1998 European Under-16 Football Championship

The 16th European Under-16 Football Championship was held in Scotland from April 26 to May 8, 1998 . It was the first ever UEFA tournament in Scotland. The winner was Ireland by a 2: 1 win over Italy . Defending champion Spain finished third. Germany , Austria and Switzerland did not qualify. On the other hand, Liechtenstein took part in a final round for the first time, but retired after the preliminary round without points or goalless.

qualification

49 nations took part in the qualification, these were divided into 15 groups. 12 groups consisted of 3 participants, the remaining three groups of 4 participants. The 15 group winners were able to qualify for the European Championship, Scotland was already qualified as host,

Group 1 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Spain	2	1	1	0	003: 100	+2	04th
2.	Macedonia	2	0	2	0	001: 100	± 0	02
3.	Wales	2	0	1	1	002: 400	−2	01

Group 2 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Croatia	3	2	1	0	009: 100	+8	07th
2.	England	3	1	2	0	004: 200	+2	05
3.	Slovakia	3	0	2	1	000: 400	−4	02
4th	Bosnia Herzegovina	3	0	1	2	001: 700	−6	01

Group 3 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Denmark	2	2	0	0	002-000	+2	06th
2.	Slovenia	2	1	0	1	003: 100	+2	03
3.	Turkey	2	0	0	2	000: 400	−4	00

Group 4 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Portugal	2	2	0	0	008-000	+8	06th
2.	Austria	2	1	0	1	009: 200	+7	03
3.	San Marino	2	0	0	2	001:160	−15	00

Group 5 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	2	1	1	0	011: 000	+11	04th
2.	Czech Republic	2	1	1	0	010-000	+10	04th
3.	Andorra	2	0	0	2	000:210	−21	00

Group 6 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Israel	3	2	1	0	009: 200	+7	07th
2.	Germany	3	2	0	1	008: 100	+7	06th
3.	Switzerland	3	1	1	1	005: 200	+3	04th
4th	Moldova	3	0	0	3	001:180	−17	00

Group 7 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Hungary	3	2	1	0	008: 100	+7	07th
2.	Russia	3	2	1	0	010: 300	+7	07th
3.	Yugoslavia	3	1	0	2	006: 600	± 0	03
4th	Armenia	3	0	0	3	001:150	−14	00

Group 8 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Liechtenstein	2	2	0	0	003: 100	+2	06th
2.	Azerbaijan	2	0	1	1	001: 200	−1	01
3.	Bulgaria	2	0	1	1	002: 300	−1	01

Group 9 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Ukraine	4th	3	1	0	007-000	+7	10
2.	Romania	4th	2	1	1	005: 200	+3	07th
3.	Georgia	4th	0	0	4th	001:110	−10	00

Group 10 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Greece	2	2	0	0	006: 100	+5	06th
2.	Cyprus	2	0	1	1	002: 300	−1	01
3.	Malta	2	0	1	1	001: 500	−4	01

Group 11 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sweden	3	2	1	0	008: 500	+3	07th
2.	France	3	2	0	1	009: 200	+7	06th
3.	Lithuania	3	1	1	1	003: 500	−2	04th
4th	Luxembourg	3	0	0	3	002:100	−8	00

Group 12 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Finland	2	2	0	0	009: 100	+8	06th
2.	Netherlands	2	1	0	1	008: 200	+6	03
3.	Faroe Islands	2	0	0	2	000:140	−14	00

Group 13 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Iceland	2	1	1	0	006: 200	+4	04th
2.	Poland	2	1	1	0	004: 200	+2	04th
3.	Latvia	2	0	0	2	000: 600	−6	00

Group 14 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Northern Ireland	2	1	1	0	001-000	+1	04th
2.	Ireland	2	1	1	0	002: 100	+1	04th
3.	Belgium	2	0	0	2	001: 300	−2	00

• Instead of Northern Ireland, however, the Republic of Ireland participated.

Group 15 :

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Norway	2	2	0	0	008: 100	+7	06th
2.	Belarus	2	1	0	1	006: 300	+3	03
3.	Estonia	2	0	0	2	000:100	−10	00

mode

The 16 qualified teams were divided into four groups of four teams each. Within the groups, each team played each other once. The group winners and runners-up reached the quarter-finals. From there on, it continued in the co-system.

