2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification

2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification
Tournament details
Dates	18 September – 18 November 2015 (qualifying round) Spring 2016 (elite round)
Teams	53 (from 1 confederation)

The 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying competition is an under-19 football competition scheduled to be played in 2015 and 2016 to determine the seven teams to join Germany, who qualified automatically as hosts, in the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament.^[1] A total of 53 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition.^[2]

The final tournament also acts as the UEFA qualifier for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, with six teams qualifying (the four semi-finalists and the two third-placed teams in the group stage).

Format

The qualifying competition consists of two rounds:^[3]

Qualifying round: Apart from Spain, which receive a bye to the elite round as the team with the highest seeding coefficient, the remaining 52 teams are drawn into 13 groups of four teams. Each group is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The 13 group winners, the 13 runners-up, and the third-placed team with the best record against the first and second-placed teams in their group advance to the elite round.
Elite round: The 28 teams are drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The seven group winners qualify for the final tournament.

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of a mini-tournament, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:^[3]

Higher number of points obtained in the mini-tournament matches played among the teams in question;
Superior goal difference resulting from the mini-tournament matches played among the teams in question;
Higher number of goals scored in the mini-tournament matches played among the teams in question;
If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the mini-tournament matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;
Superior goal difference in all mini-tournament matches;
Higher number of goals scored in all mini-tournament matches;
If only two teams have the same number of points, and they are tied according to criteria 1 to 6 after having met in the last round of the mini-tournament, their ranking is determined by a penalty shoot-out (this criteria is not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if the rankings of the two teams are not relevant for which team qualifies for the next stage).
Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in the mini-tournament matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
Drawing of lots.

To determine the best third-placed team from the qualifying round, the results against the teams in fourth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied:^[3]

Higher number of points;
Superior goal difference;
Higher number of goals scored;
Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
Drawing of lots.

Qualifying round

Draw

The draw for the qualifying round was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 3 December 2014 at 09:50 CET (UTC+1).^[4]^[5]

The teams were seeded according to their coefficient ranking, calculated based on the following:^[6]^[7]

2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament and qualifying competition (qualifying round and elite round)
2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament and qualifying competition (qualifying round and elite round)
2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament and qualifying competition (qualifying round and elite round)

Each group contained two teams from Pot A and two teams from Pot B.^[2] For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan (due to the disputed status of Nagorno-Karabakh), as well as Russia and Ukraine (due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine), could not be drawn in the same group.

Bye to elite round
Team	Coeff	Rank
Spain	13.667	1

Pot A
Team	Coeff	Rank
Portugal	11.833	2
Serbia	11.000	3
France	10.333	4
England	9.833	5
Turkey	9.500	6
Georgia	8.500	7
Austria	8.333	8
Ukraine	8.167	9
Denmark	7.667	10
Netherlands	7.500	11
Croatia	7.167	12
Greece	6.833	13
Czech Republic	6.167	14
Belgium	6.000	15
Republic of Ireland	6.000	16
Switzerland	6.000	17
Norway	5.833	18
Israel	5.833	19
Italy	5.667	20
Romania	5.500	21
Bulgaria	5.167	22
Hungary	5.000	23
Sweden	4.833	24
Russia	4.667	25
Scotland	4.667	26
Cyprus	4.167	27

Pot B
Team	Coeff	Rank
Montenegro	4.167	28
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4.167	29
Slovenia	4.167	30
Slovakia	4.167	31
Macedonia	4.000	32
Poland	3.667	33
Iceland	3.167	34
Armenia	3.000	35
Estonia	3.000	36
Albania	3.000	37
Wales	2.833	38
Northern Ireland	2.667	39
Latvia	2.333	40
Finland	2.333	41
Belarus	2.000	42
Lithuania	1.833	43
Azerbaijan	1.667	44
Malta	1.333	45
Luxembourg	1.000	46
Faroe Islands	1.000	47
Kazakhstan	0.333	48
Moldova	0.333	49
San Marino	0.000	50
Andorra	0.000	51
Liechtenstein	0.000	52
Gibraltar	0.000	53

Notes

Germany (Coeff: 8.833) qualified automatically for the final tournament as hosts.

