1986 European Under-21 Football Championship

At the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 1986 to 29 teams participating.

The games in the eight preliminary round groups started on May 1, 1984 and ended on December 18, 1985. The quarter-finals took place from March 12 to 29, 1986 and the semi-finals were held from April 9 to 23, 1986. The final for the title took place on October 10th and 29th, 1986, with Spain defeating Italy 3-0 after a 3: 3 overall score in the decisive penalty shoot-out and winning the European championship for the first time.

The Federal Republic of Germany, the GDR, Austria and Switzerland were eliminated in the preliminary round.

mode

The 29 national teams were drawn in eight groups - five groups of four teams and three groups of three teams. The national selections had to play their encounters with two legs. The respective group winners (marked in yellow) were qualified for the quarter-finals, from which the knockout system was played in the first and second leg up to the final.

Attendees

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
Albania	BR Germany	England	Bulgaria
Greece	Portugal	Finland	GDR
Poland	Sweden	Romania	France
	Czechoslovakia	Turkey	Yugoslavia

Group 5	Group 6	Group 7	Group 8
Netherlands	Denmark	Iceland	Belgium
Austria	Norway	Scotland	Italy
Hungary	Switzerland	Spain	Luxembourg
Cyprus	Soviet Union

Performance of the German-speaking teams

Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany got off to a good start in Group 2 with a 1-0 win against Sweden in Münster . However, this was followed by three disappointing away games. In Portugal a 1: 2 defeat had to be accepted, in Czechoslovakia it was enough to a 1: 1. The 2-1 defeat in Sweden threw the Federal Republic of Germany out of the race for group victory. After a 2-0 win against Portugal in Karlsruhe and a 3-1 win against Czechoslovakia in Regensburg , it was only enough for second place in the group.

GDR

With two 1-1 draws - in Halle against Yugoslavia and in France - the GDR started in Group 4. After the subsequent 2-3 defeat in Bulgaria, the GDR was practically out of the running for group victory. Although there were two further 1-1 draws against France in Karl-Marx-Stadt and Bulgaria in Halle and a 3-2 away win in Yugoslavia, this was ultimately only enough for third place in the group.

Austria

The Austrians' performance in Group 5 was disappointing. In the six games the team did not achieve a single victory. Thus, three defeats stood against only three draws - twice against Cyprus and once against the Netherlands - which meant that Austria did not get beyond third place in the group.

Switzerland

Switzerland even had to make do with last place in group 6. In the six games, the Swiss could only score in the home games. The only victory was in Grenchen with 4-2 against the Soviet Union. There were 1-1 draws against Denmark (in Bern ) and Norway (in Freiburg ).

qualification

Group 1

date	Home team	Result	Away team
October 16, 1984	Poland	5: 1	Greece
October 30, 1984	Poland	2-0	Albania
February 26, 1985	Greece	2-0	Albania
May 18, 1985	Greece	2: 1	Poland
May 29, 1985	Albania	1: 2	Poland
October 29, 1985	Albania	2: 1	Greece

Final result group 1
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Poland	4th	3	0	1	10: 04	+6	6th
2.	Greece	4th	2	0	2	06: 08	−2	4th
3.	Albania	4th	1	0	3	03: 07	−4	2

Group 2

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 11, 1984	Sweden	1: 1	Portugal
October 13, 1984	Portugal	0: 1	Czechoslovakia
October 16, 1984	BR Germany	1-0	Sweden
November 13, 1984	Portugal	0: 1	Sweden
February 23, 1985	Portugal	2: 1	BR Germany
April 30, 1985	Czechoslovakia	1: 1	BR Germany
June 4th 1985	Sweden	1-0	Czechoslovakia
September 24, 1985	Czechoslovakia	3: 1	Portugal
September 24, 1985	Sweden	2: 1	BR Germany
October 15, 1985	Czechoslovakia	0: 2	Sweden
October 15, 1985	BR Germany	2-0	Portugal
November 16, 1985	BR Germany	3: 1	Czechoslovakia

Final result group 2
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Sweden	6th	4th	1	1	07: 03	+4	9
2.	BR Germany	6th	3	1	2	09: 06	+3	7th
3.	Czechoslovakia	6th	2	1	3	06: 08	−2	5
4th	Portugal	6th	1	1	4th	04: 09	−5	3

