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2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

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2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
Tournament details
Dates26 March 2015 – 15 November 2016
Teams52 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played254
Goals scored713 (2.81 per match)
Top scorer(s)Czech Republic Patrik Schick (10 goals)
2015
2019

The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Poland in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship tournament final.[1]

A total of 52 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition, with Gibraltar as the only absentee.[2] Players born on or after 1 January 1994 are eligible to participate.

Format

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The qualifying competition consists of two rounds:[3]

  • Qualifying group stage: The 52 teams are drawn into nine groups – seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams. Each group is played in home-and-away round-robin format. The nine group winners qualify directly for the tournament final, while the four best runners-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) advance to the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The four teams are drawn into two ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last two qualified teams.

Tiebreakers

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The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of a group, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):[3]

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  5. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the group matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
  6. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  10. Position in the UEFA Under-21 national team coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

To determine the four best runners-up from the qualifying group stage, the results against the teams in sixth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied (Regulations Article 14.02):[3]

  1. Higher number of points;
  2. Superior goal difference;
  3. Higher number of goals scored;
  4. Higher number of away goals scored;
  5. Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  6. Position in the UEFA Under-21 national team coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

In the play-offs, the team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs qualifies for the tournament final. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e., the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e., if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out (Regulations Articles 15.01 and 15.02).[3]

Schedule

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The qualifying matches are played on dates that fall within the FIFA International Match Calendar.[1]

Stage FIFA International Dates
Qualifying group stage 23–31 March 2015
8–16 June 2015
31 August – 8 September 2015
5–13 October 2015
9–17 November 2015
21–29 March 2016
29 August – 6 September 2016
3–11 October 2016
Play-offs 7–15 November 2016

Qualifying group stage

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Draw

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The draw for the qualifying group stage was held on 5 February 2015, 09:00 CET (UTC+1), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[4][5]

The teams were seeded according to their coefficient ranking calculation based on the following:[6]

Groups 1–7 each contained one team from each of Pots A–F, and Group 8–9 each contained one team from each of Pots A–E. Precautions: certain national teams were not drawn up in the same group. Azerbaijan and Armenia continued to dispute the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Russia's continued 2014-15 intervention in Ukraine.[2]

tournament final hosts
Team Coeff Rank
 Poland 25,402 24
Teams entering qualifying group stage
Pot A
Team Coeff Rank
 Spain 41,470 1
 England 36,252 2
 Italy 36,129 3
 Germany 35,370 4
 France 35,107 5
 Czech Republic 34,516 6
 Portugal 33,887 7
 Netherlands 33,422 8
 Denmark 31,989 9
Pot B
Team Coeff Rank
 Russia 31,346 10
  Switzerland 31,296 11
 Sweden 30,365 12
 Serbia 29,837 13
 Israel 29,766 14
 Ukraine 28,950 15
 Slovakia 27,982 16
 Romania 27,668 17
 Belgium 27,539 18
Pot C
Team Coeff Rank
 Turkey 27,497 19
 Slovenia 27,252 20
 Austria 27,177 21
 Greece 26,982 22
 Scotland 25,812 23
 Croatia 25,286 25
 Norway 24,859 26
 Armenia 24,441 27
 Montenegro 24,402 28
Pot D
Team Coeff Rank
 Finland 23,851 29
 Wales 23,818 30
 Hungary 23,776 31
 Iceland 23,521 32
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 22,912 33
 Georgia 22,606 34
 Moldova 22,431 35
 Republic of Ireland 21,936 36
 Belarus 20,638 37
Pot E
Team Coeff Rank
 Bulgaria 20,317 38
 Cyprus 18,809 39
 Macedonia 18,126 40
 Lithuania 17,511 41
 Azerbaijan 17,414 42
 Kazakhstan 17,076 43
 Albania 16,014 44
 Latvia 15,836 45
 Estonia 15,726 46
Pot F
Team Coeff Rank
 Faroe Islands 14,896 47
 Northern Ireland 14,651 48
 Luxembourg 11,251 49
 Malta 10,838 50
 San Marino 10,163 51
 Andorra 8,950 52
 Liechtenstein 8,125 53
Notes
  • Teams marked in bold have qualified for the tournament final.
Did not enter
Team Coeff Rank
 Gibraltar 0 54

Groups

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  The nine group winners qualified directly for the tournament final.
  The four best group runners-up (not counting results against sixth-placed team) advanced to the play-offs.

Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Czech Republic 10 7 2 1 29 10 +19 23 Final tournament 1–0 3–3 4–1 2–1 4–1
2  Belgium 10 6 0 4 14 11 +3 18 2–1 1–2 2–0 0–1 2–1
3  Montenegro 10 4 4 2 13 11 +2 16 0–3 3–0 0–0 3–3 1–0
4  Malta 10 3 2 5 9 20 −11 11 0–7 2–3 0–1 1–0 3–2
5  Latvia 10 2 3 5 10 13 −3 9 1–1 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–2
6  Moldova 10 2 1 7 8 18 −10 7 1–3 0–2 1–0 0–0 0–3
Source: UEFA

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 10 7 3 0 17 3 +14 24 Final tournament 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 3–0
2  Serbia 10 7 2 1 27 8 +19 23 Play-offs 1–1 3–1 3–2 5–0 5–0
3  Slovenia 10 5 0 5 18 11 +7 15 0–3 2–0 3–1 3–0 4–0
4  Republic of Ireland 10 4 0 6 14 17 −3 12 1–4 1–3 2–0 3–0 1–0
5  Lithuania 10 3 1 6 5 17 −12 10 0–0 0–2 1–0 3–1 1–0
6  Andorra 10 1 0 9 1 26 −25 3 0–1 0–4 0–5 0–2 1–0
Source: UEFA

Group 3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Macedonia 10 6 3 1 13 7 +6 21 Final tournament 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–0 2–0
2  France 10 6 2 2 17 8 +9 20 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0
3  Iceland 10 5 3 2 13 9 +4 18 3–0 3–2 2–4 2–0 1–1
4  Ukraine 10 4 2 4 14 12 +2 14 0–2 1–0 0–1 4–0 1–1
5  Scotland 10 2 2 6 8 17 −9 8 0–1 1–2 0–0 2–2 3–1
6  Northern Ireland 10 0 2 8 6 18 −12 2 1–2 0–3 0–1 1–2 1–2
Source: UEFA

Group 4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 10 8 2 0 34 5 +29 26 Final tournament 0–0 1–0 4–0 2–0 4–0
2  Israel 10 6 3 1 21 4 +17 21 0–3 4–0 4–0 3–0 4–0
3  Greece 10 4 1 5 13 14 −1 13 0–4 0–1 2–1 3–1 5–0
4  Albania 10 3 3 4 11 20 −9 12 1–6 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–0
5  Hungary 10 3 3 4 19 16 +3 12 3–3 0–0 2–1 2–2 4–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 1 40 −39 0 1–7 0–4 0–2 0–2 0–6
Source: UEFA

Group 5

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Denmark 10 9 1 0 24 3 +21 28 Final tournament 1–0 3–1 0–0 4–1 2–0
2  Bulgaria 10 5 2 3 11 7 +4 17 0–3 2–0 0–0 3–0 2–0
3  Romania 10 5 1 4 15 14 +1 16 0–3 0–2 2–1 4–0 3–0
4  Wales 10 4 4 2 14 12 +2 16 0–4 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1
5  Luxembourg 10 1 3 6 5 18 −13 6 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–0
6  Armenia 10 0 1 9 6 21 −15 1 1–3 0–1 2–3 1–3 1–1
Source: UEFA

Group 6

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Sweden 10 7 3 0 24 7 +17 24 Final tournament 1–1 4–2 3–2 5–0 3–0
2  Spain 10 7 2 1 31 9 +22 23 Play-offs 1–1 0–3 5–0 5–0 6–0
3  Croatia 10 6 2 2 24 11 +13 20 1–1 2–3 1–0 2–1 4–0
4  Georgia 10 4 1 5 17 17 0 13 0–1 2–5 2–2 3–0 4–0
5  Estonia 10 1 1 8 3 26 −23 4 0–3 0–2 0–4 0–1 0–0
6  San Marino 10 0 1 9 1 30 −29 1 0–2 0–3 0–3 0–3 1–2
Source: UEFA

Group 7

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 10 10 0 0 35 8 +27 30 Final tournament 4–2 4–0 3–1 4–3 4–1
2  Austria 10 7 1 2 22 12 +10 22 Play-offs 1–4 2–0 7–0 4–3 1–0
3  Finland 10 4 2 4 13 10 +3 14 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 3–0
4  Azerbaijan 10 2 3 5 8 19 −11 9 0–3 0–2 0–1 3–0 1–1
5  Russia 10 2 3 5 15 19 −4 9 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–0
6  Faroe Islands 10 0 1 9 3 28 −25 1 0–6 0–1 1–6 0–1 0–3
Source: UEFA

