2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Tournament details
Host country Poland
Dates 7–21 June 2017 (expected)
Teams 12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s) TBD (in TBD host cities)

The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship will be the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (24th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial European youth football competition contested by the men's under-21 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The final tournament will be hosted in Poland in summer 2017, after their bid was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee on 26 January 2015 in Nyon, Switzerland.[1]

In March 2012, UEFA announced that the competition would take place in even numbered years from 2016 onwards.[2] In September 2013, UEFA announced its intention to continue holding the final tournament in odd numbered years following a request from its member national football associations.[3] On 24 January 2014, UEFA confirmed that the final tournament will be held in 2017 and that it will be expanded from 8 teams to 12.[4] Players born on or after 1 January 1994 will be eligible for the tournament.

Hosts

The hosts were be announced at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Nyon on 26 January 2015. In late April 2014 the Polish football association PZPN very strongly indicated the country has high chances to host the tournament. Bidding to welcome Europe's best youth teams was one of the reasons for Poland's withdrawal from the Euro 2020 race.[5]

Qualification

A total of 53 UEFA nations entered the competition (Gibraltar did not enter), and with the hosts Poland qualifying automatically, the other 52 teams will compete in the qualifying competition to determine the remaining 11 spots in the final tournament.[6] The qualifying competition, which will take place from March 2015 to November 2016, consists of two rounds:[7]

Qualified teams

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1
only U-21 era (since 1978)
 Poland Hosts 26 January 2015 5 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1994)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italics indicate host.

Final draw

The final draw will be held in late 2016. The 12 teams will be drawn into three groups of four teams.

Squads

Each national team have to submit a squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers. If a player is injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he can be replaced by another player.[7]

Group stage

Group winners and the best runner-up advance to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:[7]

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference resulting from the group matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the group 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;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. 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 group stage, 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).
  8. Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in the group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  9. Position in the UEFA under-21 national team coefficient ranking for the final draw.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 A2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 A3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 A4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on June 2017. Source: UEFA


Poland  v A2


A3 v A4


Poland  v A3


A2 v A4


A4 v  Poland


A2 v A3

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 B1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 B3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 B4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on June 2017. Source: UEFA


B1 v B2


B3 v B4


B1 v B3


B2 v B4


B4 v B1


B2 v B3

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage based on ranking
3 C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 C4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on June 2017. Source: UEFA


C1 v C2


C3 v C4


C1 v C3


C2 v C4


C4 v C1


C2 v C3

Ranking of second-placed teams

The best runner-up is determined according to the following criteria:[7]

  1. Higher number of points;
  2. Superior goal difference;
  3. Higher number of goals scored;
  4. Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in the group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  5. Position in the UEFA under-21 national team coefficient ranking for the final draw.
Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 A Runner-up Group A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2 B Runner-up Group B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 C Runner-up Group C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on June 2017. Source: UEFA

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.[7]

Bracket

Semi-finals Final
 Winner Group A  
 Runner-up Group B/C or Winner Group C  
 
     Winner Semi-final 1
   Winner Semi-final 2
 Winner Group B
 Runner-up Group A or Winner Group C  

Semi-finals


Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B/C or Winner Group C


Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A or Winner Group C

Final


Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2

References

  1. ↑ "Poland to host 2017 Under-21 EUROs". UEFA.com. 26 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Czech Republic to host 2015 Under-21 finals". UEFA.com. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Strategic points lead Dubrovnik talks". UEFA.com. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "U21 final tournament expanding to 12 teams". UEFA.com. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Euro 2020: Croatia, Poland and Portugal also withdraw". StadiumDB.com.com. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Seedings set for 2017 U21 qualifying draw". UEFA.com. 30 January 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, 2015–17" (PDF). UEFA.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.

External links