# 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 Spain 1–0 in the 2023 final.

## History

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 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, third-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 third-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 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 | Final | Final | Losing semi-finalists (or third place match) | Losing semi-finalists (or third place match) | Losing semi-finalists (or third place match) | No. of teams |
| Ed. | Year | Hosts | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Losing semi-finalists (or third place match) | Losing semi-finalists (or third place match) | Losing semi-finalists (or third place match) | No. of teams |
| 1 | 1978 | Home-and-away basis | Yugoslavia | 1–0 / 4–4 5–4 on aggregate | East Germany | Bulgaria and England | Bulgaria and England | Bulgaria and England | 8 |
| 2 | 1980 | Home-and-away basis | Soviet Union | 0–0 / 1–0 1–0 on aggregate | East Germany | England and Yugoslavia | England and Yugoslavia | England and Yugoslavia | 8 |
| 3 | 1982 | Home-and-away basis | England | 3–1 / 2–3 5–4 on aggregate | West Germany | Scotland and Soviet Union | Scotland and Soviet Union | Scotland and Soviet Union | 8 |
| 4 | 1984 | Home-and-away basis | England | 1–0 / 2–0 3–0 on aggregate | Spain | Italy and Yugoslavia | Italy and Yugoslavia | Italy and Yugoslavia | 8 |
| 5 | 1986 | Home-and-away basis | Spain | 1–2 / 2–1 3–3 on aggregate (3–0 p) | Italy | England and Hungary | England and Hungary | England and Hungary | 8 |
| 6 | 1988 | Home-and-away basis | France | 0–0 / 3–0 3–0 on aggregate | Greece | England and Netherlands | England and Netherlands | England and Netherlands | 8 |
| 7 | 1990 | Home-and-away basis | Soviet Union | 4–2 / 3–1 7–3 on aggregate | Yugoslavia | Italy and Sweden | Italy and Sweden | Italy and Sweden | 8 |
| 8 | 1992 | Home-and-away basis | Italy | 2–0 / 0–1 2–1 on aggregate | Sweden | Denmark and Scotland | Denmark and Scotland | Denmark and Scotland | 8 |
| 9 | 1994 | France | Italy | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | Portugal | Spain | 2–1 | France | 8 |
| 10 | 1996 | Spain | Italy | 1–1 (4–2 p) | Spain | France | 1–0 | Scotland | 8 |
| 11 | 1998 | Romania | Spain | 1–0 | Greece | Norway | 2–0 | Netherlands | 8 |
| 12 | 2000 | Slovakia | Italy | 2–1 | Czech Republic | Spain | 1–0 | Slovakia | 8 |
| 13 | 2002 | Switzerland | Czech Republic | 0–0 (3–1 p) | France | Italy and Switzerland | Italy and Switzerland | Italy and Switzerland | 8 |
| 14 | 2004 | Germany | Italy | 3–0 | Serbia and Montenegro | Portugal | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | Sweden | 8 |
| 15 | 2006 | Portugal | Netherlands | 3–0 | Ukraine | France and Serbia and Montenegro | France and Serbia and Montenegro | France and Serbia and Montenegro | 8 |
| 16 | 2007 | Netherlands | Netherlands | 4–1 | Serbia | Belgium and England | Belgium and England | Belgium and England | 8 |
| 17 | 2009 | Sweden | Germany | 4–0 | England | Italy and Sweden | Italy and Sweden | Italy and Sweden | 8 |
| 18 | 2011 | Denmark | Spain | 2–0 | Switzerland | Belarus | 1–0 | Czech Republic | 8 |
| 19 | 2013 | Israel | Spain | 4–2 | Italy | Netherlands and Norway | Netherlands and Norway | Netherlands and Norway | 8 |
| 20 | 2015 | Czech Republic | Sweden | 0–0 (4–3 p) | Portugal | Denmark and Germany | Denmark and Germany | Denmark and Germany | 8 |
| 21 | 2017 | Poland | Germany | 1–0 | Spain | England and Italy | England and Italy | England and Italy | 12 |
| 22 | 2019 | Italy | Spain | 2–1 | Germany | France and Romania | France and Romania | France and Romania | 12 |
| 23 | 2021 | Hungary Slovenia | Germany | 1–0 | Portugal | Netherlands and Spain | Netherlands and Spain | Netherlands and Spain | 16 |
| 24 | 2023 | Georgia Romania | England | 1–0 | Spain | Israel and Ukraine | Israel and Ukraine | Israel and Ukraine | 16 |
| 25 | 2025 | Slovakia | | | | | | | 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) | |
| Germany | 3 (2009, 2017, 2021) | 2 (1982, 2019) | |
| England | 3 (1982, 1984, 2023) | 1 (2009) | |
| Russia | 2 (1980, 1990) | | |
| Netherlands | 2 (2006, 2007) | | |
| Serbia | 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) |
* ↑ Includes West Germany
* ↑ Includes the Soviet Union
* ↑ Includes Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro

