The 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying competition is a men's under-19 football competition that will determine the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Slovakia in the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament.[1] Players born on or after 1 January 2003 are eligible to participate.
Originally, the qualifying competition would use a new format with teams split into three different leagues with promotion and relegation, with the draw of the first round under the new format already held in December 2019. However, on 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that the introduction of the new format had been postponed to the next edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and qualification for this edition would use the previous format involving two rounds only.[2]
Original format
The UEFA Executive Committee decided on 29 May 2019 to test a new qualifying format for the Under-19 Championship in 2022 and 2023.[3] The qualifying competition will be played in four rounds over a two-year period from autumn 2020 to spring 2022, with teams divided into three leagues, and promotion and relegation between leagues after each round similar to the UEFA Nations League.[4]
A total of 54 (out of 55) UEFA nations entered the competition, including hosts Slovakia which qualify automatically but will also participate in the first two rounds of the qualifying competition, and at the end of Round 4, seven teams will qualify for the final tournament to join the hosts.[5]
All entrants are divided into three Leagues:
League A: 20 teams, divided into five groups of four teams.
League B: 16 teams, divided into four groups of four teams.
League C: 18 teams, divided into five groups – three groups of four teams and two groups of three teams.
A total of four rounds are played. The following teams are promoted and relegated following Rounds 1 to 3:
The five group fourth-placed teams in League A are relegated to League B, and the four group winners and the best runner-up in League B are promoted to League A.
The four group fourth-placed teams and the worst third-placed team in League B are relegated to League C, and the five group winners in League C are promoted to League B (Rounds 1 and 2 only).
After the completion of Round 2, teams that are relegated to or remain in League C are eliminated and play no further part. The final tournament hosts also play no further part, and if they are due to play in League B of Round 3, an additional team is promoted from League C to replace them, and if they are due to play in League A of Round 3, an additional team is promoted from League B to replace them, and another additional team is promoted from League C to replace their replacement.
After the completion of Round 3 (only Leagues A and B are played), teams that are relegated to or remain in League B are eliminated and play no further part.
After the completion of Round 4 (only League A is played), the five group winners and the two best runners-up qualify for the final tournament.
Each group of all rounds is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw.
Round 1
Draw
The draw for Round 1 was held on 3 December 2019, 11:00 CET (UTC+1), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[5]
The teams were divided into Leagues A, B and C, and seeded according to their coefficient ranking, calculated based on the following:[6][7]
Each group in League A contained two teams from Pot 1 and two teams from Pot 2.
Each group in League B contained two teams from Pot 3 and two teams from Pot 4.
Each group in League C contained two teams from Pot 5 and one or two teams from Pot 6. Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, Armenia and Azerbaijan could not be drawn in the same group.
First match(es) will be played: 7 October 2020. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking; 6) drawing of lots.
First match(es) will be played: 7 October 2020. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking; 6) drawing of lots.
The draw for Round 2 will be held on 9 December 2020 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
The teams are seeded according to their results in Round 1. The seeding pots and draw procedure will be confirmed by UEFA after the completion of Round 1.
First match(es) will be played: 2021. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking; 6) drawing of lots. Notes:
^An additional team will be promoted from League B to League A if Slovakia are due to play in Round 3 League A.
First match(es) will be played: 2021. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking; 6) drawing of lots.
League C
All League C teams which do not earn promotion in Round 2 will be eliminated.
First match(es) will be played: 2021. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking; 6) drawing of lots. Notes:
^Another team will be promoted from League C to League B if Slovakia are due to play in Round 3 League A or B.
Round 3
Draw
The draw for Round 3 will be held in June/July 2021 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
The teams are seeded according to their results in Round 2. The seeding pots and draw procedure will be confirmed by UEFA after the completion of Round 2.
First match(es) will be played: 2021. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking; 6) drawing of lots.
Round 4
Draw
The draw for Round 4 will be held in December 2021 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
The teams are seeded according to their results in Round 3. The seeding pots and draw procedure will be confirmed by UEFA after the completion of Round 3.
First match(es) will be played: March 2022. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking; 6) drawing of lots.
Qualified teams
The following eight teams qualify for the final tournament.
Team
Qualified as
Qualified on
Previous appearances in Under-19 Euro1 only U-19 era (since 2002)