The draw for the first round of qualifying for the final phase of next season's Under-17 European Championship, scheduled for 2025 in Albania, has seen Italy drawn into Group 9 together with Norway, Wales and San Marino (the host nation and fixtures will be announced on Monday 6 May). The new format includes two qualifying rounds, one scheduled in autumn and one in spring (the latter characterised by two leagues: A and B with a promotion and relegation system), which will put eight teams through to the Finals not 16, as has been the case since 2015.

Formula. The 54 participating nations, including the host country, were divided into four groups (A, B, C and D) based on their ranking coefficient before composing 14 groups, twelve consisting of four and two of three teams each. At the end of the first round, the top two in each group will enter League A, while the others will make up League B.

In the second round, the 28 qualifying teams for League A will once again be divided into seven groups of four and the top-ranked teams will go through to the Finals. In the event that the host country is among those seven teams, the best second-placed team will also advance to the final stage of the event, while the seven last-placed teams will be relegated to League B ahead of the first round of the Under-19 European Championship qualifiers in the same age bracket (e.g. those relegated from League A in the second round of the Under-17 European Championship 2024/2025 will begin qualifying for the final phase of the Under 19 European Championship 2026/2027 from League B).

The 26 participants in League B will be divided into five groups of four and two of three teams. The winners of each group will be promoted to League A for the first round of the Under-19 European Championship qualifiers for the same age group (e.g. those promoted from League B in the second round of the 2024/2025 Under-17 European Championship will begin their qualifiers for the final phase of the Under-19 European Championship 2026/2027 in League A).

The final phase of the Under-17 European Championship, starting from 2025 onwards, will once again involve eight teams (since 2015 they have become sixteen), which will be divided into two groups of four. The top two in each group will go straight through to the knockout stages (semi-finals and final), which will be used as qualifiers for the Under-17 World Cup, scheduled for 2025 in Qatar.

The draw for the second round of qualifying for the final phase of next season's Under-17 European Championship is scheduled for December.

UEFA European Under-17 Championship

Round 1

Group 1: England, Sweden, Latvia and Malta
Group 2: Poland, Slovenia, Georgia and Armenia
Group 3: The Netherlands, Croayia, Albania and Faroe Islands
Group 4: Belgium, Ukraine, Kosovo and Kazakhstan
Group 5: Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland and Liechtenstein
Group 6: Hungary, Greece, Romania and Azerbaijan
Group 7: Germany, Czechia, Belarus and Andorra
Group 8: Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Lithuania
Group 9: ITALY, Norway, Wales and San Marino
Group 10: Switzerland, Israel, Montenegro and Moldova
Group 11: Francie Slovakia, Cyprus and Gibraltar
Group 12: Spain, Iceland, North Macedonia and Estonia
Group 13: Serbia, Türkiye and Bulgaria
Group 14: Denmark, Austria and Luxembourg

All group games will be played in mini-tournaments at a single venue between 1 July and 19 November.