UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the competition also serves as the UEFA qualification tournament for the Summer Olympics.

Italy and Spain are the most successful teams in the tournament's history, having won five titles each. England are the current champions, having beaten Germany 3–2 after extra time in the 2025 final.

History

File:Cup of the UEFA Under 21 Championship.jpg

Trophy of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The competition in its current form has existed since 1978. It was preceded by the Under-23 Challenge Cup, which ran from 1967 to 1970. Bulgaria won the inaugural Challenge Cup in 1967, defeating East Germany 3–2. As defending champions, they faced randomly drawn "challengers" for a single match in Bulgaria. They retained the title three times, twice more in 1967 and once in 1968. By the final edition in 1970, only Bulgaria and Yugoslavia had won the competition.

A proper under-23 championship was then established, starting in 1972. It was held three times in the same format; the eight group winners contested the quarter-finals on a home-and-away basis. The semi-finals and final were also held over two legs. To overcome calendar issues, the qualifying groups were the same as the qualifying groups for the senior World Cup or European Championship, and the matches were played on the same day or weekend. This has changed starting with the 2006 edition, when a separate draw was held for the first time to form the qualifying groups.

At the UEFA conference in January 1976, the age limit was lowered to 21 for the 1978 tournament, and has remained so ever since. The rules at the time allowed each team to field two players over the age of 21. To be eligible for the campaign ending in 2027, players must be born in 2004 or later. Many may actually be 23 years old by the time of the final tournament; however, when the qualification process began (2025), all players would have been 21 or under.

In 1992, the Under-21 Championship became the European qualifying competition for the Olympic football tournament.

The tournament's record attendance was set during the knockout stage of the 2023 edition, when 44,338 spectators gathered for the match between hosts Georgia and Israel.

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 line-up. 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, third-place play-off 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 play-off 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 third-place play-off. 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 play-off. Germany was host that year. For 2006, the top two teams of eight large qualification groups provided the 16 teams for the play-offs, 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 play-offs.

The 2015 finals was to be the last eight teams edition, as UEFA expanded the tournament to twelve teams starting from the 2017 edition.

On 6 February 2019, UEFA's Executive Committee increased the number of participants in the finals to sixteen teams, starting from the 2021 edition.

Results

Ed.	Year	Hosts		Final				Losing semi-finalists (or third place match)			No. of teams
				Winners	Score	Runners-up
1	1978	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Yugoslavia	1–0 / 4–4 5–4 on aggregate	File:Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany		Bulgaria and England			8
2	1980	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	0–0 / 1–0 1–0 on aggregate	File:Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany		England and Yugoslavia			8
3	1982	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of England.svg England	3–1 / 2–3 5–4 on aggregate	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany		Scotland and Soviet Union			8
4	1984	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of England.svg England	1–0 / 2–0 3–0 on aggregate	File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain		Italy and Yugoslavia			8
5	1986	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	1–2 / 2–1 3–3 on aggregate Template:Pso	File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy		England and Hungary			8
6	1988	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of France (lighter variant).svg France	0–0 / 3–0 3–0 on aggregate	File:Flag of Greece.svg Greece		England and Netherlands			8
7	1990	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	4–2 / 3–1 7–3 on aggregate	File:Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Yugoslavia		Italy and Sweden			8
8	1992	Home-and-away basis		File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	2–0 / 0–1 2–1 on aggregate	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden		Denmark and Scotland			8
9	1994	France		File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	1–0 Template:Aet	File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	2–1	File:Flag of France (lighter variant).svg France	8
10	1996	Spain		File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	1–1 Template:Pso	File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain		File:Flag of France (lighter variant).svg France	1–0	File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland	8
11	1998	Romania		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	1–0	File:Flag of Greece.svg Greece		File:Flag of Norway.svg Norway	2–0	File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands	8
12	2000	Slovakia		File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	2–1	File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	1–0	File:Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia	8
13	2002	Switzerland		File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic	0–0 Template:Pso	File:Flag of France (lighter variant).svg France		Italy and Switzerland			8
14	2004	Germany		File:Flag of Italy (2003–2006).svg Italy	3–0	File:Flag of Yugoslavia (1992–2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006).svg Serbia and Montenegro		File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal	3–2 Template:Aet	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	8
15	2006	Portugal		File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands	3–0	File:Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine		France and Serbia and Montenegro			8
16	2007	Netherlands		File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands	4–1	File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia		Belgium and England			8
17	2009	Sweden		File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany	4–0	File:Flag of England.svg England		Italy and Sweden			8
18	2011	Denmark		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	2–0	File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland		File:Flag of Belarus (1995–2012).svg Belarus	1–0	File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic	8
19	2013	Israel		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	4–2	File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy		Netherlands and Norway			8
20	2015	Czech Republic		File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	0–0 Template:Pso	File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal		Denmark and Germany			8
21	2017	Poland		File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany	1–0	File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain		England and Italy			12
22	2019	Italy		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	2–1	File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany		France and Romania			12
23	2021	Hungary Slovenia		File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany	1–0	File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal		Netherlands and Spain			16
24	2023	Template:Country data Georgia Romania		File:Flag of England.svg England	1–0	File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain		Israel and Ukraine			16
25	2025	Slovakia		File:Flag of England.svg England	3–2 Template:Aet	File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany		France and Netherlands			16
26	2027	Albania Serbia									16

