# 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition to determine the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Romania and Georgia in the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament.
Apart from Romania and Georgia, all remaining 53 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition. Players born on or after 1 January 2000 were eligible to participate.

## Format

The qualifying competition consisted of the following two rounds:
* Qualifying group stage: The 53 teams were drawn into nine groups: eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams. Each group was played in home-and-away round-robin format. The nine group winners and the best runner-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) qualified directly for the final tournament, while the remaining eight runners-up advanced to the play-offs.
* Play-offs: The eight teams were drawn into four ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last four qualified teams.

### Tiebreakers

In the qualifying group stage, teams were 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 were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):
* 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;
* Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were 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 best runner-up from the qualifying group stage, the results against the teams in sixth place were discarded. The following criteria were applied (Regulations Article 15.02):
* 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 | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 1 (1–3 September 2021) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 2 (6–7 September 2021) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 3 (7–8 October 2021) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 4 (11–12 October 2021) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 5 (10–12 November 2021) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 6 (14–16 November 2021) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 7 (24–25 March 2022) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 8 (28–29 March 2022) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 9 (2–6 June 2022) |
| Qualifying group stage | 28 January 2021 | Matchday 10 (6–14 June 2022) |
| Play-offs | 21 June 2022 | 1st leg (23 September 2022) |
| Play-offs | 21 June 2022 | 2nd leg (27 September 2022) |
* ↑ Some matches of Matchday 1 were played on 25 and 29 March 2021 and some matches were played on 4–8 June 2021

## Qualifying group stage
### Draw

Final tournament co-hosts :
* Team
* Romania
* Georgia
Pot A :
* Team
* Spain
* Germany
* France
* England
* Italy
* Denmark
* Portugal
* Netherlands
* Croatia
Pot B :
* Team
* Austria
* Poland
* Sweden
* Czech Republic
* Belgium
* Russia
* Serbia
* Switzerland
* Greece
Pot C :
* Team
* Slovakia
* Iceland
* Ukraine
* Slovenia
* Republic of Ireland
* Israel
* Norway
* Bulgaria
* Turkey
Pot D :
* Team
* Scotland
* North Macedonia
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Wales
* Northern Ireland
* Finland
* Hungary
* Belarus
* Albania
Pot E :
* Team
* Montenegro
* Kosovo
* Lithuania
* Kazakhstan
* Moldova
* Cyprus
* Faroe Islands
* Azerbaijan
* Latvia
Pot F :
* Team
* Luxembourg
* Armenia
* Malta
* Andorra
* Estonia
* Gibraltar
* Liechtenstein
* San Marino
Each group contained one team from each of Pots A–F (Pots A–E for a five-team group). Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, six pairs of teams would not be drawn in the same group.
* Armenia and Azerbaijan
* Gibraltar and Spain
* Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo
* Kosovo and Serbia
* Kosovo and Russia
* Russia and Ukraine

### Groups
#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Norway | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 24 | Final tournament | — | 3–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Croatia | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 10 | +15 | 22 | Play-offs | 3–2 | — | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Finland | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 19 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Austria | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 16 | | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | — | 6–0 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Azerbaijan | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 24 | −12 | 7 | | 1–2 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 0–3 | — | 3–0 |
| 6 | Estonia | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 32 | −32 | 0 | | 0–5 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 0–5 | — |

#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Germany | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 9 | +23 | 27 | Final tournament | — | 3–2 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Israel | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 19 | Play-offs | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Poland | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 9 | +17 | 18 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Hungary | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 14 | | 1–5 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 5 | Latvia | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 19 | −14 | 7 | | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 6 | San Marino | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 34 | −34 | 1 | | 0–6 | 0–4 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 0–0 | — |

