4 14 −10 2 1–3 0–1 0–1 2–2 —
Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

Only the results of the second-placed teams against the first, third, fourth and fifth-placed teams in their group were taken into account, while results against the sixth-placed team in six-team groups were not included. As a result, eight matches played by each second-placed team were counted for the purposes of determining the ranking. The top-ranked team qualified directly for the final tournament, while the other teams entered the play-offs.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 E   Switzerland 8 5 2 1 14 6 +8 17 Final tournament
2 H  Ukraine 8 5 2 1 16 10 +6 17 Play-offs
3 I  Denmark 8 5 2 1 12 6 +6 17
4 A  Croatia 8 5 1 2 19 10 +9 16
5 G  Czech Republic 8 5 1 2 13 6 +7 16
6 C  Slovakia 8 5 0 3 18 10 +8 15
7 F  Republic of Ireland 8 5 0 3 13 9 +4 15
8 B  Israel 8 4 1 3 13 10 +3 13
9 D  Iceland 8 3 3 2 13 7 +6 12
Source:
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.

Advanced teams
Advanced teams
Group Group winners Runners-up (Direct entrant) Runners-up (Play-offs)
A  Norway  Croatia
B  Germany  Israel
C  Spain  Slovakia
D  Portugal  Iceland
E  Netherlands   Switzerland
F  Italy  Republic of Ireland
G  England  Czech Republic
H  France  Ukraine
I  Belgium  Denmark

Play-offs
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification play-offs

The draw for the play-offs was held on 21 June 2022 in Nyon, Switzerland.[11]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Croatia  3–3 (5–4 p)  Denmark 2–1 1–2 (a.e.t.)
Slovakia  3–5  Ukraine 3–2 0–3
Republic of Ireland  1–1 (1–3 p)  Israel 1–1 0–0 (a.e.t.)
Iceland  1–2  Czech Republic 1–2 0–0

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Note: All appearance statistics include only U-21 era (since 1978).

Team Method of qualification Date of qualification Appearance Last appearance Previous best performance
 RomaniaCo-hosts3 December 20204th2021Semi-finals (2019)
 Georgia1stDebut
 BelgiumGroup I winners29 March 20224th2019Semi-finals (2007)
 SpainGroup C winners2 May 2022[lower-alpha 1]16th2021Champions (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019)
 GermanyGroup B winners3 June 202214th2021Champions (2009, 2017, 2021)
 PortugalGroup D winners6 June 202210th2021Runners-up (1994, 2015, 2021)
 EnglandGroup G winners7 June 202217th2021Champions (1982, 1984)
 NetherlandsGroup E winners8 June 20229th2021Champions (2006, 2007)
 FranceGroup H winners9 June 202211th2021Champions (1988)
 ItalyGroup F winners14 June 202222nd2021Champions (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 NorwayGroup A winners14 June 20223rd2013Semi-finals (1998, 2013)
  SwitzerlandBest runner-up14 June 20225th2021Runners-up (2011)
 UkrainePlay-offs winner27 September 20223rd2011Runners-up (2006)
 Czech RepublicPlay-offs winner27 September 20229th2021Champions (2002)
 CroatiaPlay-offs winner27 September 20225th2021Quarter-finals (2021)
 IsraelPlay-offs winner27 September 20223rd2013Group stage (2007, 2013)
  1. On 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that Russia were removed from European Under-21 Championship qualification due to their country's invasion of Ukraine, with all their earlier results considered null and void.[7] Spain therefore qualified for the European Under-21 Championship, as no other teams could surpass them.

Top goalscorers

There were 778 goals scored in 255 matches, for an average of 3.05 goals per match.

12 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

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

References
  1. "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  2. UEFA.com (2021-01-04). "2021-23 Under-21 qualifying draw: 28 January". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  3. UEFA.com (2022-06-10). "2023 Under-21 EURO qualifying latest: France, Netherlands, England, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Belgium in finals". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  4. UEFA.com (2021-01-04). "2021-23 Under-21 qualifying draw: 28 January". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  5. UEFA.com (2014-07-17). "Emergency Panel decisions | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  6. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs". uefa.com. UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  8. "Uefa announces further sanctions on Russian clubs and national teams amid Ukraine invasion". BBC Sport. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  9. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". fifa.com. FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  10. "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs". uefa.com. UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  11. "2023 Under-21 EURO qualifying latest: France, Netherlands, England, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Belgium in finals - Under-21 - News - UEFA.com". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
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