The 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition is a men's under-21 football competition to determine the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Albania and Serbia in the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 5 June 2025 – 6 October 2026 |
| Teams | 51 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 127 |
| Goals scored | 396 (3.12 per match) |
| Attendance | 183,820 (1,447 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Divin Mubama (5 goals) |
← 2025 2029 → All statistics correct as of 18 November 2025. | |
51 UEFA member national teams will enter the qualifying competition. Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible to participate.
Two teams are not taking part in this tournament: Russia was suspended on 28 February 2022 by FIFA and UEFA from all competitions due to its invasion of Ukraine, while the Liechtenstein team has been temporarily dissolved based on a decision announced on 5 October 2022.
Format
The qualifying competition consisted of the following two rounds:
- Qualifying group stage: The 51 teams were drawn into nine groups: six groups of six teams and three groups of five teams. Each group will be played in home-and-away round-robin format. The nine group winners and the best runner-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) will qualify directly for the final tournament, while the remaining eight runners-up advanced to the play-offs.
- Play-offs: The eight teams will be drawn into four ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last four qualified teams.
Tiebreakers
In the qualifying group stage, teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams.
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Away goals scored in all group matches;
- Wins in all group matches;
- Away wins in all group matches;
- Disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
- Position in the UEFA men's Under-21 national team coefficient rankings used for the qualifying group stage draw.
To determine the best runner-up from the qualifying group stage, the results against the teams in sixth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied (Regulations Article 15.02):
- Points;
- Goal difference;
- Goals scored;
- Away goals scored;
- Wins;
- Away wins;
- Disciplinary points;
- UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.
Schedule
| Stage | Draw date | FIFA International Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying group stage | 6 February 2025 | Matchday 1 (5–10 June 2025) |
| Matchday 2 (4–5 September 2025) | ||
| Matchday 3 (8–9 September 2025) | ||
| Matchday 4 (9–10 October 2025) | ||
| Matchday 5 (13–14 October 2025) | ||
| Matchday 6 (13–15 November 2025) | ||
| Matchday 7 (17–18 November 2025) | ||
| Matchday 8 (26–27 March 2026) | ||
| Matchday 9 (30–31 March 2026) | ||
| Matchday 10 (24–26 September 2026) | ||
| Matchday 11 (28 September – 1 October 2026) | ||
| Matchday 12 (5–6 October 2026) | ||
| Play-offs | TBA | 1st and 2nd legs (9–17 November 2026) |
Qualifying group stage
Draw
| Team |
|---|
| Albania |
| Serbia |
| ||||||||||||
Each group contained one team from each of Pots A–F (Pots A–E for a five-team group). Based on the previous decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and the UEFA Emergency Panel, four pairs of teams were not drawn in the same group.
- Armenia and Azerbaijan
- Gibraltar and Spain
- Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo
- Belarus and Ukraine
Groups
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | +15 | 15 | Final tournament | — | 2–1 | 31 Mar '26 | 6 Oct '26 | 3–0 | 7–0 | |
| 2 | Finland | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 10 | Play-offs | 25 Sep '26 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 31 Mar '26 | 7–0 | |
| 3 | Kosovo | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 8 | 1–3 | 6 Oct '26 | — | 27 Mar '26 | 30 Sep '26 | 7–0 | ||
| 4 | Romania | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0–2 | 30 Sep '26 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 31 Mar '26 | ||
| 5 | Cyprus | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 3 | 27 Mar '26 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 25 Sep '26 | — | 6 Oct '26 | ||
| 6 | San Marino | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 28 | −28 | 0 | 30 Sep '26 | 26 Mar '26 | 25 Sep '26 | 0–2 | 0–5 | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | +21 | 13 | Final tournament | — | 31 Mar '26 | 6 Oct '26 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 30 Sep '26 | |
| 2 | Scotland | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 10 | Play-offs | 0–2 | — | 27 Mar '26 | 1–0 | 30 Sep '26 | 12–0 | |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 30 Sep '26 | 5–0 | 31 Mar '26 | ||
| 4 | Bulgaria | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 25 Sep '26 | 6 Oct '26 | 2–1 | — | 31 Mar '26 | 3–0 | ||
| 5 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 5 | 27 Mar '26 | 3–3 | 25 Sep '26 | 1–1 | — | 6 Oct '26 | ||
| 6 | Gibraltar | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 31 | −30 | 0 | 0–11 | 25 Sep '26 | 1–2 | 26 Mar '26 | 0–1 | — |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 10 | Final tournament | — | 1–0 | 6 Oct '26 | 30 Mar '26 | 3 Oct '26 | 6–1 | |
| 2 | Faroe Islands | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 9 | Play-offs | 0–6 | — | 1–3 | 6 Oct '26 | 30 Sep '26 | 2–1 | |
| 3 | Switzerland | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 8 | 1–1 | 27 Mar '26 | — | 0–0 | 25 Sep '26 | 31 Mar '26 | ||
| 4 | Iceland | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 8 | 25 Sep '26 | 1–2 | 29 Sep '26 | — | 2–1 | 26 Mar '26 | ||
| 5 | Luxembourg | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 4 | 26 Mar '26 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | — | 6 Oct '26 | ||
| 6 | Estonia | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 2 | 29 Sep '26 | 25 Sep '26 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — |
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | +13 | 15 | Final tournament | — | 2 Oct '26 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 25 Sep '26 | 31 Mar '26 | |