#### Group C

On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA announced that Russia was suspended from all competitions. On 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that Russia would no longer be allowed to take part in the competition, that their previous results were nullified, and that Group C would continue with five teams.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Spain | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 5 | +32 | 24 | Final tournament | — | 3–2 | 3–0 | 8–0 | 7–1 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Slovakia | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 15 | Play-offs | 2–3 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | Canc. |
| 3 | Northern Ireland | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 7 | | 0–6 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 | 0–2 | Canc. |
| 4 | Lithuania | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 22 | −15 | 7 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–3 |
| 5 | Malta | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 25 | −15 | 6 | | 0–5 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 1–3 | — | Canc. |
| 6 | Russia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | Canc. | 6–0 | — |
* ↑ On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian national teams from all competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000034-QINU`"''"`UNIQ--ref-00000035-QINU`"' On 2 May 2022, UEFA expelled Russia and declared all of their results to be null and void.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000036-QINU`"''"`UNIQ--ref-00000037-QINU`"'

#### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Portugal | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 3 | +38 | 28 | Final tournament | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 11–0 |
| 2 | Iceland | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 7 | +18 | 18 | Play-offs | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 9–0 |
| 3 | Greece | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 17 | | 0–4 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| 4 | Belarus | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 12 | | 1–5 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | 6–0 |
| 5 | Cyprus | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 11 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 6–0 |
| 6 | Liechtenstein | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 63 | −63 | 0 | | 0–9 | 0–3 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 0–6 | — |

#### Group E

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Netherlands | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 3 | +29 | 26 | Final tournament | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 6–0 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 6 | +16 | 23 | Final tournament | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Moldova | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 12 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Wales | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 14 | +1 | 11 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Bulgaria | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 10 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | — | 5–0 |
| 6 | Gibraltar | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 41 | −40 | 1 | | 0–7 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–7 | 1–1 | — |

#### Group F

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Italy | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 5 | +14 | 24 | Final tournament | — | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Republic of Ireland | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 19 | Play-offs | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Sweden | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 8 | +14 | 18 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 4–0 | 3–1 | 6–0 |
| 4 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 11 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 5 | Montenegro | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 11 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | — | 3–0 |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 26 | −24 | 1 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — |

#### Group G

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | England | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 7 | +19 | 25 | Final tournament | — | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Czech Republic | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 6 | +17 | 22 | Play-offs | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 7–0 |
| 3 | Slovenia | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 16 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Kosovo | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 12 | | 0–5 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Albania | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 10 | | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 6 | Andorra | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 28 | −27 | 0 | | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | — |

#### Group H

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | France | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 5 | +26 | 26 | Final tournament | — | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 7–0 |
| 2 | Ukraine | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 11 | +9 | 23 | Play-offs | 3–3 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| 3 | Serbia | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 12 | | 0–3 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Faroe Islands | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 10 | | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 5 | North Macedonia | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 9 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 |
| 6 | Armenia | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 28 | −21 | 3 | | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — |

#### Group I

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Belgium | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 20 | Final tournament | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Denmark | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 17 | Play-offs | 1–1 | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Turkey | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 8 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| 4 | Scotland | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 7 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 |
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 2 | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — |

### Ranking of second-placed teams

Only the results of the second-placed teams against the first, third, fourth and fifth-placed teams in their group were taken into account, while results against the sixth-placed team in six-team groups were not included. As a result, eight matches played by each second-placed team were counted for the purposes of determining the ranking. The top-ranked team qualified directly for the final tournament, while the other teams entered the play-offs.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | E | Switzerland | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 17 | Final tournament |
| 2 | H | Ukraine | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 17 | Play-offs |
| 3 | I | Denmark | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 17 | Play-offs |
| 4 | A | Croatia | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 16 | Play-offs |
| 5 | G | Czech Republic | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 16 | Play-offs |
| 6 | C | Slovakia | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 15 | Play-offs |
| 7 | F | Republic of Ireland | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 15 | Play-offs |
| 8 | B | Israel | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 13 | Play-offs |
| 9 | D | Iceland | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 12 | Play-offs |

