The 2021 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying competition was to be a men's under-17 football competition that would have determined the 15 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Cyprus in the 2021 UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournament.[2] Players born on or after 1 January 2004 were eligible to participate.[3]
Apart from Cyprus, all remaining 54 UEFA member national teams entered the qualifying competition, where the original format was to consist of two rounds: Qualifying round, which would have taken place in autumn 2020, and Elite round, which would also have taken place in spring 2021.[4] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, UEFA announced on 13 August 2020 that after consultation with the 55 member associations, the qualifying round was delayed to March 2021, and the elite round was abolished, with the 13 qualifying round group winners joining the top two seeds by coefficient ranking, Netherlands and Spain (which originally received byes to the elite round), in the final tournament.[5][6]
On 18 December 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that the 2021 tournament was cancelled after consultation with all 55 member associations due to the pandemic.[7]
The qualifying competition originally consisted of the following two rounds:
Qualifying round: Apart from Netherlands and Spain, which receive byes to the elite round as the teams with the highest seeding coefficient, the remaining 52 teams were drawn into 13 groups of four teams. Each group was to be played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The 13 group winners, the 13 runners-up, and the four third-placed teams with the best record against the first and second-placed teams in their group were to advance to the elite round.
Elite round: The 32 teams were to be drawn into eight groups of four teams. Each group was to be played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The eight group winners and the seven runners-up with the best record against all teams in their group were to qualify for the final tournament.
After the format change, the qualifying competition consists of only one round:
Qualifying round: The draw remained the same as before. The 13 group winners, Netherlands and Spain, which originally received byes to the elite round, were to qualify for the final tournament.
Each group contained one team from Pot A, one team from Pot B, one team from Pot C, and one team from Pot D. Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, the following pairs of teams could not be drawn in the same group: Serbia and Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, Russia and Kosovo, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The qualifying round was originally scheduled to be played by 17 November 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, UEFA announced on 13 August 2020 that after consultation with the 55 member associations, the qualifying round was delayed to March 2021.[6]
Times up to 27 March 2021 are CET (UTC+1), thereafter times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
The draw for the elite round would originally be held on 9 December 2020 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, and the matches were originally scheduled to be played in spring 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, UEFA announced on 13 August 2020 that after consultation with the 55 member associations, the elite round was abolished.[6]
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia (H)
Bulgaria
Liechtenstein
Italy
Slovenia
Romania (H)
Albania
Republic of Ireland (H)
Slovakia
Northern Ireland
Estonia
Belgium
Ukraine
Georgia (H)
Lithuania
Turkey (H)
Russia
Faroe Islands
Gibraltar
Portugal (H)
Czech Republic
Montenegro
Kosovo
Sweden
Israel
Finland (H)
Kazakhstan
England
Greece (H)
Azerbaijan
San Marino
Austria (H)
Norway
Iceland
Moldova
Hungary
Switzerland
Belarus
Luxembourg (H)
Germany
Poland
North Macedonia (H)
Malta
Serbia (H)
Denmark
Latvia
Armenia
France
Scotland (H)
Wales
Andorra
Cyprus
Netherlands
Spain