UEFA European Under-19 Championship
 | |
| Organising body | UEFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1948 |
| Region | Europe |
| Number of teams | Maximum of 54 (qualifying round) 28 (elite round) 8 (finals) |
| Current champions |  Italy (4th title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  England Spain(11 titles each) |
| Website | Official website |
 2024 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification | |
The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA.
England and Spain are the joint most successful team in this competition, having won eleven titles each. Italy are the current champions.
History and format
The competition has been held since 1948. It was originally called the FIFA International Youth Tournament, until it was taken over by UEFA in 1956.[1] In 1980, it was restyled the UEFA European Under-18 Championship. Until the 1997 tournament, players born on or after 1 August the year they turned 19 years were eligible to compete. Since the 1998 tournament, the date limit has been moved back to 1 January. The championship received its current name in 2001, which has been used since the 2002 championship.[2] The contest has been held every year since its inauguration in 1948, except for the period between 1984 and 1992, when it was only held every other year.
The tournament has been played in a number of different formats during its existence. Currently it consists of two stages, similar to UEFA's other European championship competitions. The qualifying stage is open to all UEFA members, and the final stage is contested between eight teams.
During even years, the best finishing teams qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in the next (odd) year. Currently, five teams can qualify for the World Cup, consisting of the top two of their groups plus the winner of a play-off match between the third-placed teams of each group.
Number of teams
| Year of tournament | Format of the final round | Number of teams |
|---|---|---|
| 1986–1992 | Knockout format | 8 |
| 1993 | Two groups of four teams, third place play-off and final | |
| 1994 | Two groups of four teams, fifth place play-off, third place play-off and final | |
| 1995–2002 | Two groups of four teams, third place play-off and final | |
| 2003–2015 | Two groups of four teams, semi-finals and final | |
| 2016–present | Two groups of four teams, fifth place play-off (in even years only, for qualifying to FIFA U-20 World Cup), semi-finals and final |
Results
- 1948–1954: FIFA Youth Tournament - 7 Editions
- 1955–1980: UEFA Youth Tournament - 24 Editions (Exclude 1955 and 1956)
- 1981–2001: UEFA European Under-18 Championship - 17 Editions
- Since 2002: UEFA European Under-19 Championship - 20 Editions (Exclude 2020 and 2021)
Statistics
Performances by countries
| UEFA European Youth Championship | |||||||
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Semi-finalists | Total (Top Four) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England
|
11 (1948, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1993, 2017, 2022) | 5 (1958, 1965, 1967, 2005, 2009) | 3 (1979, 1983, 1996) | 3 | 3 | 25 | |
| Spain
|
11 (1952, 1954, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019) | 4 (1957, 1964, 1996, 2010) | 6 | 6 | 1 | 28 | |
 France
|
8 (1949, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2016) | 3 (1950, 1968, 2013) | 3 | 4 | 7 | 25 | |
 Germany
|
6 (1965, 1970, 1981, 1986, 2008, 2014) | 7 (1954, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1994, 1998, 2002) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 22 | |
 Russia Soviet Union
|
6 (1966*, 1967, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1990) | 2 (1984, 2015) | 3 | 1 | 12 | ||
 Portugal
|
4 (1961, 1994, 1999, 2018) | 10 (1971, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2023) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 21 | |
| Italy
|
4 (1958, 1966*, 2003, 2023) | 7 (1959, 1986, 1995, 1999, 2008, 2016, 2018) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 18 | |
 Serbia Yugoslavia
|
3 (1951, 1979, 2013) | 4 (1953, 1962, 1974, 1978) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 | |
 Bulgaria
|
3 (1959, 1969, 1974) | 2 (1977, 1979) | 3 | 8 | |||
 Hungary
|
3 (1953, 1960, 1984) | 1 (1976) | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
 Austria
|
2 (1950, 1957) | 1 (1951) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | |
 Czech Republic
|
1 (1968) | 4 (1982, 1983, 2001, 2011) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 12 | |
 Poland
|
1 (2001) | 3 (1961, 1980, 1981) | 3 | 1 | 8 | ||
 Turkey
|
1 (1992) | 2 (1993, 2004) | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
 Scotland
|
1 (1982) | 1 (2006) | 3 | 4 | 9 | ||
 Belgium
|
1 (1977) | 1 (1952) | 3 | 1 | 6 | ||
 Romania
|
1 (1962) | 1 (1960) | 1 | 3 | |||
 Ukraine
|
1 (2009) | 1 (2000) | 2 | 4 | |||
 Republic of Ireland
|
1 (1998) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | ||
 Netherlands
|
3 (1948, 1949, 1970) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | ||
 Greece
|
2 (2007, 2012) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
 Northern Ireland
|
1 (1963) | 2 | 3 | ||||
 Finland
|
1 (1975) | 1 | |||||
 Israel
|
1 (2022) | 1 | |||||
 Croatia
|
1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
 Slovakia
|
1 (1968) | 2 (1982, 1983) | 1 | 4 | |||
 Argentina
|
1 | 1 | |||||
 Norway
|
1 | 1 | |||||
 Luxembourg
|
1 | 1 | |||||
 Switzerland
|
1 | 1 | |||||
| Total (69th) | 69 | 67 | 50 | 48 | 38 | 272 | |
Note:
