Record entry for Belarus race

The 2008/09 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship will be the first final tournament at any level to be held in Belarus and a record 45 nations are hoping to earn one of seven available places in the competition.

Draw
All but one of those contenders are involved in the first qualifying round draw at 9.30CET on 11 December in Nyon, with top-ranked Germany excused for the opening stage. The rest will be drawn into eleven groups of four teams, with two coming from each of the two seeding categories based on results in the last three completed seasons. On top of that, eleven nations have been confirmed as mini-tournament hosts for the games from 25-30 September 2008 and one of each will be placed in the groups, while meeting one team from their seeding pot and two from the others. Cyprus are in the draw for the first time.

Road to Belarus
The top two teams from each group, plus the third-placed team with the best record against the leading pair in their pool, will join Germany in the second qualifying round the following April. The finals are scheduled from 13-25 July 2009.

Germany given bye to second qualifying round (23-28 April 2009).
Belarus qualify automatically for the final tournament as hosts.