UEFA European Under-21 Championship facts for kids
| Founded | 1978 |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe (UEFA) |
| Number of teams | 55 (total) 16 (finals) |
| Current champions |  Spain (5th title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Italy Spain(5 titles each) |
| Website | Official website |
 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship |
|
The UEFA European Under-21 Championship is a football competition that happens every two years. It is played by the European men's under-21 national teams of the member associations of UEFA.
Italy and Spain have won the trophy more times than anyone else. They have won five times each. Spain are also the current champions.
Contents
Results
Under-23 championships
Held only three times before it was relabelled by UEFA.
| Year | Host | Final | Losing semi-finalists | Number of teams | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | ||||||||
| 1972 | Home-and-away basis |  Czechoslovakia |
2–2 / 3–1 5–3 on aggregate |
 USSR |
 Bulgaria and  Greece |
8 (23) | ||||
| 1974 | Home-and-away basis |  Hungary |
2–3 / 4–0 6–3 on aggregate |
 East Germany |
 Poland and  USSR |
8 (21) | ||||
| 1976 | Home-and-away basis | USSR |
1–1 / 2–1 3–2 on aggregate |
Hungary |
 Netherlands and  Yugoslavia |
8 (23) | ||||
Under-21 championships
| Year | Host | Final | Losing semi-finalists (or third place match) |
Number of teams | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | ||||||||
| 1978 | Home-and-away basis |  Yugoslavia |
1–0 / 4–4 5–4 on aggregate |
East Germany |
Bulgaria and  England |
8 (24) | ||||
| 1980 | Home-and-away basis |  USSR |
0–0 / 1–0 1–0 on aggregate |
East Germany |
England and Yugoslavia |
8 (25) | ||||
| 1982 | Home-and-away basis |  England |
3–1 / 2–3 5–4 on aggregate |
 West Germany |
 Scotland and  USSR |
8 (26) | ||||
| 1984 | Home-and-away basis | England |
1–0 / 2–0 3–0 on aggregate |
 Spain |
Italy and Yugoslavia |
8 (30) | ||||
| 1986 | Home-and-away basis | Spain |
1–2 / 2–1 3–3 on aggregate 3–0 (p) |
 Italy |
England and  Hungary |
8 (29) | ||||
| 1988 | Home-and-away basis |  France |
0–0 / 3–0 3–0 on aggregate |
 Greece |
England and Netherlands |
8 (30) | ||||
| 1990 | Home-and-away basis | USSR |
4–2 / 3–1 7–3 on aggregate |
Yugoslavia |
Italy and  Sweden |
8 (30) | ||||
| 1992 | Home-and-away basis | Italy |
2–0 / 0–1 2–1 on aggregate |
 Sweden |
 Denmark and Scotland |
8 (32) | ||||
| 1994 |  France |
Italy |
1–0 (aet) |
 Portugal |
Spain |
2–1 | France |
8 (32) | ||
| 1996 |  Spain |
Italy |
1–1 4–2 (p) |
Spain |
France |
1–0 |  Scotland |
8 (44) | ||
| 1998 |  Romania |
Spain |
1–0 | Greece |
 Norway |
2–0 |  Netherlands |
8 (46) | ||
| 2000 |  Slovakia |
Italy |
2–1 | Czech Republic |
Spain |
1–0 |  Slovakia |
8 (47) | ||
| 2002 |  Switzerland |
Czech Republic |
0–0 3–1 (p) |
France |
Italy and  Switzerland |
8 (47) | ||||
| 2004 |  Germany |
Italy |
3–0 |  Serbia and Montenegro |
Portugal |
3–2 (aet) |
Sweden |
8 (48) | ||
| 2006 |  Portugal |
Netherlands |
3–0 |  Ukraine |
 France and  Serbia and Montenegro |
8 (51) | ||||
| 2007 |  Netherlands |
Netherlands |
4–1 |  Serbia |
 Belgium and England |
8 (51) | ||||
| 2009 |  Sweden |
Germany |
4–0 | England |
Italy and Sweden |
8 (52) | ||||
| 2011 |  Denmark |
Spain |
2–0 |  Switzerland |
 Belarus |
1–0 | Czech Republic |
8 (53) | ||
| 2013 |  Israel |
Spain |
4–2 | Italy |
Netherlands and  Norway |
8 (53) | ||||
| 2015 |  Czech Republic |
Sweden |
0–0 4–3 (p) |
Portugal |
Denmark and  Germany |
8 (53) | ||||
| 2017 |  Poland |
Germany |
1–0 | Spain |
England and Italy |
12 (53) | ||||
| 2019 |  Italy |
Spain |
2–1 | Germany |
France and  Romania |
12 (55) | ||||
| 2021 |  Hungary Slovenia |
16 (55) | ||||||||
Statistics
Performances by countries
Only under-21 championships are included in the table.