Group 3

date	Home team	Result	Away team
October 16, 1984	England	2-0	Finland
October 30, 1984	Turkey	1: 1	Finland
November 13, 1984	Turkey	0-0	England
April 2, 1985	Romania	1-0	Turkey
April 30, 1985	Romania	0-0	England
May 21, 1985	Finland	3: 1	England
5th June 1985	Finland	2: 2	Romania
August 27, 1985	Romania	0-0	Finland
September 10, 1985	England	3-0	Romania
September 24, 1985	Finland	0-0	Turkey
October 15, 1985	England	3-0	Turkey
November 12, 1985	Turkey	2: 2	Romania

Final result group 3
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	England	6th	3	2	1	09: 03	+6	8th
2.	Finland	6th	1	4th	1	06: 06	± 0	6th
3.	Romania	6th	1	4th	1	05: 07	−2	6th
4th	Turkey	6th	0	4th	2	03: 07	−4	4th

Group 4

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 28, 1984	Yugoslavia	1: 2	Bulgaria
October 19, 1984	GDR	1: 1	Yugoslavia
November 20, 1984	France	2: 1	Bulgaria
7th December 1984	France	1: 1	GDR
April 2, 1985	Yugoslavia	0-0	France
April 5th 1985	Bulgaria	3: 2	GDR
May 1, 1985	Bulgaria	4-0	France
June 2nd 1985	Bulgaria	3: 6	Yugoslavia
September 10, 1985	GDR	1: 1	France
September 27, 1985	Yugoslavia	2: 3	GDR
November 15, 1985	GDR	1: 1	Bulgaria
November 16, 1985	France	7-0	Yugoslavia

Final result group 4
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	France	6th	2	3	1	11: 07	+4	7th
2.	Bulgaria	6th	3	1	2	14:12	+2	7th
3.	GDR	6th	1	4th	1	09: 09	± 0	6th
4th	Yugoslavia	6th	1	2	3	10:16	−6	4th

Group 5

date	Home team	Result	Away team
May 1, 1984	Cyprus	1: 1	Austria
September 25, 1984	Hungary	2-0	Austria
October 16, 1984	Netherlands	1-0	Hungary
November 13, 1984	Austria	0-0	Netherlands
17th November 1984	Cyprus	1: 3	Hungary
22nd December 1984	Cyprus	1: 3	Netherlands
February 26, 1985	Netherlands	5-0	Cyprus
April 2, 1985	Hungary	1-0	Cyprus
April 19, 1985	Austria	1: 2	Hungary
April 30, 1985	Netherlands	2: 1	Austria
May 7, 1985	Austria	0-0	Cyprus
May 13, 1985	Hungary	1-0	Netherlands

Final result group 5
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Hungary	6th	5	0	1	09: 03	+6	10
2.	Netherlands	6th	4th	1	1	11: 03	+8	9
3.	Austria	6th	0	3	3	03: 07	−4	3
4th	Cyprus	6th	0	2	4th	03:13	−10	2

Group 6

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 11, 1984	Norway	3-0	Switzerland
September 25, 1984	Denmark	2: 2	Norway
October 10, 1984	Norway	2: 1	Soviet Union
17th October 1984	Switzerland	1: 1	Denmark
April 16, 1985	Switzerland	4: 2	Soviet Union
April 30, 1985	Soviet Union	1-0	Switzerland
June 4th 1985	Denmark	1-0	Soviet Union
September 24, 1985	Soviet Union	2-0	Denmark
October 8, 1985	Denmark	4: 1	Switzerland
October 16, 1985	Norway	1: 3	Denmark
October 29, 1985	Soviet Union	2: 1	Norway
November 12, 1985	Switzerland	1: 1	Norway

Final result group 6
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Denmark	6th	3	2	1	11: 07	+4	8th
2.	Norway	6th	2	2	2	10: 09	+1	6th
3.	Soviet Union	6th	3	0	3	08: 08	± 0	6th
4th	Switzerland	6th	1	2	3	07:12	−5	4th

Group 7

date	Home team	Result	Away team
October 16, 1984	Scotland	1-0	Iceland
November 13, 1984	Scotland	0: 2	Spain
February 26, 1985	Spain	0-0	Scotland
May 27, 1985	Iceland	2-0	Scotland
June 11, 1985	Iceland	0: 1	Spain
September 24, 1985	Spain	1-0	Iceland

