U21 EURO qualifiers confirmed

Nine teams won their qualifying groups to join hosts Italy in next June's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, while Poland and debut finalists Austria saw off Portugal and Greece respectively in November's play-offs for the remaining berths.

QUALIFIED: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy (hosts), Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain

• The nine qualifying group winners automatically join hosts Italy at the finals from 16–30 June 2019.
• The four best runners-up (i.e. teams with best records against sides first, third, fourth and fifth in their group) advanced to the play-offs.
• Finals draw: 18:00CET on 23 November, Bologna

PLAY-OFFS

First legs
Poland 0-1 Portugal
Greece 0-1 Austria

Second legs
Portugal 1-3 Poland (agg: 2-3)
Austria 1-0 Greece (agg: 2-0)

QUALIFYING GROUPS

GROUP 1

Croatia sealed top spot with a 4-0 win away to San Marino meaning they edged out second-placed Greece on head-to-head record. Greece advanced to November's play-offs, where they were beaten on aggregate by Austria.

Qualified: Croatia
Play-offs: Greece (beaten in play-offs by Austria)

GROUP 2

Mikel Oyarzabal seals progress for Spain©Getty Images

Spain qualified with three games to spare and subsequently lost to Northern Ireland – who promptly eliminated Iceland and then beat Slovakia 1-0 to pip them to second. However, before that game was over, both teams realised they were out of play-off contention.

Qualified: Spain

GROUP 3

Denmark drew 1-1 with Poland to stay a point above their guests, and then felled the Faroe Islands 3-0 in Aalborg to secure a finals place. Poland defeated Georgia 3-0 to clinch a play-off slot, where they overcame Portugal on aggregate.

Qualified: Denmark
Play-offs: Poland (advanced to finals with aggregate win against Portugal)

GROUP 4

England's 7-0 thrashing of Andorra booked a record-breaking seventh straight U21 EURO berth. The next day, Ukraine saw off Scotland 3-1 to end the visitors' hopes and move into second, yet they still required a final-day win to sustain their play-off bid. Ukraine eventually missed out by losing 3-0 away to the Netherlands, a team already out of the reckoning.

Qualified: England

GROUP 5

Holders Germany overcame Norway 2-1 to rubber-stamp their finals ticket. Norway still finished second but a play-off spot eluded them.

Qualified: Germany

GROUP 6

In a dramatic group finale, Belgium took a three-point lead to Sweden and won 3-0 to ensure their qualification. The result caused runners-up Sweden to miss out on the play-offs.

Qualified: Belgium

GROUP 7

Serbia's 0-0 draw with Austria meant their first dropped points in the group, but also made sure of their pole position and a finals berth. With Russia level on points with Austria in second, everything hinged on the decider for the runners-up place. Austria beat Russia 3-2 to enter the play-offs, where they overcame Greece on aggregate.

Qualified: Serbia
Play-offs: Austria (advanced to finals with aggregate win against Greece)

GROUP 8

Who will lift the trophy in Italy next summer?©Sportsfile

Having earned a two-point cushion over Portugal by defeating Wales, Romania needed just a last-day draw – yet ultimately won 4-0 against Liechtenstein to qualify for the first time since 1998. Portugal brushed aside Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-2 to wrap up a berth in the play-offs, where they were beaten on aggregate by Poland.

Qualified: Romania
In play-offs: Portugal (beaten in play-offs by Poland)

GROUP 9

France qualified with plenty to spare. Slovenia drew 1-1 with Bulgaria to confirm second, but then had to win in France to have a play-off chance; sadly for the Slovenians, the game finished 1-1. Those were the only points dropped by France, who had the best record in the field.

Qualified: France