Group 8

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Slovakia 8 6 1 1 21 6 +15 19 Final tournament 4–2 5–0 3–1 2–0
2  Netherlands 8 4 2 2 15 10 +5 14 1–3 0–0 1–0 4–0
3  Turkey 8 3 2 3 7 8 −1 11 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1
4  Belarus 8 2 2 4 7 11 −4 8 1–0 2–2 0–2 2–2
5  Cyprus 8 1 1 6 4 19 −15 4 0–3 1–4 0–3 0–1
Source: UEFA

Group 9

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 8 6 2 0 20 3 +17 20 Final tournament 6–1 3–1 3–0 5–0
2  Norway 8 5 1 2 12 10 +2 16 Play-offs 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–0
3   Switzerland 8 3 3 2 11 8 +3 12 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–1
4  Kazakhstan 8 1 1 6 3 14 −11 4 0–1 0–3 0–1 0–0
5  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 0 3 5 2 13 −11 3 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–2
Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

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To determine the four best second-placed teams from the qualifying group stage which advance to the play-offs, 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 (for groups with six teams) are not included. As a result, eight matches played by each second-placed team will count for the purposes of determining the ranking.[7]

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 6  Spain 8 5 2 1 22 9 +13 17 Play-offs
2 2  Serbia 8 5 2 1 18 8 +10 17
3 7  Austria 8 5 1 2 20 12 +8 16
4 9  Norway 8 5 1 2 12 10 +2 16
5 4  Israel 8 4 3 1 13 4 +9 15
6 8  Netherlands 8 4 2 2 15 10 +5 14
7 3  France 8 4 2 2 13 8 +5 14
8 1  Belgium 8 4 0 4 10 10 0 12
9 5  Bulgaria 8 3 2 3 8 7 +1 11
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) away goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coefficient.

Play-offs

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Draw

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The draw for the play-offs was held on 14 October 2016, 13:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[8][9]

Matches

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The two play-off winners qualify for the tournament final.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Serbia  2–1  Norway 2–0 0–1
Austria  1–1 (a)  Spain 1–1 0–0

Qualified teams

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The following 12 teams qualify for the tournament final.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1
only U-21 era (since 1978)
 Poland Hosts 26 January 2015[1] 5 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1994)
 Czech Republic Group 1 winners 7 October 2016 12 (19782, 19802, 19882, 19902, 19922, 19942, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2015)
 Italy Group 2 winners 11 October 2016 18 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015)
 Macedonia Group 3 winners 11 October 2016 0 (debut)
 Portugal Group 4 winners 6 September 2016 7 (1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2015)
 Denmark Group 5 winners 6 September 2016 6 (1978, 1986, 1992, 2006, 2011, 2015)
 Sweden Group 6 winners 10 October 2016 7 (1986, 1990, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2009, 2015)
 Germany Group 7 winners 7 October 2016 10 (19823, 19903, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2015)
 Slovakia Group 8 winners 6 October 2016 7 (19782, 19802, 19882, 19902, 19922, 19942, 2000)
 England Group 9 winners 6 October 2016 13 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015)
 Serbia Play-off winners 15 November 2016 9 (19784, 19804, 19844, 19904, 20045, 20065, 2007, 2009, 2015)
 Spain Play-off winners 15 November 2016 12 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2009, 2011, 2013)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

Top goalscorers

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Players with six goals or more.[10]

10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Poland to host 2017 Under-21 EUROs". UEFA.com. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Seedings set for 2017 U21 qualifying draw". UEFA.com. 30 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, 2015–17" (PDF). UEFA.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Qualifying group stage draw". UEFA.com. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  5. ^ "2017 Under-21 qualifying group stage draw". UEFA.com. 5 February 2015.
  6. ^ "2015-17 UEFA European Under-21 Group Stage Draw" (PDF). UEFA.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Austria, Norway, Serbia, Spain in Friday U21 play-off draw". UEFA.com. 11 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Play-off draw". UEFA.com. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  9. ^ "U21 play-offs: Serbia v Norway, Austria v Spain". UEFA.com. 14 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Statistics — Qualifying phase — Player statistics — Goals". UEFA.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
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