Finals & Format
Wednesday 1 April 2009
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Women's Under-19 trophy (©sportsfile)
The 2009/10 final tournament will be held in FYR Macedonia from 24 May to 5 June, the nation staging a UEFA showpiece of this kind for the first time.
Direct knockout
Europe's best teenage female footballers have been showcasing their skills in this competition since its inception as the UEFA European Women's Under-18 Championship ahead of the 1997/98 season. Twenty-six teams entered in the inaugural year and by the time the competition switched to a U19 event in 2001/02 that was up to 34. An impressive 46 contested the last edition in Belarus – including the hosts – and to accommodate the growing number of entrants and refine a competition still in relative infancy, it has undergone a host of changes, big and small, since it started.
Present format
The current format has been more or less unchanged in seven seasons now, however. There are two qualifying rounds of four teams, with the group winners and best runners-up in the second stage progressing to the finals while the hosts are given a bye. There they are divided into two groups of four, the top two progressing to the semi-finals where it reverts to a direct knockout competition.
Challenge cup
The challenge cup is donated by UEFA to the winning association for one year, with the holders returning it two months before the next final round. A scaled-down replica of the cup is awarded to the winners, with the challenge cup becoming the permanent property of any association that lifts the trophy three consecutive times or five times in total.
| Year | Age | Entrants | Format | Finals hosts | Winners |
| 1997/98 | U18 | 26 | Prelim round - 8 groups of 3/4 Two-legged QF, SF, F | N/A | Denmark |
| 1998/99 | U18 | 28 | Prelim round - 8 groups of 3/4 Two-legged QF Round-robin finals | Sweden | Sweden |
| 1999/00 | U18 | 32 | Three qualifying group rounds Finals: 4-team group, top 2 in final | France | Germany |
| 2000/01 | U18 | 32 | Three qualifying group rounds Finals: SF, F | Norway | Germany |
| 2001/02 | U19 | 34 | Three qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Sweden | Germany |
| 2002/03 | U19 | 38 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Germany | France |
| 2003/04 | U19 | 41 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Finland | Spain |
| 2004/05 | U19 | 42 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Hungary | Russia |
| 2005/06 | U19 | 43 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Switzerland | Germany |
| 2006/07 | U19 | 45 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Iceland | Germany |
| 2007/08 | U19 | 45 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | France | Italy |
| 2008/09 | U19 | 46 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Belarus | England |
| 2009/10 | U19 | 46 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | FYR Macedonia | |
| 2010/11 | U19 | 46 | Two qualifying group rounds Finals: group stage, SF, F | Italy |
Key
QF – Quarter-finals
SF – Semi-finals
F – Final
