2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

The 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification is a men's under-21 national football team competition to determine the 15 teams that will be joining the automatically qualified hosts Slovakia in the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament.

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
Tournament details
Dates24 March 2023 – 19 November 2024
Teams52 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played166
Goals scored481 (2.9 per match)
Attendance320,412 (1,930 per match)
Top scorer(s)England Harvey Elliott
(7 goals)
2023
2027
All statistics correct as of 1 April 2024.

Apart from Slovakia, Liechtenstein (dissolved their U21 team until 2025) and Russia (banned due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine), all remaining 52 UEFA member national teams entered this qualifying competition. Players born on or after 1 January 2002 are eligible to participate.

Format edit

The qualifying competition will consist of the following 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 and the three best runner-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) qualify directly for the final tournament, while the remaining six runners-up advance to the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The six teams are drawn into three ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last three qualified teams.

Tiebreakers edit

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):[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. 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;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Away goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Wins in all group matches;
  9. Away wins in all group matches;
  10. Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  11. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

To determine the bests runner-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):[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 edit

Stage Draw date FIFA International Dates
Qualifying group stage 2 February 2023[2] FIFA date 1 (24–28 March 2023)
FIFA date 2 (15–20 June 2023)
FIFA date 3 (6–12 September 2023)
FIFA date 4 (12–17 October 2023)
FIFA date 5 (16–21 November 2023)
FIFA date 6 (21–26 March 2024)
FIFA date 7 (5–10 September 2024)
FIFA date 8 (10–15 October 2024)
Play-offs TBD 1st leg (11 November 2024)
2nd leg (19 November 2024)

Qualifying group stage edit

Draw edit

Final tournament host
Team
  Slovakia
Pot 1
Team
  Spain
  Portugal
  Germany
  France
  Netherlands
  England
  Denmark
  Italy
  Romania
Pot 2
Team
  Croatia
   Switzerland
  Belgium
  Czech Republic
  Poland
  Ukraine
  Sweden
  Austria
  Republic of Ireland
Pot 3
Team
  Norway
  Greece
  Iceland
  Slovenia
  Israel
  Finland
  Georgia
  Serbia
  Scotland
Pot 4
Team
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Bulgaria
  Hungary
  Turkey
  North Macedonia
  Wales
  Belarus
  Northern Ireland
  Albania
Pot 5
Team
  Kosovo
  Montenegro
  Moldova
  Lithuania
  Faroe Islands
  Cyprus
  Kazakhstan
  Azerbaijan
  Latvia
Pot 6
Team
  Malta
  Armenia
  Luxembourg
  Andorra
  Estonia
  Gibraltar
  San Marino
Banned from entering qualifying
Team
  Russia
Did not enter
Team
  Liechtenstein

Each group contained one team from each of Pots 1–6 (Pots 1–5 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.

  • Armenia and Azerbaijan
  • Belarus and Ukraine
  • Gibraltar and Spain
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo
  • Kosovo and Serbia

Groups edit

Group A edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Italy 7 4 3 0 16 3 +13 15 Final tournament 15 Oct '24 2–0 2–0 1–1 5 Sep '24
2   Republic of Ireland 6 4 1 1 19 8 +11 13 Play-offs 2–2 11 Oct '24 10 Sep '24 3–2 3–0
3   Norway 6 4 0 2 21 6 +15 12 10 Sep '24 3–2 7–0 15 Oct '24 4–0
4   Latvia 6 2 1 3 5 12 −7 7[a] 0–0 1–2 6 Sep '24 2–1 2–0
5   Turkey 6 2 1 3 11 8 +3 7[a] 0–2 6 Sep '24 2–0 11 Oct '24 5–0
6   San Marino (E) 7 0 0 7 0 35 −35 0 0–7 0–7 0–7 15 Oct '24 10 Sep '24
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Ranked on head-to-head points: Latvia 3, Turkey 0.

Group B edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Spain 6 5 1 0 15 1 +14 16 Final tournament 1–0 1–0 2–0 10 Oct '24 15 Oct '24
2   Scotland 6 4 1 1 11 4 +7 13 Play-offs 6 Sep '24 11 Oct '24 3–1 4–1 2–1
3   Belgium 7 4 1 2 8 5 +3 13 1–1 0–2 15 Oct '24 1–0 3–1
4   Hungary 7 3 1 3 9 6 +3 10 10 Sep '24 0–0 0–1 2–0 10 Oct '24
5   Kazakhstan (Y) 6 1 0 5 3 14 −11 3 0–4 15 Oct '24 10 Sep '24 0–3 5 Sep '24
6   Malta (E) 6 0 0 6 2 18 −16 0 0–6 10 Sep '24 0–2 0–3 0–2
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs

Group C edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Netherlands 7 7 0 0 21 2 +19 21 Final tournament 9 Sep '24 14 Oct '24 3–0 5 Sep '24 1–0
2   Georgia 6 4 1 1 6 3 +3 13 Play-offs 0–3 0–0 5 Sep '24 15 Oct '24 2–0
3   Sweden 6 3 1 2 13 5 +8 10 2–4 10 Oct '24 4–0 0–1 6 Sep '24
4   Moldova (Y) 7 2 0 5 6 15 −9 6[a] 0–3 0–1 10 Sep '24 2–1 1–2
5   North Macedonia (Y) 6 2 0 4 3 7 −4 6[a] 0–2 0–1 0–2 11 Oct '24 1–0
6   Gibraltar (E) 8 1 0 7 3 20 −17 3 0–5 0–2 0–5 1–3 9 Sep '24
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Ranked on head-to-head points: Moldova 3, North Macedonia 0.