### Advanced teams

Advanced teams :
| Group | Group winners | Runners-up (Direct entrant) | Runners-up (Play-offs) |
| A | Norway | | Croatia |
| B | Germany | | Israel |
| C | Spain | | Slovakia |
| D | Portugal | | Iceland |
| E | Netherlands | Switzerland | |
| F | Italy | | Republic of Ireland |
| G | England | | Czech Republic |
| H | France | | Ukraine |
| I | Belgium | | Denmark |

## Play-offs

The draw for the play-offs was held on 21 June 2022 in Nyon, Switzerland.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Croatia | 3–3 (5–4 p) | Denmark | 2–1 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |
| Slovakia | 3–5 | Ukraine | 3–2 | 0–3 |
| Republic of Ireland | 1–1 (1–3 p) | Israel | 1–1 | 0–0 (a.e.t.) |
| Iceland | 1–2 | Czech Republic | 1–2 | 0–0 |

## 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 | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
| Romania | Co-hosts | 3 December 2020 | 4th | 2021 | Semi-finals (2019) |
| Georgia | Co-hosts | 3 December 2020 | 1st | Debut | Debut |
| Belgium | Group I winners | 29 March 2022 | 4th | 2019 | Semi-finals (2007) |
| Spain | Group C winners | 2 May 2022 | 16th | 2021 | Champions (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019) |
| Germany | Group B winners | 3 June 2022 | 14th | 2021 | Champions (2009, 2017, 2021) |
| Portugal | Group D winners | 6 June 2022 | 10th | 2021 | Runners-up (1994, 2015, 2021) |
| England | Group G winners | 7 June 2022 | 17th | 2021 | Champions (1982, 1984) |
| Netherlands | Group E winners | 8 June 2022 | 9th | 2021 | Champions (2006, 2007) |
| France | Group H winners | 9 June 2022 | 11th | 2021 | Champions (1988) |
| Italy | Group F winners | 14 June 2022 | 22nd | 2021 | Champions (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004) |
| Norway | Group A winners | 14 June 2022 | 3rd | 2013 | Semi-finals (1998, 2013) |
| Switzerland | Best runner-up | 14 June 2022 | 5th | 2021 | Runners-up (2011) |
| Ukraine | Play-offs winner | 27 September 2022 | 3rd | 2011 | Runners-up (2006) |
| Czech Republic | Play-offs winner | 27 September 2022 | 9th | 2021 | Champions (2002) |
| Croatia | Play-offs winner | 27 September 2022 | 5th | 2021 | Quarter-finals (2021) |
| Israel | Play-offs winner | 27 September 2022 | 3rd | 2013 | Group stage (2007, 2013) |
* ↑ On 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that Russia were removed from European Under-21 Championship qualification due to their country's invasion of Ukraine, with all their earlier results considered null and void.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000076-QINU`"' Spain therefore qualified for the European Under-21 Championship, as no other teams could surpass them.

## Top goalscorers

There were 778 goals scored in 255 matches, for an average of 3.05 goals per match.
12 goals
* Gonçalo Ramos
7 goals
* Junior Adamu
* Romano Schmid
* Loïs Openda
* Roko Šimić
* Jonathan Burkardt
* András Németh
* Joshua Zirkzee
* Fábio Vieira
* Abel Ruiz
6 goals
* Folarin Balogun
* Naatan Skyttä
* Youssoufa Moukoko
* Kristian Hlynsson
* Jørgen Strand Larsen
* Fábio Silva
* Matej Trusa
* Sergio Gómez
* Anthony Elanga
* Zeki Amdouni
5 goals
* Musa Gurbanlı
* Vladimir Nikolov
* Luka Sučić
* Amine Gouiri
* Brian Brobbey
* Adrian Benedyczak
For full lists of goalscorers, see sections in each group:
* Group A
* Group B
* Group C
* Group D
* Group E
* Group F
* Group G
* Group H
* Group I