2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

The 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition is a men's under-21 football competition to determine the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Albania and Serbia in the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament.

51 UEFA member national teams will enter the qualifying competition. Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible to participate.

Two teams are not taking part in this tournament: Russia was suspended on 28 February 2022 by FIFA and UEFA from all competitions due to its invasion of Ukraine,^[1][2] while the Liechtenstein team has been temporarily dissolved based on a decision announced on 5 October 2022.^[3]

The qualifying competition consisted of the following two rounds:

• Qualifying group stage: The 51 teams were drawn into nine groups: six groups of six teams and three groups of five teams. Each group will be played in home-and-away round-robin format. The nine group winners and the best runner-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) will qualify directly for the final tournament, while the remaining eight runners-up advanced to the play-offs.
• Play-offs: The eight teams will be drawn into four ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last four qualified teams.

In the qualifying group stage, teams were 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 were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 14.01):^[4]

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. Away goals scored in all group matches;
8. Wins in all group matches;
9. Away wins in all group matches;
10. Disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
11. Position in the UEFA men's Under-21 national team coefficient rankings used for the qualifying group stage draw.

To determine the best runner-up from the qualifying group stage, the results against the teams in sixth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied (Regulations Article 15.02):^[4]

1. Points;
2. Goal difference;
3. Goals scored;
4. Away goals scored;
5. Wins;
6. Away wins;
7. Disciplinary points;
8. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying group stage draw.

Final tournament co-hosts

Team
Albania
Serbia

Pot A Team  Spain  England  Portugal  Netherlands  Germany  France  Ukraine  Italy  Denmark	Pot B Team  Romania   Switzerland  Croatia  Czech Republic  Poland  Norway  Belgium  Georgia  Republic of Ireland	Pot C Team  Slovenia  Finland  Sweden  Austria  Slovakia  Greece  Iceland  Hungary  Bulgaria
Pot D Team  Scotland  Wales  Israel  North Macedonia  Turkey  Kosovo  Northern Ireland  Faroe Islands  Moldova	Pot E Team  Belarus  Montenegro  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Cyprus  Latvia  Lithuania  Kazakhstan  Azerbaijan  Luxembourg	Pot F Team  Estonia  Malta  Armenia  Andorra  Gibraltar  San Marino

Each group contained one team from each of Pots A–F (Pots A–E for a five-team group). Based on the previous decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and the UEFA Emergency Panel, four pairs of teams were not drawn in the same group.

• Armenia and Azerbaijan
• Gibraltar and Spain
• Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo
• Belarus and Ukraine

