UEFA European Under-21 Championship

European Under-21 Football Championship logo

The European Under-21 Football Championship is a football competition organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. It is held every two years. The competition has existed in its current form since 1978. It was preceded by the Under 23 Challenge Cup which ran from 1967 to 1970. A true championship was formed starting in 1972.

The age limit was reduced to 21 for the 1978 championship and it has remained so since. To be eligible for the campaign ending in 2006, players needed to be born in or after 1983. Many were actually 23 years old at the finals tournament, but when the qualification process began (late 2004) all players would have been 21 or under.

There is no Under-21 World Cup; instead, FIFA hold the Under-20 World Cup - formerly the FIFA World Youth Championship every two years. The European Under-21 teams have two European Championships instead of one European Championship and a World Cup. Under-21 matches are typically played on the day before senior internationals and where possible, the same qualifying groups and fixtures were played out. This will change for the 2006-7 Championship.

Competition structure

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, 3rd 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 9 winners and 7 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 3rd-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 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 intensifies. Staggering the tournaments will allow 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 a host (Netherlands) had been chosen ahead of the qualification section. As hosts, Netherlands qualify automatically. Coincidentally, the Dutch team won the 2006 competition - the holders would normally have to go through the qualification stage. The other nations all go into 14 three-team groups and will play one match at home and one away. The winners of the 14 groups then play-off to decide the seven qualifiers alongside the hosts.

Winners

Under-23 Challenge Cup winners

This was competed for on a basis similar to a boxing title belt. The holders played a randomly chosen opponent for the championship. This format was soon dropped in favour of one more familiar to the sport of football.

Date	Winners	Runners-up	Venue
June 1967	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
September 1967	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Burgas, Bulgaria
November 1967	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Pleven Bulgaria
April 1968	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Sofia, Bulgaria
October 1968	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Rousse, Bulgaria
June 1969	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Novi Sad, Yugoslavia
November 1969	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia
March 1970	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Athens, Greece

Under-23 Champions

Held only three times before it was relabelled by UEFA.

Competition	Winners	Runners-up
1970-1972	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1972-1974	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1974-1976	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21

Under-21 Champions and runners-up

Competition	Winners	Runners-up
1976-1978	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1978-1980	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1980-1982	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1982-1984	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1984-1986	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1986-1988	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1988-1990	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1990-1992	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21

A host nation was chosen for a finals competition for the 1994 finals onwards.

Competition	Winners	Runners-up	Hosts
1992-1994	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1994-1996	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1996-1998	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
1998-2000	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
2000-2002	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
2002-2004	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
2004-2006	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
2006-2007	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21	Template:Fbu21
2007-2009			Template:Fbu21