# 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1986–88), had 30 entrants. The Republic of Ireland competed for the first time. France U-21s won the competition.
The 30 national teams were divided into eight groups (six groups of 4 + two groups of 3). The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided. There was no finals tournament or third-place playoff.

## Draw

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:
* Group 1 featured the same teams
* Group 2 did not include Malta
* Group 3 did not include Iceland (moved to Group 6)
* Group 4 did not include Northern Ireland
* Group 5 did not include Netherlands (moved to Group 8)
* Group 6 did not include Wales, but included Iceland (moved from Group 3)
* Group 7 did not include Bulgaria and Luxembourg (both moved to Group 8)
* Group 8 composed of Bulgaria and Luxembourg (both moved from Group 7), Netherlands (moved from Group 5) and West Germany (who did not participate in senior Euro qualification)

### Qualifying Round 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Spain | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 10 | Advance to finals |
| 2 | Romania | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | Austria | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 6 | |
| 4 | Albania | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 2 | |

## Matches

All times are local (UTC+1)

### Austria vs Albania

* Spain 1–0 Romania
* Albania 0–0 Spain
* Romania 3–2 Albania
* Austria 1–1 Spain
* Albania 1–1 Austria
* Romania 0–1 Spain
* Spain 3–0 Austria
* Albania 1–2 Romania
* Austria 2–1 Romania
* Spain 3–0 Albania
| Qualifying Group 2 | Qualifying Group 2 | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Italy | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 9 |
| 2 | Sweden | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| 4 | Portugal | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 4 |
| Sweden 0–0 Switzerland Portugal 2–0 Sweden Switzerland 3–1 Portugal Italy 1–1 Switzerland Portugal 1–2 Italy Sweden 2–2 Italy | Switzerland 0–0 Sweden Sweden 4–2 Portugal Switzerland 0–3 Italy Portugal 2–0 Switzerland Italy 0–0 Sweden Italy 6–0 Portugal |
| Qualifying Group 3 | Qualifying Group 3 | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | France | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 | East Germany | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 7 |
| 3 | Soviet Union | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| 4 | Norway | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| Norway 0–0 E.Germany France 2–1 USSR USSR 1–0 Norway E.Germany 1–0 France USSR 2–1 E.Germany Norway 0–2 USSR | Norway 1–2 France USSR 0–1 France E.Germany 5–1 USSR France 1–1 Norway E.Germany 1–1 Norway France 2–2 E.Germany |
| Qualifying Group 4 | Qualifying Group 4 | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | England | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| 2 | Turkey | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| 3 | Yugoslavia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 3 |
| Yugoslavia 3–0 Turkey England 1–1 Yugoslavia Turkey 0–0 England | England 1–1 Turkey Yugoslavia 1–5 England Turkey 3–2 Yugoslavia |
| Qualifying Group 5 | Qualifying Group 5 | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Greece | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | Hungary | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 7 |
| 3 | Poland | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | Cyprus | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 2 |
| Poland 1–0 Greece Greece 2–1 Hungary Cyprus 0–4 Greece Greece 5–1 Cyprus Cyprus 2–1 Hungary Poland 3–0 Cyprus | Greece 2–0 Poland Hungary 3–0 Poland Poland 0–1 Hungary Hungary 2–2 Greece Cyprus 0–1 Poland Hungary 4–1 Cyprus |
| Qualifying Group 6 | Qualifying Group 6 | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Czechoslovakia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 8 |
| 2 | Denmark | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | Finland | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 5 |
| 4 | Iceland | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 5 |
| Finland 2–0 Iceland Iceland 0–4 Czechoslo. Czechoslo. 2–0 Finland Denmark 4–1 Finland Czechoslo. 1–1 Denmark Finland 0–1 Denmark | Denmark 0–1 Czechoslo. Iceland 0–0 Denmark Iceland 2–2 Finland Denmark 1–3 Iceland Finland 3–2 Czechoslo. Czechoslo. 4–4 Iceland |
| Qualifying Group 7 | Qualifying Group 7 | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Scotland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 7 |
| 2 | Belgium | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Republic of Ireland | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Belgium 0–0 R. Ireland R. Ireland 1–2 Scotland Scotland 4–1 R. Ireland | Belgium 0–0 Scotland R. Ireland 1–1 Belgium Scotland 1–0 Belgium |
| Qualifying Group 8 | Qualifying Group 8 | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Netherlands | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 10 |
| 2 | Bulgaria | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| 3 | West Germany | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| W.Germany 2–0 Bulgaria Bulgaria 1–0 Netherlands Luxem. 0–2 Netherlands W.Germany 4–1 Luxem. Bulgaria 1–0 Luxembourg Nether. 3–1 W.Germany | Luxembourg 0–1 Bulgaria Netherlands 1–0 Luxem. Luxem. 1–4 W.Germany W.Germany 0–2 Nether. Bulgaria 2–1 W.Germany Netherlands 4–3 Bulgaria |

### Qualified teams

| Country | Qualified as | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Spain | Group 1 winner | 3 (1982, 1984, 1986) |
| Italy | Group 2 winner | 5 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986) |
| France | Group 3 winner | 3 (1982, 1984, 1986) |
| England | Group 4 winner | 5 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986) |
| Greece | Group 5 winner | 0 (Debut) |
| Czechoslovakia | Group 6 winner | 2 (1978, 1980) |
| Scotland | Group 7 winner | 3 (1980, 1982, 1984) |
| Netherlands | Group 8 winner | 0 (Debut) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champion for that year

## Squads

See 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

## Knockout stage

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| Scotland | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| England | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| England | 1 | 1 | 2 | England | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | |
| | | | | France | 4 | 2 | 6 | | | | |
| France | 2 | 2 | 4 | France | 4 | 2 | 6 | | | | |
| Italy | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Italy | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | France | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greece | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | | Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Czechoslovakia | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Czechoslovakia | 1 | 2 | 3 | Greece | 5 | 0 | 5 | | | | |
| | | | | Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 3 | Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |

### Final
#### First leg
#### Second leg
## Goalscorers
### 5 goals

* Aris Karasavvidis

### 4 goals

* Stéphane Paille

### 3 goals

* Eric Cantona
* Franck Sauzée

### 1 goal

* Václav Němeček
* Marcel Litoš
* Paul Gascoigne
* Garry Parker
* Gary Porter
* Paul Stewart
* David White
* Jocelyn Angloma
* Jean-Luc Dogon
* Franck Silvestre
* Stefanos Borbokis
* Kostas Ikonomidis
* Giorgos Kapouranis
* Massimo Ciocci
* Paolo Maldini
* Ruggiero Rizzitelli
* Henk Fraser
* John van Loen
* Gerrit Plomp
* Eric Viscaal
* Rob Witschge
* Loren

### Own goal

* Pagonis Vakalopoulos (playing against Czechoslovakia)
* Franck Silvestre (playing against England)