2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
Tournament details
Dates	24 March 2023 – 19 November 2024
Teams	52 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	170
Goals scored	521 (3.06 per match)
Attendance	332,456 (1,956 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Harvey Elliott; (7 goals)
	← 2023 2027 → All statistics correct as of 7 June 2024.

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.

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

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

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]

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
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;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Away goals scored in all group matches;
Wins in all group matches;
Away wins in all group matches;
Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
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]

Points;
Goal difference;
Goals scored;
Away goals scored;
Wins;
Away wins;
Disciplinary points;
UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

Schedule


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)
Play-offs	TBD	2nd leg (19 November 2024)

Qualifying group stage

Draw

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

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy (X)	9	6	3	0	26	3	+23	21	Final tournament	—	15 Oct '24	2–0	1–1	2–0	7–0
2	Republic of Ireland	8	5	2	1	22	10	+12	17	Play-offs	2–2	—	11 Oct '24	3–2	2–2	3–0
3	Norway (Y)	8	5	0	3	22	9	+13	15		0–3	3–2	—	15 Oct '24	7–0	4–0
4	Turkey (E)	8	3	1	4	17	10	+7	10		0–2	0–1	2–0	—	11 Oct '24	5–0
5	Latvia (E)	8	2	2	4	7	15	−8	8		0–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	—	2–0
6	San Marino (E)	9	0	0	9	1	48	−47	0		0–7	0–7	0–7	1–6	15 Oct '24	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (X) Assured of at least a play-off spot; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain (Q)	8	7	1	0	18	2	+16	22	Final tournament	—	1–0	1–0	2–0	10 Oct '24	15 Oct '24
2	Scotland (Y)	8	5	1	2	17	6	+11	16^[a]	Play-offs	1–2	—	11 Oct '24	3–1	4–1	2–1
3	Belgium (Y)	8	5	1	2	11	5	+6	16^[a]		1–1	0–2	—	15 Oct '24	1–0	3–1
4	Hungary (E)	8	3	1	4	9	7	+2	10		0–1	0–0	0–1	—	2–0	10 Oct '24
5	Kazakhstan (E)	8	2	0	6	7	18	−11	6		0–4	15 Oct '24	0–3	0–3	—	4–1
6	Malta (E)	8	0	0	8	3	27	−24	0		0–6	0–5	0–2	0–3	0–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Ranked on head-to-head points: Scotland 3, Belgium 0.

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands (Q)	9	9	0	0	29	3	+26	27	Final tournament	—	3–1	14 Oct '24	5–0	3–0	1–0
2	Georgia (Y)	8	5	1	2	10	6	+4	16	Play-offs	0–3	—	0–0	15 Oct '24	3–0	2–0
3	Sweden (Y)	8	4	2	2	22	5	+17	14		2–4	10 Oct '24	—	0–1	4–0	9–0
4	North Macedonia (E)	8	3	0	5	5	12	−7	9		0–2	0–1	0–2	—	11 Oct '24	1–0
5	Moldova (E)	9	2	1	6	6	18	−12	7		0–3	0–1	0–0	2–1	—	1–2
6	Gibraltar (E)	10	1	0	9	3	31	−28	3		0–5	0–2	0–5	0–2	1–3	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany (X)	8	7	1	0	30	6	+24	22	Final tournament	—	3–1	11 Oct '24	0–0	2–0	4–1
2	Poland	8	6	0	2	17	7	+10	18	Play-offs	15 Oct '24	—	0–1	3–0	2–1	5–0
3	Bulgaria (E)	8	3	3	2	15	10	+5	12^[a]		2–3	1–3	—	1–1	1–0	6–0
4	Kosovo (Y)	8	3	3	2	9	10	−1	12^[a]		0–3	11 Oct '24	2–2	—	3–1	2–0
5	Israel (E)	8	1	0	7	5	16	−11	3		1–5	1–2	15 Oct '24	0–1	—	1–0
6	Estonia (E)	8	0	1	7	3	30	−27	1		1–10	0–1	1–1	15 Oct '24	10 Oct '24	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (X) Assured of at least a play-off spot; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head results: Goal difference in all group matches: Bulgaria +5, Kosovo –1.

