2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
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The UEFA U-21 Championship 2007 began in May 2006 and is the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Football Championship.
For the first time, a host nation has been chosen ahead of the competition — the Netherlands, who will be exempt from qualifying. The host nation was chosen on December 15, 2005. England, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Sweden also submitted bids. Of UEFA's 52 member countries, only the Faroe Islands will not compete. That leaves 50 nations attempting to qualify for the 7 remaining spots at the finals, expected to be held in late May or June 2007.
This will be the first time that the competition's final matches will take place in an odd-numbered year. In order to make the switch, the 2007 edition will be a shortened version, condensed from a two-year campaign into a one-year campaign. Therefore, a completely new format has been devised to eliminate the weaker nations early, and sees a decrease in the size and duration of qualification groups. The competition's structure is as follows:
- The 16 lowest ranked nations play-off (on a home-and-away basis) before the qualifying group stage, to eliminate 8 teams.
- The 42 teams left form 14 three-team groups.
- Each team will play one home match and one away match.
- This round will be completed on September 6, 2006.
- The 14 group winners play-off (on a home-and-away basis) to decide the seven qualifying nations.
- The seven qualifying nations plus hosts Netherlands are divided into two groups of four.
- Teams will play each other once.
- The top two teams in each group go through to the semi-finals
- Final to take place on 23 June 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Qualification
[edit] Preliminary Round
Teams went into the preliminary round already knowing who they would face should they get through.
| Team #1 | Agg. | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Estonia  |
1-7 |  Wales |
0-2 | 1-5 |
Malta  |
2-4 |  Georgia |
1-2 | 1-2 |
San Marino  |
3-4 |  Armenia |
3-0* | 0-4 |
Liechtenstein  |
1-8 |  Northern Ireland |
1-4 | 0-4 |
Kazakhstan  |
0-1 |  Moldova |
0-0 | 0-1 |
Luxembourg  |
0-5 |  Republic of Macedonia |
0-3 | 0-2 |
Andorra  |
0-2 |  Iceland |
0-0 | 0-2 |
Azerbaijan  |
1-5 |  Republic of Ireland |
1-2 | 0-3 |
Team #1 played the first leg at home.
(*) Match awarded 3-0 to San Marino due to Armenia including suspended players in their squad.
[edit] Qualifying Groups
Teams in bold qualified for the third round of qualification.
Group 1 Norway Bosnia & Herzegovina Armenia |
Group 2 Spain Slovakia Albania |
Group 3 Serbia Lithuania Georgia |
Group 4 Belgium Greece Rep.of Ireland |
Group 5 Italy Austria Iceland |
Group 6 Russia Hungary Finland |
Group 7 Portugal Poland Latvia |
Group 8 Switzerland England Moldova |
Group 9 Czech Republic Belarus Cyprus |
Group 10 Germany Romania Northern Ireland |
Group 11 Denmark Sweden Rep.of Macedonia |
Group 12 Croatia Ukraine Bulgaria |
Group 13 Turkey Israel Wales |
Group 14 France Slovenia Scotland |
[edit] Play-offs
The winners of the two legs aggregated advance to the final tournament in the Netherlands.
| Team #1 | Agg. | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
England  |
3 - 0 |  Germany |
1 - 0 | 2 - 0 |
Serbia  |
5 - 3 |  Sweden |
0 - 3 | 5 - 0 |
Czech Republic  |
3 - 2 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
2 - 1 | 1 - 1 |
Russia  |
4 - 4* |  Portugal |
4 - 1 | 0 - 3 |
France  |
1 - 2 |  Israel |
1 - 1 | 0 - 1 |
Italy  |
2 - 1 |  Spain |
0 - 0 | 2 - 1 |
Belgium  |
5 - 2 |  Bulgaria |
1 - 1 | 4 - 1 |
Team #1 played the first leg at home.
* Portugal qualified on away goals rule
[edit] Finals Tournament
[edit] Draw
The draw for the finals took place in Arnhem on 24 November 2006, putting the eight qualifying nations into two groups. The provisional dates for the group games are June 10 to 17 June 2007, with Heerenveen and Arnhem each staging a semi-final on June 20. The final is scheduled take place on Saturday 23 June at the Euroborg stadium in Groningen.
The opening game will be between Netherlands and Israel at June 10.
[edit] Venues
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Arnhem | Gelredome | 30,000 |
| Heerenveen | Abe Lenstra Stadion | 28,000 |
| Groningen | Euroborg | 20,000 |
| Nijmegen | De Goffert | 13,000 |
[edit] Finals groups
[edit] Group A
| Group A | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands |
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| 2 | Israel |
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| 3 | Portugal |
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| 4 | Belgium |
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| 10 June 2007 Sunday |
Netherlands | v | Israel | Heerenveen |
| Portugal | v | Belgium | Groningen | |
| 13 June 2007 Wednesday |
Netherlands | v | Portugal | Groningen |
| Israel | v | Belgium | Heerenveen | |
| 16 June 2007 Saturday |
Belgium | v | Netherlands | Heerenveen |
| Israel | v | Portugal | Groningen |
[edit] Group B
| Group B | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Czech Republic |
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| 2 | England |
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| 3 | Serbia |
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| 4 | Italy |
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| 11 June 2007 Monday |
Czech Republic | v | England | Arnhem |
| Serbia | v | Italy | Nijmegen | |
| 14 June 2007 Thursday |
Czech Republic | v | Serbia | Nijmegen |
| England | v | Italy | Arnhem | |
| 17 June 2007 Sunday |
Italy | v | Czech Republic | Arnhem |
| England | v | Serbia | Nijmegen |
[edit] Semi-finals
| Wednesday 20 June 2007 | ||||
| Winner A | 1st place, Group A | v | 2nd place, Group B | Runner-up B |
| Heerenveen | ||||
| Wednesday 20 June 2007 | ||||
| Winner B | 1st place, Group B | v | 2nd place, Group A | Runner-up A |
| Arnhem | ||||
[edit] 5th place playoff
If England qualify for the semi-finals, a play-off is necessary to decide places for the 2008 Olympic Games. It will take place on 21 June in Nijmegen.
The top four nations will qualify automatically for the Olympic football tournament, but England cannot, due to the complexity of their membership of Great Britain. Therefore, if England are one of the top four teams, a playoff between the two third-placed teams in each group will be held to determine the 5th best nation.
[edit] Final
| Saturday 23 June 2007 | ||||
| Winner SF1 | Winner SF1 | v | Winner SF2 | Winner SF2 |
| Heerenveen | ||||
[edit] Sources/External links
- Draw and Fixtures at uefa.com
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