2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
History - Facts - 2009 Squads - 2007 Standings - Winners
Under-21 Winners by country:
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 Italy - 5
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 England - 2
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 Spain - 2
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 USSR - 2
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 Netherlands - 2
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 Czech Republic - 1
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 France - 1
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 Yugoslavia - 1
The UEFA European Under-21 Championship features Under-21 national teams from UEFA's member associations. It is divided into two parts, a qualifying competition and the final tournament. Seven sides will progress from the qualifying competition to join the host nation, the Netherlands in 2007, in the final tournament. The final tournament has been moved to odd years to help the competition's development by avoiding clashes with the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup.
The qualifying round consists of a preliminary round, a group stage and play-off matches to determine seven sides who qualify for the final tournament. The preliminary round is contested by the lowest rank teams, based on UEFA's coefficient list, to reduce the number of participating teams to 42. The preliminary round is played on the basis of a straight knock-out system with teams drawn to play each other on a home and away basis with the side winning on aggregate advancing to the group stage.
The remaining 42 sides are classified on the basis of the coefficient list and then drawn into 14 groups of three teams each. Each side plays one home and one away match in the group with three points awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. In case of sides being level on points, the groups will be decided on:
a) superior goal difference
b) higher number of goals scored
c) higher number of away goals scored
d) higher number of coefficient points
e) drawing of lots
The fixtures of the seven play-off matches are decided by a draw, and are played in a knockout system on a home and away basis with the side winning on aggregate advancing to the final tournament. If the scores are level after the second leg, extra time and, if necessary, penalties will be used to determine the victors.
The eight teams contesting the final tournament will be drawn into two groups of four. The host nation and defending champions, the Netherlands, will be seeded along with three other sides depending on their UEFA coefficient ranking based on results in the group stage and play-offs. The group stage is based on a league system (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat), to produce four semi-finalists. The winners and runners-up in each group play each other over one match to produce the two finalists. If in the semi-final or final the match ends in a draw, extra-time then penalties will be played to determine the winner.
The preliminary round must be completed before 15 July 2006. The provisional dates for the group stage matches are 16 August, 02/03 September and 05/06 September and for the play-offs, 07/08 October and 10/11 October. The final tournament will take place from 10 to 23 June 2007.
The regulations for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship are initially drawn up by the UEFA Administration before being submitted to the National Teams Committee. They are then forwarded upon that committee's approval to the UEFA Executive Committee for ratification.
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