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Switzerland	8	5	2	1	19	8	+11	17	Final tournament	—	11 Oct '24	2–2	1–2	4–2	5–0
2	Finland	8	5	1	2	18	6	+12	16^[a]	Play-offs	1–2	—	2–0	4–1	15 Oct '24	6–0
3	Romania	8	5	1	2	14	7	+7	16^[a]		15 Oct '24	1–0	—	5–0	1–0	2–0
4	Albania (E)	9	4	1	4	11	17	−6	13		1–3	0–0	3–2	—	2–0	15 Oct '24
5	Montenegro (E)	8	2	1	5	5	11	−6	7		0–2	1–2	11 Oct '24	1–0	—	0–0
6	Armenia (E)	9	0	2	7	2	20	−18	2		0–0	1–3	0–1	1–2	0–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head results: Romania 1–0 Finland, Finland 2–0 Romania.

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ukraine (X)	8	8	0	0	19	4	+15	24	Final tournament	—	3–2	2–1	4–0	1–0	1–0
2	England (X)	8	6	1	1	32	5	+27	19	Play-offs	11 Oct '24	—	9–1	7–0	3–0	15 Oct '24
3	Serbia (E)	9	4	1	4	12	18	−6	13		15 Oct '24	0–3	—	2–0	1–2	2–0
4	Luxembourg (E)	9	2	1	6	6	23	−17	7^[a]		0–3	0–3	1–1	—	15 Oct '24	2–0
5	Northern Ireland (E)	8	2	1	5	5	10	−5	7^[a]		1–2	0–0	1–2	0–1	—	12 Oct '24
6	Azerbaijan (E)	8	1	0	7	4	18	−14	3		0–3	1–5	0–2	3–2	0–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (X) Assured of at least a play-off spot
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Ranked on head-to-head points: Luxembourg 3, Northern Ireland 0.

Group G

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal (X)	8	7	0	1	28	4	+24	21	Final tournament	—	2–0	5–1	4–0	6–1	3–0
2	Greece (Y)	9	5	2	2	14	7	+7	17	Play-offs	2–1	—	2–2	3–0	1–1	1–0
3	Croatia	8	5	1	2	15	12	+3	16		0–2	15 Oct '24	—	2–1	2–0	11 Oct '24
4	Faroe Islands (E)	8	2	1	5	9	21	−12	7		11 Oct '24	0–4	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 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (X) Assured of at least a play-off spot; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may advance via the play-offs

Group H

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Slovenia	7	5	1	1	12	6	+6	16	Final tournament	—	0–4	1–0	3–0	2–0
2	France	6	4	1	1	18	4	+14	13	Play-offs	1–1	—	15 Oct '24	2–0	9–0
3	Austria	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	11		11 Oct '24	2–0	—	2–0	2–2
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina (E)	7	1	0	6	4	14	−10	3		1–2	1–2	0–2	—	15 Oct '24
5	Cyprus (E)	6	0	2	4	4	19	−15	2		0–3	11 Oct '24	1–1	1–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated

Group I

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Denmark	7	4	2	1	16	8	+8	14^[a]	Final tournament	—	2–2	15 Oct '24	5–0	3–0
2	Wales	7	4	2	1	12	9	+3	14^[a]	Play-offs	1–2	—	1–0	11 Oct '24	2–1
3	Iceland	6	3	0	3	9	10	−1	9		4–2	1–2	—	2–1	10 Oct '24
4	Czech Republic (Y)	6	2	2	2	8	10	−2	8		0–0	1–1	4–1	—	15 Oct '24
5	Lithuania (E)	6	0	0	6	5	13	−8	0		1–2	2–3	0–1	1–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may advance via the play-offs
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Ranked on head-to-head points: Denmark 4, Wales 1.

Ranking of second-placed teams

Because two groups have one fewer team than the others, 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 six teams enter the play-offs.

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	F	England (X)	7	5	1	1	27	4	+23	16	Final tournament
2	I	Wales	7	4	2	1	12	9	+3	14
3	H	France	6	4	1	1	18	4	+14	13
4	D	Poland	6	4	0	2	11	7	+4	12	Play-offs
5	G	Greece (Y)	7	3	2	2	12	7	+5	11
6	A	Republic of Ireland	6	3	2	1	12	10	+2	11
7	B	Scotland (Y)	6	3	1	2	10	5	+5	10
8	E	Finland	6	3	1	2	9	5	+4	10
9	C	Georgia (Y)	6	3	1	2	6	6	0	10

Updated to match(es) played on 10 September 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.
(X) Assured of at least the play-offs, can still qualify directly; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs

Play-offs

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

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	First appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Slovakia	Hosts	25 January 2023	3rd	2000	2017	Fourth place (2000)
Netherlands	Group C winners	9 September 2024	10th	1988	2023	Champions (2006, 2007)
Spain	Group B winners	10 September 2024	17th	1982	2023	Champions (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019)