2025/26 Under-19 EURO elite round draw

The 2025/26 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite round draw has set seven groups for the mini-tournaments that will decide who joins hosts Wales at the finals.

The top two teams in each qualifying round group and the third-placed team with the best record against the top two teams in their group (Switzerland) have joined top seeds Spain in the elite round. These 28 teams were drawn into seven groups of four teams, with the group winners to join Wales in the finals. The elite round will, in principle, be played between 23 and 31 March.

The draw was made by Bjorn Vassallo, chairman of the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee, and Andrej Kostić, part of the Montenegro team in the 2025 finals.

QUALIFYING ROUND – OVERALL RANKINGS

On completion of the qualifying round, an overall ranking is established according to the criteria listed below. The results of matches against fourth-placed teams are not taken into account for the purposes of ranking group winners, runners-up or third-placed teams. For the purpose of ranking fourth-placed teams all matches are taken into account.

The following criteria are applied in the order given:

a. Higher position in the final group standings

b. Higher number of points in the matches taken into account for the qualifying round rankings

c. Superior goal difference in the matches taken into account for the qualifying round rankings

d. Higher number of goals scored in the matches taken into account for the qualifying round rankings

e. Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points) in the matches taken into account for the qualifying round rankings

f. Higher position in the coefficient rankings

DRAW CONDITIONS

Prohibited pairings

There were no prohibited team pairings for this draw.

Qualifying round rematches

Teams were allocated to groups in ascending order (Group 1 to Group 7). If the winners and runners-up from the same qualifying round group were drawn into the same group for the elite round, the second team drawn were moved to the next available group and the draw continued by first filling the slot left vacant. If such clashes had been concentrated in the last three or four groups, teams would have been allocated to groups appropriately.

There was no such protection for Switzerland as best third-placed team.

DRAW PROCEDURE

The 28 associations participating in the elite round were drawn into seven groups of four teams each.

Pot allocation

The participating associations were split into four pots, as follows:

Pot 1 (Ranked 1 to 7): Spain, Czechia, Italy, England, Germany, Ukraine, Croatia

Pot 2 (Ranked 8 to 14): Netherlands, Austria, Türki̇ye, France, Portugal, Romania, Denmark

Pot 3 (Ranked 15 to 21): Finland, Belgium, Norway, Greece, Slovakia, Poland, Kazakhstan

Pot 4 (Ranked 22 to 28): Sweden, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Latvia, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland

Procedure

The draw started with Pot 1 and ended with Pot 4. Each pot was emptied before moving to the next pot.

1. The associations in Pot 1 were drawn one after another and placed in the first position in Groups 1 to 7.

2. The associations in Pot 2 were drawn one after another and placed in the second position in Groups 1 to 7.

3. The associations in Pot 3 were drawn one after another and each one placed in the third position in one of the seven groups.

4. The associations in Pot 4 were drawn one after another and each one placed in the fourth position in one of the seven groups.

QUALIFICATION FOR THE FINAL TOURNAMENT

The seven group winners will qualify for the final tournament, where they will be joined by the team of the host association, Wales.

Final tournament: 28 June–11 July 2026

Final tournament draw: Thursday 16 April 2026