Groups

Times up to 24 October 2015 are CEST (UTC+2), thereafter times are CET (UTC+1).

Group 1

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Republic of Ireland (H)	Elite round
2	Scotland	Elite round
3	Slovenia	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Latvia

First match(es) will be played on 13 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 13–18 November 2015

Group 2

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Croatia (H)	Elite round
2	Hungary	Elite round
3	Montenegro	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Kazakhstan

First match(es) will be played on 18 September 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 18–23 September 2015

Group 3

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Bulgaria	Elite round
2	Cyprus (H)	Elite round
3	Poland	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Luxembourg

First match(es) will be played on 11 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 11–16 November 2015

Group 4

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Italy	Elite round
2	England	Elite round
3	Finland	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Macedonia (H)

First match(es) will be played on 8 October 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 8–13 October 2015

Group 5

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Turkey	Elite round
2	Ukraine	Elite round
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Azerbaijan (H)

First match(es) will be played on 10 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 10–15 November 2015

Group 6

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Israel	Elite round
2	Denmark	Elite round
3	Malta (H)	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Iceland

First match(es) will be played on 10 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 10–15 November 2015

Group 7

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Greece	Elite round
2	Portugal (H)	Elite round
3	Lithuania	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Moldova

First match(es) will be played on 10 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 10–15 November 2015

Group 8

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Austria	Elite round
2	Georgia (H)	Elite round
3	Albania	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Wales

First match(es) will be played on 12 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 12–17 November 2015

Group 9

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Russia (H)	Elite round
2	Norway	Elite round
3	Slovakia	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Northern Ireland

First match(es) will be played on 11 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 11–16 November 2015

Group 10

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Netherlands	Elite round
2	France (H)	Elite round
3	Gibraltar	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Liechtenstein

First match(es) will be played on 7 October 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 7–12 October 2015

Group 11

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Romania (H)	Elite round
2	Switzerland	Elite round
3	Faroe Islands	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Andorra

First match(es) will be played on 12 November 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 12–17 November 2015

Group 12

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Czech Republic	Elite round
2	Serbia	Elite round
3	Armenia	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Estonia (H)

First match(es) will be played on 8 October 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 8–13 October 2015

Group 13

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Belgium (H)	Elite round
2	Sweden	Elite round
3	San Marino	Possible Elite round based on ranking
4	Belarus

First match(es) will be played on 7 October 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Host.

Dates: 7–12 October 2015

Ranking of third-placed teams

To determine the best third-placed team from the qualifying round which advance to the elite round, only the results of the third-placed teams against the first and second-placed teams in their group are taken into account.

Pos	Grp	Team	Qualification
1	1	Group 1 third place	Elite round
2	2	Group 2 third place
3	3	Group 3 third place
4	4	Group 4 third place
5	5	Group 5 third place
6	6	Group 6 third place
7	7	Group 7 third place
8	8	Group 8 third place
9	9	Group 9 third place
10	10	Group 10 third place
11	11	Group 11 third place
12	12	Group 12 third place
13	13	Group 13 third place

First match(es) will be played on 18 September 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) drawing of lots.

Elite round

Draw

The draw for the elite round will be held in late 2015.

The teams will be seeded according to their results in the qualifying round. Spain, which received a bye to the elite round, will be automatically seeded into Pot A. Each group will contain one team from Pot A, one team from Pot B, one team from Pot C, and one team from Pot D.

Pos	Grp	Team	Seeding
1	—	Spain	Pot A
2		TBD
3		TBD
4		TBD
5		TBD
6		TBD
7		TBD
8		TBD	Pot B
9		TBD
10		TBD
11		TBD
12		TBD
13		TBD
14		TBD
15		TBD	Pot C
16		TBD
17		TBD
18		TBD
19		TBD
20		TBD
21		TBD
22		TBD	Pot D
23		TBD
24		TBD
25		TBD
26		TBD
27		TBD
28		TBD

First match(es) will be played on 18 September 2015. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient used for qualifying round draw; 6) drawing of lots.

Groups

Dates: Spring 2016

Times up to 28 March 2015 are CET (UTC+1), thereafter times are CEST (UTC+2).