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2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification

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2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification
Tournament details
DatesQualifying round:
September – November 2025
Elite round:
Spring 2026
Teams54 (from 1 confederation)
← 2025 2027 →
International football competition

The 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification is a men's under-19 national football team competition that will determine the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Wales in the 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament. Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to participate.

Russia was excluded from participating in the tournament due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Spain has received a bye to the Elite Round and will not participate in the qualifying round. Therefore, excluding hosts Wales, 52 teams entered this qualification competition, which consists of a qualifying round played in September–November 2025, followed by an elite round played in spring 2026.

Format

The qualifying competition will consist of the following two rounds:

  • Qualifying Round: Apart from Spain, which receives a bye to the elite round as the team with the highest seeding coefficient, the remaining 52 teams will be drawn into 13 groups of four teams. Each group will be played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The 13 group winners, 13 runners-up, and the best third-placed team will advance to the elite round.
  • Elite Round: The 28 teams will be drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The seven group winners will qualify for the final tournament.

Tiebreakers

In the qualifying and elite round, teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 14.01 and 14.02):

  1. Points in head to head matches among tied teams
  2. Goal difference in head to head matches among tied teams
  3. Goals scored in head to head matches among tied teams
  4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams
  5. Goal difference in all group matches
  6. Goals scored in all group matches
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams have the same number of points, and they met in the last round of the group and are tied after applying all criteria above (not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if their rankings are not relevant for qualification for the next stage)
  8. Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for 2 yellow cards in one match = 3 points)
  9. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying round draw

To determine the best third-placed team from the qualifying round, the results against the teams in fourth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied (Regulations Articles 15.01 and 15.02):

  1. Points
  2. Goal difference
  3. Goals scored
  4. Disciplinary points (total 3 matches)
  5. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying round draw

Qualifying round

Draw

The draw for the qualifying round was held on 5 December 2024, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The teams were seeded according to their coefficient ranking, calculated based on the following:

Each group contains one team from Pot A, one team from Pot B, one team from Pot C, and one team from Pot D. On the basis of decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and the UEFA Emergency Panel, valid at the time of the draw, the following countries cannot be drawn into the same group: Armenia and Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, Kosovo and Serbia and Kosovo and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Final tournament hosts
Team Coeff. Rank
 Wales 5.333 —
Bye to elite round
Team Coeff. Rank
 Spain 25.939 1
Teams entering qualifying round
Pot A
Team Coeff. Rank
 Italy 25.333 2
 France 23.833 3
 Portugal 21.667 4
 Norway 18.278 5
 England 15.944 6
 Israel 15.556 7
 Ukraine 14.722 8
 Czech Republic 14.056 9
 Republic of Ireland 13.444 10
 Denmark 12.656 11
 Turkey 12.222 12
 Romania 11.833 13
 Serbia 11.667 14
Pot B
Team Coeff. Rank
 Belgium 10.900 15
 Germany 10.833 16
 Netherlands 10.333 17
 Greece 10.167 18
 Slovakia 10.167 19
 Iceland 10.000 20
 Croatia 9.833 21
 Poland 9.333 22
 Austria 8.833 23
 Scotland 8.500 24
 Hungary 8.333 25
  Switzerland 8.000 26
 Northern Ireland 7.500 27
Pot C
Team Coeff. Rank
 Slovenia 7.333 28
 Georgia 6.667 29
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.500 30
 Finland 6.500 31
 Latvia 6.167 32
 Sweden 5.833 33
 Armenia 5.333 34
 Malta 4.667 35
 Montenegro 4.500 36
 North Macedonia 4.167 37
 Belarus 4.000 38
 Cyprus 3.833 39
 Bulgaria 3.667 40
Pot D
Team Coeff. Rank
 Azerbaijan 3.500 41
 Kosovo 3.333 42
 Luxembourg 3.333 43
 Lithuania 2.667 44
 Estonia 2.333 45
 Faroe Islands 1.333 46
 Albania 1.333 47
 Andorra 1.000 48
 Kazakhstan 0.667 49
 Moldova 0.667 50
 Liechtenstein 0.333 51
 San Marino 0.000 52
 Gibraltar 0.000 53

Qualifying Round

Group 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Republic of Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Cyprus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Kazakhstan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Hungary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Bulgaria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Faroe Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Turkey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Belarus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Liechtenstein 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Israel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Austria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Ukraine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Montenegro 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Albania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 6

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Serbia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Georgia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Gibraltar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 7

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Romania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Iceland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Andorra 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 8

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Latvia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Lithuania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 9

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Moldova 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 10

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2   Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  San Marino 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 11

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  North Macedonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Estonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 12

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Norway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Armenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Kosovo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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Group 13

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Czech Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elite round
2  Northern Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Malta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Azerbaijan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: Autumn 2025. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
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References

  1. "UEFA Documents". uefa.com. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  2. ^ "UEFA Documents". documents.uefa.com. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  3. "2025/26 Under-19 EURO qualifying round draw". UEFA.
  4. "2025/26 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Qualifying round draw" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  5. "2025/26 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Qualifying round draw" (PDF). UEFA.com.

External links

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