1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 5th staging of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The qualifying stage spanned two years (1984–86), had 29 entrants. Spain U-21s won the competition after a penalty shootout, the first in the U-21 competition's history.

1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Tournament details
Dates	12 March – 29 October
Teams	29 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Spain (1st title)
Runners-up	Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches played	92
Goals scored	249 (2.71 per match)
Top scorer	Gianluca Vialli (4 goals)
Best player	Manuel Sanchis
← 1984 1988 →

The 29 national teams were divided into eight groups (five groups of 4 + three 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 3rd-place playoff.

Qualifying stage

Draw

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

• Group 1 did not include Belgium (moved to Group 8)
• Group 2 did not include Malta
• Group 3 did not include Northern Ireland
• Group 4 did not include Luxembourg (moved to Group 8)
• Group 5 featured the same nations
• Group 6 did not include Republic of Ireland
• Group 7 did not include Wales
• Group 8 composed of Belgium (moved from Group 1), Luxembourg (moved from Group 4) and Italy (who did not participate in World Cup qualification)

Qualifying group 1 P W D L F A Pts 1  Poland 4 3 0 1 10 4 6 2  Greece 4 2 0 2 6 8 4 3  Albania 4 1 0 3 3 7 2

Poland 5–1 Greece Poland 2–0 Albania Greece 2–0 Albania Greece 2–1 Poland Albania 1–2 Poland Albania 2–1 Greece

Qualifying group 2 P W D L F A Pts 1  Sweden 6 4 1 1 7 3 9 2  West Germany 6 3 1 2 9 6 7 3  Czechoslovakia 6 2 1 3 6 8 5 4  Portugal 6 1 1 4 4 9 3

Sweden 1–1 Portugal Portugal 0–1 Czechoslo. W. Germany 1–0 Sweden Portugal 0–1 Sweden Portugal 2–1 W.Germany Czechoslovakia 1–1 W. Germany Sweden 1–0 Czechoslo. Czechoslo. 3–1 Portugal Sweden 2–1 W.Germany Czechoslo. 0–2 Sweden W. Germany 2–0 Portugal W. Germany 3–1 Czecho.

Qualifying group 3 P W D L F A Pts 1  England 6 3 2 1 9 3 8 2  Finland 6 1 4 1 6 6 6 3  Romania 6 1 4 1 5 7 6 4  Turkey 6 0 4 2 3 7 4

England 2–0 Finland Turkey 1–1 Finland Turkey 0–0 England Romania 1–0 Turkey Romania 0–0 England Finland 3–1 England Finland 2–2 Romania Romania 0–0 Finland England 3–0 Romania Finland 0–0 Turkey England 3–0 Turkey Turkey 2–2 Romania

Qualifying group 4 P W D L F A Pts 1  France 6 2 3 1 11 7 7 2  Bulgaria 6 3 1 2 14 12 7 3  East Germany 6 1 4 1 9 9 6 4  Yugoslavia 6 1 2 3 10 16 4

Yugoslavia 1–2 Bulgaria E.Germany 1–1 Yugosl. France 2–1 Bulgaria France 1–1 E.Germany Yugoslavia 0–0 France Bulgaria 3–2 E.Germany Bulgaria 4–0 France Bulgaria 3–6 Yugoslavia E.Germany 1–1 France Yugosl. 2–3 E.Germany E.Germany 1–1 Bulgaria France 7–0 Yugoslavia

Qualifying group 5 P W D L F A Pts 1  Hungary 6 5 0 1 9 3 10 2  Netherlands 6 4 1 1 11 3 9 3  Austria 6 0 3 3 3 7 3 4  Cyprus 6 0 2 4 3 13 2

Cyprus 1–1 Austria Hungary 2–0 Austria Netherlands 1–0 Hungary Austria 0–0 Netherlands Cyprus 1–3 Hungary Cyprus 1–3 Netherlands Netherlands 5–0 Cyprus Hungary 1–0 Cyprus Austria 1–2 Hungary Netherlands 2–1 Austria Austria 0–0 Cyprus Hungary 1–0 Netherlands

Qualifying group 6 P W D L F A Pts 1  Denmark 6 3 2 1 11 7 8 2  Norway 6 2 2 2 10 9 6 3  Soviet Union 6 3 0 3 8 8 6 4   Switzerland 6 1 2 3 7 12 4

Norway 3–0 Switzerland Denmark 2–2 Norway Norway 2–1 USSR Switzerland 1–1 Denmark Switzerland 4–2 USSR USSR 1–0 Switzerland Denmark 1–0 USSR USSR 2–0 Denmark Denmark 4–1 Switzerland Norway 1–3 Denmark USSR 2–1 Norway Switzerland 1–1 Norway

Qualifying group 7 P W D L F A Pts 1  Spain 4 3 1 0 4 0 7 2  Scotland 4 1 1 2 1 4 3 3  Iceland 4 1 0 3 2 3 2

Scotland 1–0 Iceland Scotland 0–2 Spain Spain 0–0 Scotland Iceland 2–0 Scotland Iceland 0–1 Spain Spain 1–0 Iceland

Qualifying group 8 P W D L F A Pts 1  Italy 4 3 1 0 15 2 7 2  Belgium 4 1 1 2 7 8 3 3  Luxembourg 4 1 0 3 5 17 2

Belgium 5–1 Luxembourg Belgium 1–1 Italy Italy 5–1 Luxembourg Luxembourg 0–6 Italy Luxembourg 3–1 Belgium Italy 3–0 Belgium

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Previous appearances in tournament^1
Poland	Group 1 winner	2 (1982, 1984)
Sweden	Group 2 winner	0 (Debut)
England	Group 3 winner	4 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984)
France	Group 4 winner	2 (1982, 1984)
Hungary	Group 5 winner	2 (1978, 1980)
Denmark	Group 6 winner	1 (1978)
Spain	Group 7 winner	2 (1982, 1984)
Italy	Group 8 winner	4 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

Squads

See 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Finals
	Poland	1	0	1
	Hungary	0	5	5
							Hungary	3	1	4
							Spain	1	4	5
	France	1	1	2
	Spain	3	3	6
													Spain	1	2	3 (3)
													Italy	2	1	3 (0)
	Denmark	0	1	1
	England	1	1	2
							England	0	1	1
							Italy	2	1	3
	Sweden	1	1	2
	Italy	1	2	3