2019 Under-21 EURO final tournament draw
Friday, November 23, 2018
Article summary
The final tournament draw split the 12 qualifiers into three groups of four.
Article body
2019 U21 EURO group stage draw
Group A: Italy (hosts), Spain, Poland, Belgium
Group B: Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Austria
Group C: England, France, Romania, Croatia
When and where did the draw take place?
The draw took place in Bologna on Friday 23 November.
Who was involved?
The draw consisted of 12 teams: hosts Italy, the nine qualifying group winners and the two play-off winners.
Italy (hosts)
Croatia (Group 1 winners)
Spain (Group 2 winners)
Denmark (Group 3 winners)
England (Group 4 winners)
Germany (Group 5 winners, holders)
Belgium (Group 6 winners)
Serbia (Group 7 winners)
Romania (Group 8 winners)
France (Group 9 winners)
Poland (play-offs)
Austria (play-offs)
Were the teams seeded?
Yes. The draw split the 12 teams into three groups of four (A, B, C). Italy were team 1 in Group A, with the two best-ranked sides in the UEFA U21 national team coefficient rankings in Pot 1 filling positions B1 and C1. The next three ranked nations were in Pot 2, and filled positions A2, B2 and C2, with the remaining teams in Pot 3.
Position 1 in Group A: Italy (hosts)
Pot 1: Germany, England
Pot 2: Spain, Denmark, France
Pot 3: Serbia, Croatia, Belgium, Austria, Poland, Romania
How did the draw work?
- The draw started with the teams in Pot 1.
- The first team drawn took position B1 and the second team drawn position C1.
- The draw continued with the teams in Pot 3.
- The first team drawn was assigned to Group A. In order to determine the position of the drawn team within Group A, a ball was drawn from Pot A. A second ball was drawn from Pot 3 and assigned to Group B. Once again, to determine the position of the team within Group B, a ball was drawn from Pot B. The same procedure was repeated for Group C consecutively until all balls from Pot 3 were drawn and the teams positioned in each group.
- The draw was completed with the teams in Pot 2 using the same procedure as for Pot 3.
How does the tournament work?
Teams play each other once in the group, with the winners and the best runner-up advancing to the semi-finals, where it becomes a knockout competition.
The tournament will also act as UEFA's qualifier for the 2020 men's Olympic football tournament in Japan.
Knockout format
Semi-final 1: Winner Group A v runner-up of Groups B or C or winner of Group C
Semi-final 2: Winner Group B v runner-up of Group A or winner of Group C