Performances by countries

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Third place
Spain	5 (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019)	4 (1984, 1996, 2017, 2023)	2 (1994, 2000)
Italy	5 (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004)	2 (1986, 2013)
England	4 (1982, 1984, 2023, 2025)	1 (2009)
GermanyTemplate:Efn	3 (2009, 2017, 2021)	3 (1982, 2019, 2025)
Soviet Union	2 (1980, 1990)
Netherlands	2 (2006, 2007)
SerbiaTemplate:Efn	1 (1978)	3 (1990, 2004, 2007)
France	1 (1988)	1 (2002)	1 (1996)
Czech Republic	1 (2002)	1 (2000)
Sweden	1 (2015)	1 (1992)
Portugal		3 (1994, 2015, 2021)	1 (2004)
East Germany		2 (1978, 1980)
Greece		2 (1988, 1998)
Ukraine		1 (2006)
Switzerland		1 (2011)
Norway			1 (1998)
Belarus			1 (2011)

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Legend

• Template:Bg – Champions
• Template:Bg – Runners-up
• Template:Bg – Third place
• Template:Bg – Fourth place
• Template:Bg – Semi-finalists

• QF – Quarter-finals
• GS – Group stage
• q – Qualified
•     – Hosts

•  •  – Did not qualify
•  ×  – Did not enter
•  ×  – Withdrew before qualification / banned

Teams	1978	1980	1982	1984	1986	1988	1990	1992	Template:Flagdeco 1994	Template:Flagdeco 1996	Template:Flagdeco 1998	Template:Flagdeco 2000	Template:Flagdeco 2002	Template:Flagdeco 2004	Template:Flagdeco 2006	Template:Flagdeco 2007	Template:Flagdeco 2009	Template:Flagdeco 2011	Template:Flagdeco 2013	Template:Flagdeco 2015	Template:Flagdeco 2017	Template:Flagdeco 2019	Template:Flagdeco Template:Flagdeco 2021	Template:Flagdeco Template:Flagdeco 2023	Template:Flagdeco 2025	Total
Albania	×	×	×	QF	•	•	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Austria	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	1
Belarus	Part of USSR								×	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	3rd	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	3
Belgium	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	SF	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	GS	•	4
Bulgaria	SF	•	•	•	•	•	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	2
Croatia	Part of Yugoslavia							×	×	•	•	GS	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	QF	GS	•	5
Czech Republic1	QF	QF	•	•	•	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	•	2nd	1st	•	•	GS	•	4th	•	GS	GS	•	GS	GS	GS	16
Denmark	QF	•	•	•	QF	•	•	SF	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	•	SF	GS	GS	QF	•	QF	10
East Germany	2nd	2nd	•	•	•	•	•	Part of Germany																		2
England	SF	SF	1st	1st	SF	SF	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	•	•	SF	2nd	GS	GS	GS	SF	GS	GS	1st	1st	18
Finland	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	2
France	•	•	QF	QF	QF	1st	•	•	4th	3rd	•	•	2nd	•	SF	•	•	•	•	•	•	SF	QF	QF	SF	12
Georgia	Part of USSR							×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	GS	2
Germany2	×	×	2nd	•	•	•	QF	QF	•	QF	QF	•	•	GS	GS	•	1st	•	GS	SF	1st	2nd	1st	GS	2nd	15
Greece	•	•	•	•	•	2nd	•	•	QF	•	2nd	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	4
Hungary	QF	QF	•	•	SF	•	•	•	•	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	5
Iceland	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	2
Israel	Not a UEFA member								•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	SF	•	3
Italy	QF	QF	QF	SF	2nd	QF	SF	1st	1st	1st	•	1st	SF	1st	GS	GS	SF	•	2nd	GS	SF	GS	QF	GS	QF	23
Netherlands	×	•	•	•	•	SF	•	QF	•	•	4th	GS	•	•	1st	1st	•	•	SF	•	•	•	SF	GS	SF	10
REDIRECT Template:Country data North Macedonia	Part of Yugoslavia							×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	1
Norway	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	3rd	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	SF	•	•	•	•	GS	•	3
Poland	•	•	QF	QF	QF	•	•	QF	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	•	•	GS	8
Portugal	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	2nd	QF	•	•	GS	3rd	GS	GS	•	•	•	2nd	GS	•	2nd	QF	QF	11
Romania	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	SF	GS	GS	GS	5
Russia	Part of USSR								QF	•	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	GS	×	×	4
Scotland	•	QF	SF	QF	•	QF	•	SF	•	4th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	6
Serbia3	1st	SF	•	SF	•	•	2nd	•	×	×	•	•	•	2nd	SF	2nd	GS	•	•	GS	GS	GS	•	•	•	11
Slovakia	Part of Czechoslovakia									•	•	4th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	GS	3
Slovenia	Part of Yugoslavia							×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	GS	2
Soviet Union	•	1st	SF	•	•	•	1st	•	Soviet Union was dissolved																	3
Spain	•	•	QF	2nd	1st	QF	QF	•	3rd	2nd	1st	3rd	•	•	•	•	GS	1st	1st	•	2nd	1st	SF	2nd	QF	17
Sweden	•	•	•	•	QF	•	SF	2nd	•	•	QF	•	•	4th	•	•	SF	•	•	1st	GS	•	•	•	•	8
Switzerland	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	SF	GS	•	•	•	2nd	•	•	•	•	GS	QF	•	5
Turkey	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Ukraine	Part of USSR								×	•	•	•	•	•	2nd	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	SF	GS	4
Total	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	12	12	16	16	16