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Semi-finalists | Total (Top Four) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
5 (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2019) | 3 (1984, 1996, 2017) | 2 | 10 | ||
| Italy |
5 (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004) | 2 (1986, 2013) | 5 | 12 | ||
| Germany |
2 (2009, 2017) | 2 (1982, 2019) | 1 | 5 | ||
| England |
2 (1982, 1984) | 1 (2009) | 6 | 9 | ||
| Netherlands |
2 (2006, 2007) | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| USSR |
2 (1980, 1990) | 1 | 3 | |||
| France |
1 (1988) | 1 (2002) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Sweden |
1 (2015) | 1 (1992) | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
 Czech Republic |
1 (2002) | 1 (2000) | 1 | 3 | ||
| Yugoslavia |
1 (1978) | 1 (1990) | 2 | 4 | ||
 Portugal |
2 (1994, 2015) | 1 | 3 | |||
 Serbia |
2 (2004, 2007) | 1 | 3 | |||
 East Germany |
2 (1978, 1980) | 2 | ||||
 Greece |
2 (1988, 1998) | 2 | ||||
 Switzerland |
1 (2011) | 1 | 2 | |||
 Ukraine |
1 (2006) | 1 | ||||
| Norway |
1 | 1 | 2 | |||
 Belarus |
1 | 1 | ||||
| Scotland |
1 | 2 | 3 | |||
 Slovakia |
1 | 1 | ||||
| Denmark |
2 | 2 | ||||
| Belgium |
1 | 1 | ||||
 Bulgaria |
1 | 1 | ||||
| Hungary |
1 | 1 | ||||
| Romania |
1 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 22 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 88 |
Participating details
| Teams | 1978 | 1980 | 1982 | 1984 | 1986 | 1988 | 1990 | 1992 | 1994 |
1996 |
1998 |
2000 |
2002 |
2004 |
2006 |
2007 |
2009 |
2011 |
 2013 |
2015 |
2017 |
2019 |
 2021 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albania |
× | × | × | QF | • | • | • | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
 Austria |
• | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | 1 |
 Belarus |
Part of USSR | × | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | GS | 3rd | • | • | • | • | • | 3 | |||||||
 Belgium |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | 3 |
 Bulgaria |
SF | • | • | • | • | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 |
 Croatia |
Part of Yugoslavia | × | × | • | • | GS | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | 3 | ||||||
 Czech Republic4 |
QF | QF | • | • | • | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | • | 2nd | 1st | • | • | GS | • | 4th | • | GS | GS | • | q | 12 |
| Denmark |
QF | • | • | • | QF | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | GS | • | SF | GS | GS | q | 8 |
 England |
SF | SF | 1st | 1st | SF | SF | • | • | • | • | • | GS | GS | • | • | SF | 2nd | GS | GS | GS | SF | GS | q | 15 |
 Finland |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
 France |
• | • | QF | QF | QF | 1st | • | • | 4th | 3rd | • | • | 2nd | • | SF | • | • | • | • | • | • | SF | q | 9 |
 Germany2 |
2nd | 2nd | 2nd | • | • | • | QF | QF | • | QF | QF | • | • | GS | GS | • | 1st | • | GS | SF | 1st | 2nd | q | 12 |
 Greece |
• | • | • | • | • | 2nd | • | • | QF | • | 2nd | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 4 |
 Hungary |
QF | QF | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | q | 5 |
 Iceland |
× | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | q | 1 |
 Israel |
Member of OFC | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | 2 | |||||||
 Italy |
QF | QF | QF | SF | 2nd | QF | SF | 1st | 1st | 1st | • | 1st | SF | 1st | GS | GS | SF | • | 2nd | GS | SF | GS | q | 20 |
 Netherlands |
× | • | • | • | • | SF | • | QF | • | • | 4th | GS | • | • | 1st | 1st | • | • | SF | • | • | • | q | 7 |
 FYR Macedonia |
Part of Yugoslavia | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | 1 | ||||||
 Norway |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3rd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | SF | • | • | • | • | 2 |
 Poland |
• | • | QF | QF | QF | • | • | QF | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | GS | • | 7 |
 Portugal |
• | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | 2nd | QF | • | • | GS | 3rd | GS | GS | • | • | • | 2nd | GS | • | q | 8 |
 Romania |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | SF | q | 2 |
 Russia3 |
• | 1st | SF | • | • | • | 1st | • | QF | • | QF | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | q | 6 |
 Scotland |
• | QF | SF | QF | • | QF | • | SF | • | 4th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 6 |
 Serbia1 |
1st | SF | • | SF | • | • | 2nd | • | × | × | • | • | • | 2nd | SF | 2nd | GS | • | • | GS | GS | GS | • | 11 |
 Slovakia |
Part of Czechoslovakia | • | • | 4th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | 2 | ||||||||
 Slovenia |
Part of Yugoslavia | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | q | 1 | ||||||
 Spain |
• | • | QF | 2nd | 1st | QF | QF | • | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | • | • | • | • | GS | 1st | 1st | • | 2nd | 1st | q | 13 |
 Sweden |
• | • | • | • | QF | • | SF | 2nd | • | • | QF | • | • | 4th | • | • | SF | • | • | 1st | GS | • | • | 8 |
| Switzerland |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | SF | GS | • | • | • | 2nd | • | • | • | • | q | 3 |
 Turkey |
• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
 Ukraine |
Part of USSR | × | • | • | • | • | • | 2nd | • | • | GS | • | • | • | • | • | 2 | |||||||
| Total | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 16 | |
- Legend
|
|
|
- 1 Includes results representing Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.
- 2 Includes results representing East Germany and West Germany.
- 3 Includes results representing Soviet Union and CIS
- 4 Includes results representing Czechoslovakia
Images for kids
-
Trophy of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
UEFA European Under-21 Championship Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.