Men’s Under-19 and women’s Under-17 European Championships: new formats for the two youth tournaments
An Elite Round followed by a two-phase final tournament ending in November for the men's Under-19 Euros. A straight eight-team knockout tournament to take place in October for the women's Under-17 European ChampionshipWednesday, June 17, 2020
In addition to information about the Under-21 European Championship, the UEFA Executive Committee also released a new update regarding two other youth tournaments today. Following the postponements of the men’s Under-19 European Championship and women’s Under-17 European Championship due to the COVID-19 emergency, the governing body of European football laid out the formats that these two tournaments will follow and the dates when they’ll take place, with qualification for the respective 2021 FIFA World Cups also on the line.
The Elite Round of the men’s Under-19 European Championship will take place from 31 August to 8 September 2020. Alberto Bollini’s Italy side, who were originally due to be a host nation at this stage of the competition in March, will face Slovenia, Iceland and Norway at a location still to be decided.
The final tournament will then be split over two periods. A group stage featuring two groups of four teams will be held between 7 and 14 October in Northern Ireland. The two group winners and the two runners-up will qualify for the finals (from 9 to 18 November in Northern Ireland), while the two third-placed teams will face each other in a play-off match to determine the fifth team to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia.
Furthermore, the introduction of the recently approved new format with teams split into three different leagues with promotion and relegation and a final tournament involving eight teams in the summer of 2022 has been postponed to the 2021/23 edition of the competition. Consequently, there will be a 2021/22 UEFA Under-19 European Championship played under the standard format that has been used until now.
Meanwhile, the Elite Round of the women’s Under-17 European Championship will take place from 12 to 20 September 2020: Nazzarena Grilli’s team will come up against Greece, Switzerland and Belgium (who were meant to be the hosts in March). The Final Phase is scheduled to run from 8 to 14 October and will follow a straight knockout format. The tournament, through which qualification for the 2021 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup will be obtainable, will most likely be hosted by Sweden (final confirmation pending).