1954 Third place Argentina.
1966 Title Shared between Italy and Soviet Union.
1957 Third place Shared between Italy and France.
Awards
Player of the Tournament
For certain tournaments, the official website UEFA.com subsequently named a Player of the Tournament or Golden Player.
Top goalscorer
The Top goalscorer award is awarded to the player who scores the most goals during the tournament.
Comprehensive team results by tournament at the FIFA U-20 World Cup
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- QF – Quarterfinals
- R2 – Round 2
- R1 – Round 1
- – Hosts
- – Not affiliated to UEFA
- q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
| Team |  1977 |
 1979 |
 1981 |
 1983 |
1985 |
 1987 |
 1989 |
1991 |
1993 |
 1995 |
 1997 |
 1999 |
2001 |
 2003 |
2005 |
 2007 |
 2009 |
 2011 |
2013 |
 2015 |
 2017 |
2019 |
2023 |
2025 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria |
R1 | R1 | 4th | R1 | R2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium |
R2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bulgaria |
QF | QF | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Croatia |
Part of Yugoslavia | R2 | R1 | R2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Czech Republic[5] |
R1 | R1 | QF | R1 | 2nd | R2 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
 East Germany |
3rd | R1 | Reunified with West Germany | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| England |
4th | R1 | R1 | 3rd | R2 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R2 | R1 | 1st | R2 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| Finland |
R1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| France |
R1 | QF | QF | 4th | 1st | R2 | R2 | R1 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Germany[6] |
1st | 2nd | R1 | R1 | R1 | R2 | R1 | QF | QF | QF | R2 | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Greece |
R2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hungary |
R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | 3rd | R2 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Israel |
3rd | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Italy |
R1 | R1 | QF | QF | QF | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Netherlands |
QF | R1 | R1 | QF | QF | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Norway |
R1 | R1 | R1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Poland |
4th | R1 | 3rd | R2 | R2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal |
QF | 1st | 1st | R1 | 3rd | R2 | R2 | 2nd | R2 | QF | QF | R1 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| Republic of Ireland |
R1 | R1 | 3rd | R2 | R2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Romania |
3rd | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Russia[7] |
1st | 2nd | R1 | 4th | QF | 3rd | QF | QF | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Scotland |
QF | QF | R1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Serbia[8] |
R1 | 1st | 1st | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Slovakia[5] |
R1 | R1 | R2 | R2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain |
R1 | QF | R1 | 2nd | R1 | QF | 4th | QF | 1st | 2nd | QF | QF | R2 | QF | QF | 15 | |||||||||
 Sweden |
R1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Switzerland |
R1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkey |
R1 | R2 | R2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ukraine |
Part of Soviet Union | R2 | R2 | R2 | 1st | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
See also
References
- ^ "From International Youth Tournament to U19 EURO". UEFA. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ "Competition history". UEFA. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ "2020 Under-19 EURO cancelled". UEFA.com. 20 October 2020.
- ^ "2020/21 Under-19 EURO cancelled". UEFA.com. 23 February 2021.
- ^ a b Czechoslovakia was divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1993 after the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia. FIFA considers both the Czech Republic and Slovakia as successor team of Czechoslovakia.
- ^ FIFA attributes all the results of West Germany (1977-1991) to Germany.
- ^ The USSR was dissolved in 1991. The 15 nations that were former Soviet Republics now compete separately. FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the USSR.
- ^ The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia broke up in 1991 all the nations that formed this country now compete separately. FIFA considers Serbia as the successor team of Yugoslavia.
External links
- UEFA European U-19 Championship at uefa.com
- Tournament details at rsssf.com
International association football | ||
|---|---|---|
| World (FIFA) |  | |
| Asia (AFC) | ||
| Africa (CAF) | ||
| North America (CONCACAF) | ||
| South America (CONMEBOL) | ||
| Oceania (OFC) | ||
| Europe (UEFA) | ||
| Inter-Continental |
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| Non-FIFA | ||