## Comprehensive team results by tournament
### Legend

| Teams | 1978 | 1980 | 1982 | 1984 | 1986 | 1988 | 1990 | 1992 | 1994 | 1996 | 1998 | 2000 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | Total |
| Albania | × | × | × | QF | • | • | • | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Austria | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | 1 |
| Belarus | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | × | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | GS | 3rd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3 |
| Belgium | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | GS | • | 4 |
| Bulgaria | SF | • | • | • | • | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 |
| Croatia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | × | × | • | • | GS | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | QF | GS | • | 5 |
| Czech Republic$^1$ | QF | QF | • | • | • | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | • | 2nd | 1st | • | • | GS | • | 4th | • | GS | GS | • | GS | GS | q | 16 |
| Denmark | QF | • | • | • | QF | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | GS | • | SF | GS | GS | QF | • | q | 10 |
| East Germany | 2nd | 2nd | • | • | • | • | • | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | Part of Germany | 2 |
| England | SF | SF | 1st | 1st | SF | SF | • | • | • | • | • | GS | GS | • | • | SF | 2nd | GS | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | 1st | q | 18 |
| Finland | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | q | 2 |
| France | • | • | QF | QF | QF | 1st | • | • | 4th | 3rd | • | • | 2nd | • | SF | • | • | • | • | • | • | SF | QF | QF | q | 12 |
| Georgia | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | QF | q | 2 |
| Germany$^2$ | × | × | 2nd | • | • | • | QF | QF | • | QF | QF | • | • | GS | GS | • | 1st | • | GS | SF | 1st | 2nd | 1st | GS | q | 15 |
| Greece | • | • | • | • | • | 2nd | • | • | QF | • | 2nd | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 4 |
| Hungary | QF | QF | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | 5 |
| Iceland | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | 2 |
| Israel | Member of OFC | Member of OFC | Member of OFC | Member of OFC | Member of OFC | Member of OFC | Member of OFC | Member of OFC | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 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 | q | 23 |
| Netherlands | × | • | • | • | • | SF | • | QF | • | • | 4th | GS | • | • | 1st | 1st | • | • | SF | • | • | • | SF | GS | q | 10 |
| North Macedonia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Norway | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3rd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | GS | • | 3 |
| Poland | • | • | QF | QF | QF | • | • | QF | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | GS | • | • | q | 8 |
| Portugal | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | 2nd | QF | • | • | GS | 3rd | GS | GS | • | • | • | 2nd | GS | • | 2nd | QF | q | 11 |
| Romania | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | SF | GS | GS | q | 5 |
| Russia$^3$ | • | 1st | SF | • | • | • | 1st | • | QF | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | GS | × | × | 7 |
| Scotland | • | QF | SF | QF | • | QF | • | SF | • | 4th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 6 |
| Serbia$^4$ | 1st | SF | • | SF | • | • | 2nd | • | × | × | • | • | • | 2nd | SF | 2nd | GS | • | • | GS | GS | GS | • | • | • | 11 |
| Slovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | Part of Czechoslovakia | • | • | 4th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | q | 3 |
| Slovenia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | q | 2 |
| Spain | • | • | QF | 2nd | 1st | QF | QF | • | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | • | • | • | • | GS | 1st | 1st | • | 2nd | 1st | SF | 2nd | q | 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 | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | Part of USSR | × | • | • | • | • | • | 2nd | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | SF | q | 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 Soviet Union
* $^4$ 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 |
| 1978 | Vahid Halilhodžić |
| 1980 | Anatoliy Demyanenko |
| 1982 | Rudi Völler |
| 1984 | Mark Hateley |
| 1986 | Manolo Sanchís |
| 1988 | Laurent Blanc |
| 1990 | Davor Šuker |
| 1992 | Renato Buso |
| 1994 | Luís Figo |
| 1996 | Fabio Cannavaro |
| 1998 | Francesc Arnau |
| 2000 | Andrea Pirlo |
| 2002 | Petr Čech |
| 2004 | Alberto Gilardino |
| 2006 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar |
| 2007 | Royston Drenthe |
| 2009 | Marcus Berg |
| 2011 | Juan Mata |
| 2013 | Thiago |
| 2015 | William Carvalho |
| 2017 | Dani Ceballos |
| 2019 | Fabián Ruiz |
| 2021 | Fábio Vieira |
| 2023 | Anthony Gordon |

### 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 |
| 2000 | Andrea Pirlo | 3 | | | | |
| 2002 | Massimo Maccarone | 3 | | | | |
| 2004 | Alberto Gilardino | 4 | | | | |
| 2006 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 4 | | | | |
| 2007 | Maceo Rigters | 4 | | | | |
| 2009 | Marcus Berg | 7 | | | | |
| 2011 | Adrián | 5 | | | | |
| 2013 | Álvaro Morata | 4 | Thiago | 3 | Isco | 3 |
| 2015 | Jan Kliment | 3 | Kevin Volland | 2 | John Guidetti | 2 |
| 2017 | Saúl | 5 | Marco Asensio | 3 | Bruma | 3 |
| 2019 | Luca Waldschmidt | 7 | George Pușcaș | 4 | Marco Richter | 3 |
| 2021 | Lukas Nmecha | 4 | Patrick Cutrone | 3 | Dany Mota | 3 |
| 2023 | Sergio Gómez Abel Ruiz Heorhiy Sudakov | 3 | | | | |

### 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 |
| Manuel Neuer | Branislav Ivanović Mats Hummels Alessandro Nesta Giorgio Chiellini | Frank Lampard Andrea Pirlo Xavi Mesut Özil | Francesco Totti Raúl |