Notes

• ¹ Includes results representing Czechoslovakia
• ² Includes results representing West Germany
• ³ Includes results representing Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro

Awards

Player of the Tournament

The Player of the Tournament award, formerly known as the Golden Player, is awarded to the player who plays the most outstanding football during the tournament. Since 2013, an official Player of the Tournament has been selected by the UEFA Technical Team.

Year	Golden Player	Ref.
1978	Template:Fbuicon Vahid Halilhodžić
1980	Template:Fbuicon Anatoliy Demyanenko
1982	Template:Fbuicon Rudi Völler
1984	Template:Fbuicon Mark Hateley
1986	Template:Fbuicon Manolo Sanchís
1988	Template:Fbuicon Laurent Blanc
1990	Template:Fbuicon Davor Šuker
1992	Template:Fbuicon Renato Buso
1994	Template:Fbuicon Luís Figo
1996	Template:Fbuicon Fabio Cannavaro
1998	Template:Fbuicon Francesc Arnau
2000	Template:Fbuicon Andrea Pirlo
2002	Template:Fbuicon Petr Čech
2004	Template:Fbuicon Alberto Gilardino
2006	Template:Fbuicon Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
2007	Template:Fbuicon Royston Drenthe
2009	Template:Fbuicon Marcus Berg
2011	Template:Fbuicon Juan Mata
2013	Template:Fbuicon Thiago
2015	Template:Fbuicon William Carvalho
2017	Template:Fbuicon Dani Ceballos
2019	Template:Fbuicon Fabián Ruiz
2021	Template:Fbuicon Fábio Vieira
2023	Template:Fbuicon Anthony Gordon
2025	Template:Fbuicon Harvey Elliott

Top Scorer

The UEFA European Under-21 Championship Top Scorer award, formerly known as the Golden Boot, is 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 goalscorers in the tournament, respectively.

Year	First place	Goals	Second place	Goals	Third place	Goals	Ref.
2000	Template:Fbuicon Andrea Pirlo	3
2002	Template:Fbuicon Massimo Maccarone	3
2004	Template:Fbuicon Alberto Gilardino	4
2006	Template:Fbuicon Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	4
2007	Template:Fbuicon Maceo Rigters	4
2009	Template:Fbuicon Marcus Berg	7
2011	Template:Fbuicon Adrián	5
2013	Template:Fbuicon Álvaro Morata	4	Template:Fbuicon Thiago	3	Template:Fbuicon Isco	3
2015	Template:Fbuicon Jan Kliment	3	Template:Fbuicon Kevin Volland	2	Template:Fbuicon John Guidetti	2
2017	Template:Fbuicon Saúl	5	Template:Fbuicon Marco Asensio	3	Template:Fbuicon Bruma	3
2019	Template:Fbuicon Luca Waldschmidt	7	Template:Fbuicon George Pușcaș	4	Template:Fbuicon Marco Richter	3
2021	Template:Fbuicon Lukas Nmecha	4	Template:Fbuicon Patrick Cutrone	3	Template:Fbuicon Dany Mota	3
2023	Template:Fbuicon Sergio Gómez Template:Fbuicon Abel Ruiz Template:Fbuicon Heorhiy Sudakov	3
2025	Template:Fbuicon Nick Woltemade	6

Euro Under-21 dream team

On 17 June 2015, UEFA revealed an all-time best XI from the previous Under-21 final tournaments.

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Template:Fbuicon Manuel Neuer	Template:Fbuicon Branislav Ivanović Template:Fbuicon Mats Hummels Template:Fbuicon Alessandro Nesta Template:Fbuicon Giorgio Chiellini	Template:Fbuicon Frank Lampard Template:Fbuicon Andrea Pirlo Template:Fbuicon Xavi Template:Fbuicon Mesut Özil	Template:Fbuicon Francesco Totti Template:Fbuicon Raúl

See also

• UEFA European Championship
• UEFA European Under-19 Championship
• UEFA European Under-17 Championship

External links

• Tournament details at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF)