UEFA European Under-21 Championship
|
Winners Cup of the UEFA Under 21 Championship | |
| Founded | 1972 |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe (UEFA) |
| Number of teams |
55 (total) 12 (finals) |
| Current champions |
 Germany (2nd title) |
| Most successful team(s) |
 Italy (5 titles) |
 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification | |
The UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as the UEFA Euro U-21s) is a football competition for men organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. It is held every two years.
History
The competition has existed in its current form since 1978. It was preceded by the Under-23 Challenge Cup which ran from 1967 to 1970. A true Under-23 championship was then formed, starting in 1972.
The age limit was reduced to 21 for the 1978 championship and it has remained so since. To be eligible for the campaign ending in 2017, players need to be born in or after 1994. Many can be actually 23 years old by the time the finals tournament takes place; however, when the qualification process began (2015) all players would have been 21 or under.
Under-21 matches are typically played on the day before senior internationals and where possible, the same qualifying groups and fixtures were played out. This was not true for the shortened 2006-2007 Championship.
This tournament serves as qualifier for the Summer Olympics. It has been considered a stepping stone toward the senior team. Players such as 2014 World Cup winner Mesut Özil, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Luís Figo, Petr Čech, 2010 World Cup winner Iker Casillas, 2006 World Cup winners Francesco Totti, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon, Alberto Gilardino and Andrea Pirlo, and Euro 2004 winner Georgios Karagounis began their international careers in the youth teams.
Germany are the reigning champions, defeating Spain 1–0 in the 2017 final. The finals of the 2017 competition were hosted by Poland.
Format
Up to and including the 1992 competition, all entrants were divided into eight qualification groups, the eight winners of which formed the quarter-finals lineup. The remaining fixtures were played out on a two-legged, home and away basis to determine the eventual winner.
For the 1994 competition, one of the semi-finalists, France, was chosen as a host for the (single-legged) semi-finals, 3rd place playoff and final. Similarly, Spain was chosen to host the last four matches in 1996.
For 1998, nine qualification groups were used, as participation had reached 46, nearly double the 24 entrants in 1976. The top seven group winners qualified automatically for the finals, whilst the eighth- and ninth-best qualifiers, Greece and England, played-off for the final spot. The remaining matches, from the quarter-finals onward, were held in Romania, one of the eight qualifiers.
The 2000 competition also had nine groups, but the nine winners and seven runners-up went into a two-legged playoff to decide the eight qualifiers. From those, Slovakia was chosen as host. For the first time, the familiar finals group stage was employed, with the two winners contesting a final, and two runners-up contesting the 3rd-place playoff. The structure in 2002 was identical, except for the introduction of a semi-finals round after the finals group stage. Switzerland hosted the 2002 finals.
In 2004, ten qualification groups were used, with the group winners and six best runners-up going into the playoff. Germany was host that year. For 2006, the top two teams of eight large qualification groups provided the 16 teams for the playoffs, held in November 2005. Portugal hosted the finals.
Then followed the switch to odd years. The change was made because the senior teams of many nations often chose to promote players from their under-21s team as their own qualification campaign intensified. Staggering the tournaments allowed players more time to develop in the under-21 team rather than get promoted too early and end up becoming reserves for the seniors.
The 2007 competition actually began before the 2006 finals, with a qualification round to eliminate eight of the lowest-ranked nations. For the first time, the host (Netherlands) was chosen ahead of the qualification section. As hosts, Netherlands qualified automatically. Coincidentally, the Dutch team had won the 2006 competition - the holders would normally have gone through the qualification stage. The other nations were all drawn into fourteen three-team groups. The 14 group winners were paired in double-leg play-off to decide the seven qualifiers alongside the hosts.
From 2009 to 2015, ten qualification groups were used, with the group winners and four best runners-up going into the two-legged playoffs.
The 2015 finals was be the last eight-team finals, as it was be expanded to twelve teams starting from 2017.[1]
Results
Under-23 championships
Held only three times before it was relabelled by UEFA.
| Year | Host | Final | Losing semi-finalists | Number of teams | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | ||||||||
| 1972 | Home-and-away basis |  Czechoslovakia |
2–2 / 3–1 5–3 on aggregate |
.svg.png){kind=small} Soviet Union |
 Bulgaria and  Greece |
8 (23) | ||||
| 1974 | Home-and-away basis |  Hungary |
2–3 / 4–0 6–3 on aggregate |
 East Germany |
 Poland and  Soviet Union |
8 (21) | ||||
| 1976 | Home-and-away basis | Soviet Union |
1–1 / 2–1 3–2 on aggregate |
Hungary |
 Netherlands and  Yugoslavia |
8 (23) | ||||
Under-21 championships
Statistics
Performances by countries
Only under-21 championships are included in the table.
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Semi-finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy |
5 (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004) | 2 (1986, 2013) | 5 (1984, 1990, 2002, 2009, 2017) |
 Spain |
4 (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013) | 3 (1984, 1996, 2017) | 2 (1994, 2000) |
 England |
2 (1982, 1984) | 1 (2009) | 6 (1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 2007, 2017) |
| Germany |
2 (2009, 2017) | 1 (1982) | 1 (2015) |
| Netherlands |
2 (2006, 2007) | – | 3 (1988, 1998, 2013) |
| Soviet Union |
2 (1980, 1990) | – | 1 (1982) |
 Serbia1 |
1 (1978) | 3 (1990, 2004, 2007) | 3 (1980, 1984, 2006) |
 France |
1 (1988) | 1 (2002) | 3 (1994, 1996, 2006) |
 Sweden |
1 (2015) | 1 (1992) | 3 (1990, 2004, 2009) |
 Czech Republic |
1 (2002) | 1 (2000) | 1 (2011) |
 Portugal |
– | 2 (1994, 2015) | 1 (2004) |
| East Germany |
– | 2 (1978, 1980) | – |
| Greece |
– | 2 (1988, 1998) | – |
 Switzerland |
– | 1 (2011) | 1 (2002) |
 Ukraine |
– | 1 (2006) | – |
 Scotland |
– | – | 3 (1982, 1992, 1996) |
 Norway |
– | – | 2 (1998, 2013) |
 Denmark |
– | – | 2 (1992, 2015) |
| Bulgaria |
– | – | 1 (1978) |
| Hungary |
– | – | 1 (1986) |
 Slovakia |
– | – | 1 (2000) |
.svg.png){kind=small} Belgium |
– | – | 1 (2007) |
 Belarus |
– | – | 1 (2011) |
| Total | 21 | 21 | 42 |
- 1 Includes results representing Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro in 2004.
Awards
Golden Player
The Golden Player award is awarded to the player who plays the most outstanding football during the tournament.
Golden Boot
The UEFA European Under-21 Championship adidas Golden Boot award will be handed to the player who scores the most goals during the tournament. Since the 2013 tournament, those who finish as runners-up in the vote receive the Silver Boot and Bronze Boot awards as the second and third top goalscorer players in the tournament respectively.
| Tournament | Golden Boot | Goals | Silver Boot | Goals | Bronze Boot | Goals | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Slovakia | Andrea Pirlo |
3 | [23] | ||||
| 2002 Switzerland | Massimo Maccarone |
3 | [23] | ||||
| 2004 Germany | .svg.png){kind=small} Alberto Gilardino |
4 | [23] | ||||
| 2006 Portugal | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar |
4 | [23] | ||||
| 2007 Netherlands | Maceo Rigters |
4 | [23] | ||||
| 2009 Sweden | Marcus Berg |
7 | [23] | ||||
| 2011 Denmark | Adrián |
5 | [23] | ||||
| 2013 Israel | Álvaro Morata |
4 | Thiago |
3 | Isco |
3 | [24] |
| 2015 Czech Republic | Jan Kliment |
3 | Kevin Volland |
2 | John Guidetti |
2 | [23] |
| 2017 Poland | Saúl |
5 | Marco Asensio |
3 | Bruma |
3 | [25] |
EURO Under-21 dream team
On 17 June 2015, UEFA revealed an all-time best XI from the previous Under-21 final tournaments.[26]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manuel Neuer |
Mats Hummels Giorgio Chiellini Alessandro Nesta Branislav Ivanović |
Frank Lampard Mesut Özil Andrea Pirlo Xavi |
Francesco Totti Raúl |
See also
External links
- The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.
- UEFA European U-21 Championship at uefa.com
References
- ↑ "U21 final tournament expanding to 12 teams". UEFA.com. 24 January 2014.
- ↑ "1978: Vahid Halilhodžić". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1978. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1980: Anatoliy Demyanenko". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1980. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1982: Rudi Völler". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1982. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1984: Mark Hateley". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1984. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1986: Manuel Sanchís". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 June 1986. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1988: Laurent Blanc". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1988. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1990: Davor Šuker". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1990. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1992: Renato Buso". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1992. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1994: Luís Figo". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1994. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1996: Fabio Cannavaro". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1996. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "1998: Francesc Arnau". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1998. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2000: Andrea Pirlo". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2000. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2002: Petr Čech". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 2002. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2004: Alberto Gilardino". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 2004. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2006: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2007: Royston Drenthe". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2009: Marcus Berg". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2009: Juan Mata". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "2013: Thiago Alcântara". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "William named U21 EURO player of the tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ↑ "Spain's Dani Ceballos named Player of the Tournament". UEFA.com.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Czech striker Kliment wins Golden Boot award". UEFA.com. 30 June 2015.
- ↑ Adams, Sam (18 June 2013). "Morata wins Golden Boot in Spanish clean sweep". UEFA.com. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
2013 Under-21 finals top scorers
Golden Boot: Álvaro Morata, Spain – 4 goals, 1 assist
Silver Boot: Thiago Alcántara – 3 goals, 1 assist
Bronze Boot: Isco, Spain – 3 goals - ↑ "Saúl Ñíguez wins U21 EURO adidas Golden Boot". UEFA.com. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
Golden Boot: Saúl Ñíguez (Spain) – 5 goals, 1 assist
Silver Boot: Marco Asensio (Spain) – 3 goals, 1 assist
Bronze Boot: Bruma (Portugal) – 3 goals - ↑ "Our all-time Under-21 EURO dream team". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
