England at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship
England's European Under-21 Football Championship Record includes winning the European Under-21 Football Championship twice, in 1982 and 1984. England's Under-21s have also been losing semi-finalists on four occasions, and got knocked out in the finals group stage twice. On seven occasions, including the 2004 and the 2006 finals, England have failed to qualify.
About the competition
From 1978 to 1992 there was no finals tournament. Instead, the competition took place as follows: UEFA divided all entrant countries into eight groups. Eight group winners were determined on a points basis after all teams played each other both home and away. Two points were awarded for a win throughout this period. The eight group winners were paired off and played each other as a knockout competition on a two-legged home & away basis. The final was two-legged.
From 1994 there has been a finals tournament and a single host nation, always chosen from the eventual qualifiers. In 1994 and 1996 there were four teams in the finals, but since 1998, there has been eight.
Qualification for 1998 to 2002 involved nine groups, with a playoff between the two group winners with worst records to reduce the count to eight. In 1998 alone, the tournament was a single-legged knockout from the Quarter Finals onwards. 2000 brought about the same finals as we have today - two groups of four, group winners playing the other group's runners-up in the Semi-Finals.
2004 - the top nation of each of ten groups plus the six best runners-up played-off for eight finals spots. 2006 provided a more simple qualification process - eight groups, with the winners playing a runner-up. 2007's one-year competition meant a shortened qualification process; between playoffs eliminating the eight weakest and seven of the strongest nations, 14 three-team groups were made. Each team played once at home and once away.
Note: Until 2006, all tournaments have been two-year campaigns. The year represents the year in which the finals actually took place.
Summary | P | W | D* | L | F | A |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Qualification Stage | 108 | 68 | 24 | 16 | 217 | 95 |
Finals matches | 40 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 60 | 52 |
Total | 148 | 86 | 35 | 27 | 277 | 147 |
Statistics correct as of 21 June 2007
* Draws include 1 loss in a penalty shootout
1978 - Reached Semi Final
Yugoslavia won.
|
England qualify as group winners |
Quarter Final
England win 2-1 on aggregate |
Semi Final
England lose 3-2 on aggregate |
England finish equal third |
1980 - Reached Semi Final
Soviet Union won.
|
England qualify as group winners |
Quarter Final
England win 2-1 on aggregate |
Semi Final
England lose 3-1 on aggregate |
England finish equal third |
1982 - Winners
|
England qualify as group winners |
Quarter Final
England win 4-3 on aggregate |
Semi Final
England win 2-1 on aggregate |
Final
England win 5-4 on aggregate England finish as Champions |
1984 - Winners
|
England qualify as group winners |
Quarter Final
England win 7-1 on aggregate |
Semi Final
England win 3-2 on aggregate |
Final
England win 3-0 on aggregate England finish as Champions |
1986 - Reached Semi Final
Spain won.
|
England qualify as group winners |
Quarter Final
England win 2-1 on aggregate |
Semi Final
England lose 2-1 on aggregate |
England finish equal third |
1988 - Reached Semi Final
France won.
|
England qualify as group winners |
Quarter Final
England win 2-0 on aggregate |
Semi Final
England lose 6-4 on aggregate |
England finish equal third |
1990 - Did not qualify
Soviet Union won.
|
England finish second and fail to qualify |
1992 - Did not qualify
Italy won.
|
England finish second and fail to qualify |
1994 in France - Did not qualify
Italy won.
|
England finish fourth and fail to qualify |
1996 in Spain - Did not qualify
Italy won.
|
England finish second and fail to qualify |
1998 in Romania - Reached 8th place playoff
Spain won.
|
England qualify from the group as winners |
|
Left: List of qualifying group winners, used to determine the two group winners with worst records. Teams 1-7 qualify automatically. Teams 8 & 9 play-off for the eighth spot. Only results between the top four team are used for this table.
England lose on away goals
|
2000 in Slovakia - Reached Finals Group Stage
Italy won.
|
England qualify from the group as winners |
Nine group winners + seven best runners-up played-off. England were drawn against Yugoslavia, then in a state of civil unrest. For safety reasons, a single fixture on neutral ground was deemed fairest. This was held at FC Barcelona B's "Mini Estadi", next to the Nou Camp. |
England qualify for the Final Tournament |
|
England finish third in the group and fail to progress
|
2002 in Switzerland - Reached Finals Group Stage
Czech Republic won.
|
England qualify from the group as winners |
Qualification Playoff
- Netherlands 2-2 England
- England 1-0 Netherlands
England win 3-2 on aggregate and qualify for the Final Tournament
|
England finish fourth in the group and fail to progress
|
2004 in Germany - Did not qualify
Italy won.
|
England finish third and fail to qualify |
2006 in Portugal - Reached Qualification playoff
Finals tournament yet to take place.
|
England qualify from the group in second place |
Qualification Playoff
England lose 3-2 on aggregate |
England finish equal ninth |
2007 in the Netherlands - Reached Semi Final
|
England qualify from the group as winners |
Qualification Playoff
- England 1-0 Germany
- Germany 0-2 England
England win 3-0 on aggregate and qualify for the Final Tournament
|
England qualify from the group as runners-up |
Semi-final
England lose 13-12 on penalties |
England finish joint-third |
See also
- England national Under-21 Football team
- England national (senior) Football team
- European Under-21 Football Championship
External links
- Official FA England Under-21 website Contains listings of current England U-21 players.
- Uefa Under-21 website Contains full results archive
- England Football Online England Senior team information.
- The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21 Championship hosts and additional statistics, such as the Group Winners table for the 1998 qualifiers.
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