2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship

The 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2023) was the 20th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (70th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-19 national teams of Europe. Malta hosted the tournament from 3 to 16 July 2023.[2] A total of eight teams played in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2004 eligible to participate.

2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Kampjonat Ewropew 2023 ta' Taħt id-19-il sena
Tournament details
Host countryMalta
Dates3–16 July
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Italy (4th title)
Runners-up Portugal
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Goals scored49 (3.27 per match)
Attendance20,539 (1,369 per match)
Top scorer(s)Spain Víctor Barberà
(4 goals)
Best player(s)Italy Luis Hasa[1]
2022
2024

England were the defending champions.[3] They were not able to defend the title after failing to qualify for the competition. Italy were crowned champions for the fourth time after beating Portugal 1–0 in the final.[4]

Host selection edit

Malta was appointed as the host for the tournament by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 19 April 2021 in Montreux, Switzerland.[5][6]

Qualification edit

Qualified teams edit

The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Note: All appearance statistics include only U-19 era (since 2002).

Team Method of qualification Appearance Last appearance Previous best performance
  Malta Hosts 1st
Debut
  Norway Elite round Group 1 winners 6th 2019 (Group stage) Group stage (2002, 2003, 2005, 2018, 2019)
  Italy Elite round Group 2 winners 9th 2022 (Semi-finals) Champions (2003)
  Spain Elite round Group 3 winners 13th 2019 (Champions) Champions (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019)
  Portugal Elite round Group 4 winners 12th 2019 (Runners-up) Champions (2018)
  Greece Elite round Group 5 winners 7th 2015 (Semi-finals) Runners-up (2007, 2012)
  Poland Elite round Group 6 winners 3rd 2006 (Group stage) Group stage (2004, 2006)
  Iceland Elite round Group 7 winners 1st
Debut

Venues edit

Ta'Qali Paola
National Stadium Centenary Stadium Tony Bezzina Stadium
Capacity: 16,997 Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 2,968
     
Xewkija
(Gozo)
Gozo Stadium
Capacity: 1,644
 

Draw edit

The final draw was held on 19 April 2023, 13:00 CEST at Manoel Theatre, Valletta.[7]

Squads edit

Group stage edit

Group A edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Portugal 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 9 Knockout stage
2   Italy 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 4
3   Poland 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
4   Malta 3 0 0 3 1 8 −7 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Poland  0–2  Portugal
Report
Attendance: 772
Referee: Juxhin Xhaja (Albania)
Malta  0–4  Italy
Report
Attendance: 3,427
Referee: Yigal Frid (Israel)

Portugal  5–1  Italy
Report
Attendance: 1,328
Malta  0–2  Poland
Report
Attendance: 1,618
Referee: Yael Falcón (Argentina)

Portugal  2–1  Malta
Report
Attendance: 894
Referee: Joonas Jaanovits (Estonia)
Italy  1–1  Poland
Report
Attendance: 1,053
Referee: Gergo Bogár (Hungary)

Group B edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Spain 3 2 1 0 7 1 +6 7 Knockout stage
2   Norway 3 1 2 0 6 5 +1 5
3   Iceland 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
4   Greece 3 0 1 2 4 10 −6 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Norway  5–4  Greece
Report
Iceland  1–2  Spain
Report

Greece  0–5  Spain
Report
Attendance: 479
Referee: Yigal Frid (Israel)
Iceland  1–1  Norway
Report

Greece  0–0  Iceland
Report
Spain  0–0  Norway
Report
Attendance: 704
Referee: Yael Falcón (Argentina)

Knockout stage edit

Bracket edit

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
13 July – Paola
 
 
  Portugal5
 
16 July – Ta' Qali
 
  Norway0
 
  Portugal0
 
13 July – Ta' Qali
 
  Italy1
 
  Spain2
 
 
  Italy3
 

Semi-finals edit

Portugal  5–0  Norway
Report
Attendance: 709
Referee: Yael Falcón (Argentina)

Spain  2–3  Italy
Report
Attendance: 1,712
Referee: Yigal Frid (Israel)

Final edit

Portugal  0–1  Italy
Report Kayode   19'

Goalscorers edit

There were 49 goals scored in 15 matches, for an average of 3.27 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Source: UEFA

Team of the Tournament edit

 
Portugal and Italy teams right before the beginning of the final match of the tournament.

The UEFA Technical Observer team announced the team of the tournament.[9]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
  Gonçalo Ribeiro

References edit

  1. ^ "2023: Luis Hasa". UEFA.com. 20 July 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 U19 EURO finals in Malta: Tournament information". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  3. ^ "2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Final". UEFA. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Portugal 0-1 Italy: Kayode heads resilient Azzurrini to second Under-19 title". UEFA. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Decision on remaining EURO 2020 venues to be made on 23 April". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Malta, Northern Ireland and Romania to stage U19 EURO in 2023, 2024, 2025". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  7. ^ "2023 U19 EURO finals draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Portugal U19 0-1 Italy U19 (Jul 16, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  9. ^ "2023 Under-19 EURO Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

External links edit