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2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

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)
← 2021
2025 →

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.

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

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The qualifying competition consisted of the following two rounds:

Tiebreakers

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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

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Stage Draw date FIFA International Dates
Qualifying group stage 28 January 2021[2] Matchday 1 (1–3 September 2021)[a]
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

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Draw

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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 a five-team group). Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, six pairs of teams would not be drawn in the same group.[4]

Groups

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Group A

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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

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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

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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][7] 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.[8][9]

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[a] 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.[6][10] On 2 May 2022, UEFA expelled Russia and declared all of their results to be null and void.[8][11]

Group D

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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: [citation needed]
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

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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

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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.[12]

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

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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
 Romania Co-hosts 3 December 2020 4th 2021 Semi-finals (2019)
 Georgia 1st Debut
 Belgium Group I winners 29 March 2022 4th 2019 Semi-finals (2007)
 Spain Group C winners 2 May 2022[a] 16th 2021 Champions (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019)
 Germany Group B winners 3 June 2022 14th 2021 Champions (2009, 2017, 2021)
 Portugal Group D winners 6 June 2022 10th 2021 Runners-up (1994, 2015, 2021)
 England Group G winners 7 June 2022 17th 2021 Champions (1982, 1984)
 Netherlands Group E winners 8 June 2022 9th 2021 Champions (2006, 2007)
 France Group H winners 9 June 2022 11th 2021 Champions (1988)
 Italy Group F winners 14 June 2022 22nd 2021 Champions (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Norway Group A winners 14 June 2022 3rd 2013 Semi-finals (1998, 2013)
  Switzerland Best runner-up 14 June 2022 5th 2021 Runners-up (2011)
 Ukraine Play-offs winner 27 September 2022 3rd 2011 Runners-up (2006)
 Czech Republic Play-offs winner 27 September 2022 9th 2021 Champions (2002)
 Croatia Play-offs winner 27 September 2022 5th 2021 Quarter-finals (2021)
 Israel Play-offs winner 27 September 2022 3rd 2013 Group 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.[8] Spain therefore qualified for the European Under-21 Championship, as no other teams could surpass them.

Top goalscorers

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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

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ a b "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. ^ UEFA.com (2022-02-28). "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  8. ^ a b c "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.
  9. ^ "Uefa announces further sanctions on Russian clubs and national teams amid Ukraine invasion". BBC Sport. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  10. ^ UEFA.com (2022-02-28). "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  11. ^ "Uefa announces further sanctions on Russian clubs and national teams amid Ukraine invasion". BBC Sport. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  12. ^ "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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