Group D edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Germany 6 5 1 0 15 4 +11 16 Final tournament 3–1 11 Oct '24 0–0 4–1 2–0
2   Poland 7 5 0 2 14 6 +8 15 Play-offs 15 Oct '24 0–1 3–0 5–0 2–1
3   Bulgaria 7 3 3 1 14 7 +7 12 2–3 10 Sep '24 1–1 6–0 1–0
4   Kosovo 7 2 3 2 8 10 −2 9 0–3 11 Oct '24 2–2 2–0 3–1
5   Estonia (E) 6 0 1 5 2 19 −17 1 10 Sep '24 0–1 1–1 15 Oct '24 7 Sep '24
6   Israel (E) 5 0 0 5 3 10 −7 0 4 Sep '24 1–2 15 Oct '24 10 Sep '24 10 Oct '24
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated

Group E edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1    Switzerland 6 4 2 0 16 6 +10 14 Final tournament 2–2 11 Oct '24 6 Sep '24 4–2 5–0
2   Romania 6 4 1 1 13 5 +8 13 Play-offs 15 Oct '24 1–0 5–0 6 Sep '24 2–0
3   Finland 6 3 1 2 13 5 +8 10 1–2 10 Sep '24 4–1 15 Oct '24 6–0
4   Albania 7 3 1 3 9 15 −6 10 1–3 3–2 0–0 2–0 15 Oct '24
5   Montenegro 5 1 1 3 4 8 −4 4 10 Sep '24 11 Oct '24 1–2 21 Nov 0–0
6   Armenia (E) 8 0 2 6 1 17 −16 2 0–0 0–1 6 Sep '24 1–2 0–1
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated

Group F edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Ukraine 6 6 0 0 15 2 +13 18[a] Final tournament 3–2 6 Sep '24 1–0 4–0 1–0
2   England 7 6 0 1 32 5 +27 18[a] Play-offs 11 Oct '24 9–1 3–0 7–0 15 Oct '24
3   Serbia 7 3 1 3 9 16 −7 10 15 Oct '24 0–3 1–2 2–0 2–0
4   Northern Ireland (Y) 6 2 0 4 4 8 −4 6 10 Sep '24 6 Sep '24 1–2 0–1 12 Oct '24
5   Luxembourg (E) 8 1 1 6 4 23 −19 4 0–3 0–3 1–1 15 Oct '24 6 Sep '24
6   Azerbaijan (E) 6 1 0 5 4 14 −10 3 0–3 1–5 10 Sep '24 0–1 3–2
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may advance via the play-offs.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Ranked on head-to-head points: Ukraine 3, England 0.

Group G edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Portugal 7 6 0 1 26 4 +22 18 Final tournament 2–0 5–1 4–0 6–1 3–0
2   Greece 8 4 2 2 10 7 +3 14 Play-offs 2–1 2–2 3–0 1–1 1–0
3   Croatia 6 4 1 1 13 9 +4 13 10 Sep '24 15 Oct '24 5 Sep '24 2–0 11 Oct '24
4   Faroe Islands 6 2 1 3 8 15 −7 7 11 Oct '24 10 Sep '24 2–4 15 Oct '24 2–2
5   Belarus (E) 9 1 3 5 6 19 −13 6 0–5 1–0 0–1 2–3 0–0
6   Andorra (E) 8 0 3 5 3 12 −9 3 15 Oct '24 0–1 0–3 0–1 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated

Group H edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Slovenia 5 4 0 1 9 5 +4 12 Final tournament 0–4 1–0 3–0 10 Sep '24
2   France 4 3 0 1 15 3 +12 9 Play-offs 6 Sep '24 15 Oct '24 10 Sep '24 9–0
3   Austria 5 2 2 1 7 4 +3 8 11 Oct '24 2–0 2–0 2–2
4   Bosnia and Herzegovina (Y) 5 1 0 4 4 10 −6 3 1–2 1–2 6 Sep '24 15 Oct '24
5   Cyprus (Y) 5 0 2 3 4 17 −13 2 0–3 11 Oct '24 1–1 1–2
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may advance via the play-offs

Group I edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Denmark 5 3 2 0 9 4 +5 11[a] Final tournament 2–2 15 Oct '24 10 Sep '24 3–0
2   Wales 6 3 2 1 10 8 +2 11[a] Play-offs 1–2 1–0 11 Oct '24 2–1
3   Iceland 4 2 0 2 4 6 −2 6 6 Sep '24 10 Sep '24 2–1 10 Oct '24
4   Czech Republic 4 1 2 1 6 4 +2 5 0–0 1–1 4–1 15 Oct '24
5   Lithuania (E) 5 0 0 5 4 11 −7 0 1–2 2–3 0–1 6 Sep '24
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Ranked on head-to-head points: Denmark 4, Wales 1.

Ranking of second-placed teams edit

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. The top three teams qualify directly for the final tournament, while the other teams enter the play-offs.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 F   England 6 5 0 1 27 4 +23 15 Final tournament
2 I   Wales 6 3 2 1 10 8 +2 11
3 B   Scotland 5 3 1 1 9 3 +6 10
4 H   France 4 3 0 1 15 3 +12 9 Play-offs
5 D   Poland 5 3 0 2 10 4 +6 9
6 G   Greece 6 2 2 2 8 7 +1 8
7 E   Romania 4 2 1 1 10 5 +5 7
8 A   Republic of Ireland 4 2 1 1 9 8 +1 7
9 C   Georgia 4 2 1 1 2 3 −1 7
Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. 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.

Play-offs edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
1 TBD TBD
2 TBD TBD
3 TBD TBD

Top goalscorers edit

There have been 332 goals scored in 110 matches, for an average of 3.02 goals per match (as of 20 November 2023).

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

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

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  2. ^ UEFA.com (2023-03-24). "2025 Under-21 EURO qualifying groups". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2023-03-24.

External links edit

Official website