About The Competition
From 1978 to 1992 there was no finals tournament. Instead, the competition took place as follows: UEFA divided all entrant countries into eight groups. Eight group winners were determined on a points basis after all teams played each other both home and away. Two points were awarded for a win throughout this period. The eight group winners were paired off and played each other as a knockout competition on a two-legged home & away basis. The final was two-legged.
From 1994 there has been a finals tournament and a single host nation, always chosen from the eventual qualifiers. In 1994 and 1996 there were four teams in the finals, but since 1998, there has been eight.
Qualification for 1998 to 2002 involved nine groups, with a playoff between the two group winners with worst records to reduce the count to eight. In 1998 alone, the tournament was a single-legged knockout from the Quarter Finals onwards. 2000 brought about the same finals as we have today - two groups of four, group winners playing the other group's runners-up in the Semi-Finals.
2004 - the top nation of each of ten groups plus the six best runners-up played-off for eight finals spots. 2006 provided a more simple qualification process - eight groups, with the winners playing a runner-up. 2007's one-year competition meant a shortened qualification process; between playoffs eliminating the eight weakest and seven of the strongest nations, 14 three-team groups were made. Each team played once at home and once away.
Note: Until 2006, all tournaments have been two-year campaigns. The year represents the year in which the finals actually took place.
| Summary | P | W | D* | L | F | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification Stage | 108 | 68 | 24 | 16 | 217 | 95 |
| Finals matches | 40 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 60 | 52 |
| Total | 148 | 86 | 35 | 27 | 277 | 147 |
Read more about this topic: England At The European Under-21 Football Championship
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—Kyle D. Pruett (20th century)