Final result group 7
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Spain	4th	3	1	0	04: 00	+4	7th
2.	Scotland	4th	1	1	2	01: 04	−3	3
3.	Iceland	4th	1	0	3	02: 03	−1	2

Group 8

date	Home team	Result	Away team
17th October 1984	Belgium	5: 1	Luxembourg
March 27, 1985	Belgium	1: 1	Italy
April 17, 1985	Italy	5: 1	Luxembourg
October 16, 1985	Luxembourg	0: 6	Italy
November 20, 1985	Luxembourg	3: 1	Belgium
18th December 1985	Italy	3-0	Belgium

Final result group 8
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Italy	4th	3	1	0	15: 02	+13	7th
2.	Belgium	4th	1	1	2	07: 08	−1	3
3.	Luxembourg	4th	1	0	3	05:17	−12	2

Final round

Quarter finals

The eight group winners were qualified for the quarter-finals.

Fixtures
date	Home team	Result	Away team
March 12, 1986	Poland	1-0	Hungary
Opole	Gates: ?
March 26, 1986	Hungary	5-0	Poland
Gyöngyös	Gates: ?
Newcomers: Hungary with an overall result of 5: 1
March 12, 1986	Sweden	1: 1	Italy
Gothenburg	Goals: Peter Larsson ,?
March 26, 1986	Italy	2: 1	Sweden
Bergamo	Goals:?, Peter Lönn
Newcomers: Italy with an overall result of 3-2
March 12, 1986	Denmark	0: 1	England
Copenhagen	Goals: Nick Pickering
March 26, 1986	England	1: 1	Denmark
Manchester	Goals: 0-1 Pierre Larsen , 1-1 Paul Elliott
Newcomers: England with an overall result of 2-1
March 12, 1986	France	1: 3	Spain
Auxerre	Gates: ?
March 26, 1986	Spain	3: 1	France
Murcia	Gates: ?
Newcomers: Spain with an overall result of 6-2

Semifinals

Fixtures
date	Home team	Result	Away team
April 9, 1986	Hungary	3: 1	Spain
Budapest	Gates: ?
April 23, 1986	Spain	4: 1	Hungary
La Coruña	Gates: ?
Newcomers: Spain with an overall result of 5: 4
April 9, 1986	Italy	2-0	England
Pisa	Gates: ?
April 23, 1986	England	1: 1	Italy
Swindon	Gates: ?
Newcomers: Italy with an overall result of 3-1

final

Fixtures
date	Home team	Result	Away team
October 10, 1986	Italy	2: 1	Spain
Rome	Goals: 0: 1 (36th) Calderé, 1: 1 (49th) Gianluca Vialli , 2: 1 (77th) Giuseppe Giannini
October 29, 1986	Spain	2: 1 ( n.V. )	Italy
Valladolid	Goals: 1-0 (36th) Eloy Olaya, 1: 1 (38th) Giovanni Francini , 2-1 (76th) Roberto
European champions Spain with an aggregate result of 3: 3 and a 3: 0 on penalties

Best goal scorers

space	player	Gates
1	Gianluca Vialli	4th
2	József Szekeres	3
	Txiki Begiristain	3
	Kálmán Kovács	3
	Eloy Olaya	3

Web links

• 21 Championship 1986 on uefa.com (English)
• Details about the 1986 tournament on rsssf.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, Qualifying Group 1 (accessed January 4, 2009)
2. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, qualifying group 2 (accessed January 4, 2009)
3. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, Qualifying Group 3 (accessed January 4, 2009)
4. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, Qualifying Group 4 (accessed January 4, 2009)
5. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, Qualifying Group 5 (accessed January 4, 2009)
6. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, Qualifying Group 6 (accessed January 4, 2009)
7. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, Qualifying Group 7 (accessed January 4, 2009)
8. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship, Qualifying Group 8 (accessed January 4, 2009)
9. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship quarter-finals (accessed January 4, 2009)
10. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship - semi-finals (accessed January 4, 2009)
11. ↑ UEFA.com: 1986 European Under-21 Championship - Final (accessed January 4, 2009)
12. ↑ UEFA.com: 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2009/11 - Season tournament stats pack (English; PDF document, 524 KB; accessed December 6, 2011)