1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

(Redirected from UEFA U-21 Championship 1998)

The 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1996–98), had 46 entrants. Before the quarter-finals stage, Romania were chosen as the hosts of the final stages, consisting of four matches in total.

1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Campionatul European de Fotbal sub 21 UEFA 1998
Tournament details
Host country Romania
Dates23–31 May
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)3 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Spain (2nd title)
Runners-up Greece
Third place Norway
Fourth place Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored22 (1.83 per match)
Top scorer(s)Norway Steffen Iversen[1]
Greece Nikos Liberopoulos[1] (3 goals)
Best player(s)Spain Francesc Arnau
1996
2000

The exclusion (for political reasons) of the team from Serbia and Montenegro, then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ended. Bosnia and Herzegovina was another former state of Yugoslavia who competed, for the first time. Spain won the competition for the second time.

The 46 national teams were divided into nine groups (eight groups of 5 + one group of 6). The records of the nine group winners were compared, and the eighth and ninth ranked teams played-off against each other for the eight quarter finals spot. One of the eight quarter-finalist were then chosen to host the remaining fixtures.

Qualification

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The qualifying stage for the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship saw Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain and Sweden win their respective groups. Greece and England finished first in their group but were the two worst first placed group winners. Greece defeated England in a playoff to qualify for the tournament.

Qualified teams

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Country Qualified as Previous appearances in tournament1 2
  Norway Group 3 Winner 0 (Debut)
  Sweden Group 4 Winner 3 (1986, 1990, 1992)
  Russia Group 5 Winner 1 (1994)
  Spain Group 6 Winner 7 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996)
  Netherlands Group 7 Winner 2 (1988, 1992)
  Romania Group 8 Winner 0 (Debut)
  Germany Group 9 Winner 2 (1992, 1996)
  Greece Playoff Winner 1 (1988, 1994)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year

Venues

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The final tournament was held in Bucharest, the hosts being only three arenas.

Location of grounds in Bucharest.
Bucharest (Vatra Luminoasă) Bucharest (Ghencea)
Stadionul Lia Manoliu Stadionul Steaua
Capacity: 60,120 Capacity: 28,365
   
Bucharest (Cotroceni)
Stadionul Cotroceni
Capacity: 14,542
 

Match officials

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Country Referee
  FR Yugoslavia Miroslav Radoman
  Luxembourg Alain Hamer
  Senegal Falla N'Doye
  Slovakia Ľuboš Micheľ
  Turkey Metin Tokat

Squads

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Only players born on or after 1 January 1975 were eligible to play in the tournament. Each nation had to submit a squad of 20 players, two of which had to be goalkeepers. If a player was injured seriously enough to prevent his taking part in the tournament before his team's first match, he can be replaced by another player.

Results

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Bracket

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5th-place match (30 May)5th–8th place (26–27 May)Quarter-finals (23–24 May)Semi-finals (26–27 May)Final (31 May)
  Netherlands2
  Romania1
  Romania0  Netherlands0
  Germany (aet)1  Greece3
  Germany0
  Greece1
  Germany2  Greece0
  Sweden1  Spain1
  Norway1
  Sweden0
7th-place match (30 May)  Sweden2  Norway03rd-place match (31 May)
  Russia0  Spain (aet)1
  Romania1  Spain1  Netherlands0
  Russia2  Russia0  Norway2

Quarter-finals

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Germany  0–1  Greece
Report Karagounis   57'

Netherlands  2–1  Romania
Wooter   16'
de Jong   79'
Report Contra   7'
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Metin Tokat (Turkey)

Spain  1–0  Russia
Iván Pérez   84' Report
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Miroslav Radoman (FR Yugoslavia)

Norway  1–0  Sweden
Iversen   45' Report

5th-8th places

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Romania  0–1 (a.e.t.)  Germany
Report Schwarz   101'

Russia  0–2  Sweden
Report Mellberg   15'
Bärlin   68'

Semi-finals

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Spain  1–0 (a.e.t.)  Norway
Víctor   94' Report

Netherlands  0–3  Greece
Report Liberopoulos   21', 90'
Antzas   57'
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Miroslav Radoman (FR Yugoslavia)

7th place

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Russia  2–1  Romania
Report

5th place

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Germany  2–1  Sweden
Brdarić   71'
Frings   77'
Report Åslund   88'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Miroslav Radoman (FR Yugoslavia)

Third place

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Netherlands  0–2  Norway
Report Iversen   17', 74'
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Metin Tokat (Turkey)

Final

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Greece  0–1  Spain
Report Iván Pérez   65'

References

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  1. ^ a b "1998: Iván Pérez applies finishing touch". UEFA.com. 1 June 1998. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
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