2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) will be the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 national teams of Europe. The tournament will be co-hosted by Romania and Georgia. Romania will host the opening match, while Georgia will host the final. A total of 16 teams will play in the final tournament. Players born on or after 1 January 2000 are eligible to  participate. Same as previous Under-21 Championships that were held one year prior to the Olympics, this tournament will serve as European qualifying for the Olympic football tournament. Besides France which qualify automatically as Olympic hosts, eligible teams will compete for qualifying for the men's football tournament of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where they will be represented by their under-23 national teams with maximum of three overage players allowed. Germany are the defending champions. Host selection. Both Romania and Georgia bid for the tournament separately. The two countries were appointed as co-hosts at the UEFA Executive Committee  meeting on 3 December 2020. Venues. Romania. The Federația Română de Fotbal originally proposed the following eight venues: However, four stadiums were removed from the list of venues since Georgia was also appointed as host. Georgia. In Georgia, the tournament will also be played at four stadiums. Qualification. Qualified teams. The following teams qualified for the final tournament. "Note: All appearance statistics include only U-21 era (since 1978)."