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final tournament		—	6 Oct '26	14 Oct	31 Mar '26	5 Sep	14 Nov
2	Romania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		18 Nov	—	30 Sep '26	5 Sep	14 Oct	31 Mar '26
3	Finland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			25 Sep '26	14 Nov	—	18 Nov	31 Mar '26	4 Sep
4	Kosovo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			9 Sep	27 Mar '26	6 Oct '26	—	30 Sep '26	14 Oct
5	Cyprus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			27 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	9 Sep	14 Nov	—	6 Oct '26
6	San Marino	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			30 Sep '26	9 Sep	26 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	18 Nov	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final tournament		—	6 Oct '26	10 Oct	31 Mar '26	5 Sep	30 Sep '26
2	Czech Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		18 Nov	—	30 Sep '26	5 Sep	10 Oct	31 Mar '26
3	Bulgaria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			25 Sep '26	14 Oct	—	6 Oct '26	31 Mar '26	5 Sep
4	Scotland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			9 Sep	27 Mar '26	18 Nov	—	30 Sep '26	10 Oct
5	Azerbaijan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			27 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	9 Sep	14 Oct	—	6 Oct '26
6	Gibraltar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			30 Sep '26	9 Sep	26 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	18 Nov	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Faroe Islands	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	3	Final tournament		—	10 Oct	14 Oct	6 Oct '26	30 Sep '26	2–1
2	France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		17 Nov	—	6 Oct '26	30 Mar '26	5 Sep	13 Oct
3	Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			27 Mar '26	14 Nov	—	10 Oct	25 Sep '26	31 Mar '26
4	Iceland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			4 Sep	25 Sep '26	29 Sep '26	—	14 Oct	26 Mar '26
5	Luxembourg	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			9 Sep	26 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	13 Nov	—	6 Oct '26
6	Estonia	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	0			25 Sep '26	29 Sep '26	5 Sep	8 Sep	10 Oct	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Moldova	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3	Final tournament		—	6 Oct '26	10 Oct	4 Sep	9 Sep	3–0
2	Kazakhstan	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	3	Play-offs		17 Nov	—	8 Sep	31 Mar '26	27 Mar '26	1–0
3	England	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			31 Mar '26	25 Sep '26	—	14 Nov	2 Oct '26	13 Oct
4	Republic of Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			26 Mar '26	29 Sep '26	6 Oct '26	—	10 Oct	9 Sep
5	Slovakia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			14 Oct	13 Nov	18 Nov	25 Sep '26	—	5 Sep
6	Andorra	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	0			2 Oct '26	9 Oct	27 Mar '26	9 Sep	6 Oct '26	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final tournament		—	5 Oct '26	10 Oct	26 Mar '26	5 Sep	14 Oct
2	Poland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		14 Nov	—	30 Sep '26	5 Sep	10 Oct	27 Mar '26
3	Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			31 Mar '26	14 Oct	—	5 Oct '26	27 Mar '26	5 Sep
4	North Macedonia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			9 Sep	18 Nov	13 Nov	—	30 Sep '26	10 Oct
5	Montenegro	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			18 Nov	31 Mar '26	9 Sep	14 Nov	—	5 Oct '26
6	Armenia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			30 Sep '26	9 Sep	18 Nov	31 Mar '26	14 Nov	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final tournament		—	6 Oct '26	10 Oct	27 Mar '26	9 Sep	14 Nov
2	Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		18 Nov	—	26 Sep '26	9 Sep	27 Mar '26	31 Mar '26
3	Greece	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			31 Mar '26	14 Nov	—	18 Nov	1 Oct '26	27 Mar '26
4	Northern Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			14 Oct	1 Oct '26	6 Oct '26	—	13 Nov	9 Oct
5	Latvia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			26 Sep '26	10 Oct	14 Oct	31 Mar '26	—	6 Oct '26
6	Malta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			30 Sep '26	14 Oct	9 Sep	26 Sep '26	18 Nov	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final tournament		—	25 Sep '26	14 Nov	9 Sep	6 Oct '26
2	Norway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		27 Mar '26	—	9 Sep	14 Nov	29 Sep '26
3	Slovenia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			2 Oct '26	31 Mar '26	—	29 Sep '26	14 Oct
4	Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			18 Nov	6 Oct '26	10 Oct	—	31 Mar '26
5	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			10 Oct	18 Nov	27 Mar '26	5 Sep	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ukraine	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final tournament		—	2 Oct '26	10 Oct	26 Sep '26	27 Mar '26
2	Croatia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		14 Oct	—	26 Sep '26	31 Mar '26	13 Nov
3	Hungary	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			31 Mar '26	18 Nov	—	14 Oct	1 Oct '26
4	Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			14 Nov	9 Sep	6 Oct '26	—	10 Oct
5	Lithuania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			5 Sep	6 Oct '26	9 Sep	18 Nov	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Denmark	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final tournament		—	6 Oct '26	10 Oct	31 Mar '26	28 Sep '26
2	Belgium	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs		14 Oct	—	27 Mar '26	28 Sep '26	24 Sep '26
3	Austria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			2 Oct '26	14 Nov	—	14 Oct	31 Mar '26
4	Wales	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			8 Sep	10 Oct	6 Oct '26	—	27 Mar '26
5	Belarus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			18 Nov	4 Sep	8 Sep	14 Nov	—

Only the results of the second-placed teams against the first, third, fourth and fifth-placed teams in their group are taken into account, while results against the sixth-placed team in six-team groups are not included. As a result, eight matches played by each second-placed team are counted for the purposes of determining the ranking. The top-ranked team will qualify directly for the final tournament, while the other teams enter the play-offs.

Note: All appearance statistics include only U-21 era (since 1978).

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Serbia	Co-hosts	4 February 2025	6th (12th incl.Yugoslavia)	2019	Final (2007)
Albania			2nd	1984	Quarterfinals (1984)

• Official website