Attendees

The following teams took part in the tournament:

Denmark  Finland  Greece  Ireland  Iceland  Israel  Italy  Croatia

Liechtenstein  Norway  Portugal  Russia  Scotland (host)  Sweden  Spain (defending champion)  Ukraine

Venues

It was played in the cities of Cumbernauld , Dingwall , Glasgow , Inverness , Livingston , Motherwell , Paisley , Perth and Stirling

Preliminary round

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Greece	3	2	1	0	004-000	+4	07th
2.	Denmark	3	1	2	0	002: 100	+1	05
3.	Sweden	3	0	2	1	002: 400	−2	02
4th	Iceland	3	0	1	2	001: 400	−3	01

April 26, 1998, Cumbernauld
Denmark	-	Sweden	1: 1
April 26, 1998, paisley
Greece	-	Iceland	2-0
April 28, 1998, Cumbernauld
Denmark	-	Greece	0-0
April 28, 1998, paisley
Sweden	-	Iceland	1: 1
April 30, 1998, paisley
Iceland	-	Denmark	0: 1
April 30, 1998, Cumbernauld
Sweden	-	Greece	0: 2

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	3	2	1	0	007: 200	+5	07th
2.	Portugal	3	2	1	0	004: 200	+2	07th
3.	Norway	3	1	0	2	007: 600	+1	03
4th	Liechtenstein	3	0	0	3	000: 800	−8	00

April 26, 1998, Livingston
Liechtenstein	-	Norway	0: 5
April 26, 1998, Motherwell
Portugal	-	Italy	1: 1
28 April 1998, Glasgow
Liechtenstein	-	Portugal	0: 1
April 28, 1998, Motherwell
Norway	-	Italy	1: 4
April 30, 1998, Glasgow
Italy	-	Liechtenstein	2-0
April 30, 1998, Motherwell
Norway	-	Portugal	1: 2

Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Ireland	3	2	1	0	003-000	+3	07th
2.	Spain	3	1	1	1	002: 200	± 0	04th
3.	Finland	3	1	0	2	002: 300	−1	03
4th	Scotland	3	0	2	1	001: 300	−2	02

April 26, 1998, Stirling
Scotland	-	Ireland	0-0
April 26, 1998, Perth
Spain	-	Finland	1-0
April 28, 1998, Stirling
Ireland	-	Finland	2-0
April 28, 1998, Perth
Scotland	-	Spain	1: 1
April 30, 1998, Perth
Finland	-	Scotland	2-0
April 30, 1998, Stirling
Ireland	-	Spain	1-0

Group D

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Israel	3	1	2	0	004: 200	+2	05
2.	Croatia	3	1	1	1	002: 200	± 0	04th
3.	Ukraine	3	1	1	1	003: 400	−1	04th
4th	Russia	3	0	2	1	002: 300	−1	02

April 26, 1998, Inverness
Croatia	-	Ukraine	2-0
April 26, 1998, Dingwall
Russia	-	Israel	1: 1
April 28, 1998, Dingwall
Israel	-	Ukraine	1: 1
April 28, 1998, Inverness
Russia	-	Croatia	0-0
April 30, 1998, Dingwall
Israel	-	Croatia	2-0
April 30, 1998, Inverness
Ukraine	-	Russia	2: 1

Final round

	Quarter finals				Semifinals				final
	May 3, 1998, Stirling
	Ireland	2
					May 5, 1998, Motherwell
	Denmark	0
					Ireland	2
	May 3, 1998, Inverness
					Portugal	0
	Israel	1
									May 8, 1998, Perth
	Portugal	4th
									Ireland	2
	May 3, 1998, paisley
									Italy	1
	Greece	1
					May 5, 1998, Perth
	Spain	2
					Spain	1			Game for third place
	May 3, 1998, Motherwell
					Italy	2
	Italy	2							Portugal	1
	Croatia	1							Spain	2
									May 8, 1998, Stirling

The U-16 national team of Ireland became European U-16 / U-17 junior champions for the first time on May 8, 1998. 

The winning eleven:

Murphy - Thompson, O'Shea , Goodwin, Foy - McGill, Miller, Barrett, Byrne, Reid - McMahon

Foy, McMahon / Pelanti scored the goals.