| 2 | Slovakia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 13 | Play-offs | 0–4 | — | 25 Sep '26 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | |
| 3 | Republic of Ireland | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 7 | 6 Oct '26 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 29 Sep '26 | 26 Mar '26 | ||
| 4 | Andorra | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 6 | 27 Mar '26 | 6 Oct '26 | 4–0 | — | 1–0 | 2 Oct '26 | ||
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 4 | 0–2 | 27 Mar '26 | 31 Mar '26 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 6 | Moldova | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 4 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 6 Oct '26 | — |
Group E
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | +17 | 18 | Final tournament | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 30 Sep '26 | 3–0 | 27 Mar '26 | |
| 2 | Italy | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 5 | +12 | 15 | Play-offs | 5 Oct '26 | — | 2–1 | 4–0 | 26 Mar '26 | 5–1 | |
| 3 | Montenegro | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 9 | 31 Mar '26 | 1–4 | — | 2–0 | 3–2 | 5 Oct '26 | ||
| 4 | Sweden | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 9 | 0–6 | 31 Mar '26 | 27 Mar '26 | — | 5 Oct '26 | 3–0 | ||
| 5 | North Macedonia | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 30 Sep '26 | 1–4 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 6 | Armenia | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 17 | −14 | 0 | 0–4 | 30 Sep '26 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 31 Mar '26 | — |
Group F
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | +14 | 15 | Final tournament | — | 31 Mar '26 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1 Oct '26 | 27 Mar '26 | |
| 2 | Germany | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 4 | +13 | 12 | Play-offs | 2–3 | — | 27 Mar '26 | 6 Oct '26 | 5–0 | 6–0 | |
| 3 | Northern Ireland | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 7 | 6 Oct '26 | 1–2 | — | 1 Oct '26 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Georgia | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 26 Sep '26 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 27 Mar '26 | 31 Mar '26 | ||
| 5 | Latvia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 4 | 0–1 | 26 Sep '26 | 31 Mar '26 | 1–1 | — | 6 Oct '26 | ||
| 6 | Malta | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 19 | −19 | 0 | 0–5 | 30 Sep '26 | 26 Sep '26 | 0–5 | 0–1 | — |
Group G
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 9 | Final tournament | — | 6 Oct '26 | 29 Sep '26 | 27 Mar '26 | 5–0 | |
| 2 | Israel | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 6 | Play-offs | 0–3 | — | 31 Mar '26 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |
| 3 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 27 Mar '26 | ||
| 4 | Netherlands | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 25 Sep '26 | 2–2 | 6 Oct '26 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 5 | Slovenia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 | −9 | 1 | 31 Mar '26 | 29 Sep '26 | 0–2 | 2 Oct '26 | — |
Group H
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkey | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 11 | Final tournament | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 6 Oct '26 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | Croatia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 10 | Play-offs | 31 Mar '26 | — | 1–0 | 26 Sep '26 | 4–0 | |
| 3 | Ukraine | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 4 | 26 Sep '26 | 2 Oct '26 | — | 3–3 | 27 Mar '26 | ||
| 4 | Hungary | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 31 Mar '26 | — | 1 Oct '26 | ||
| 5 | Lithuania | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 1 | 1–2 | 6 Oct '26 | 0–4 | 1–1 | — |
Group I
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 7 | Final tournament | — | 2–0 | 27 Mar '26 | 24 Sep '26 | 28 Sep '26 | |
| 2 | Denmark | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 | Play-offs | 6 Oct '26 | — | 1–1 | 28 Sep '26 | 31 Mar '26 | |
| 3 | Austria | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 1–0 | 2 Oct '26 | — | 31 Mar '26 | 0–2 | ||
| 4 | Belarus | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 3–0 | ||
| 5 | Wales | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 16 | −12 | 3 | 0–7 | 2–6 | 6 Oct '26 | 27 Mar '26 | — |
Ranking of second-placed teams
Only the results of the second-placed teams against the first, third, fourth and fifth-placed teams in their group are taken into account, while results against the sixth-placed team in six-team groups are not included. As a result, eight matches played by each second-placed team are counted for the purposes of determining the ranking. The top-ranked team will qualify directly for the final tournament, while the other teams enter the play-offs.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E | Italy | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 12 | Final tournament |
| 2 | H | Croatia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 10 | Play-offs |
| 3 | F | Germany | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 9 | |
| 4 | A | Finland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 | |
| 5 | I | Denmark | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 | |
| 6 | D | Slovakia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | |
| 7 | G | Israel | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 6 | |
| 8 | C | Faroe Islands | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 6 | |
| 9 | B | Scotland | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) away goals scored; 5) wins; 6) away wins; 7) disciplinary points; 8) coefficient ranking.
Play-offs
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | TBD | |||
| TBD | TBD | |||
| TBD | TBD | |||
| TBD | TBD |
Qualified teams
Note: All appearance statistics include only U-21 era (since 1978).
Top goalscorers
There have been 396 goals scored in 127 matches, for an average of 3.12 goals per match (as of 18 November 2025).
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
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