U-21 European Football Championship 2004 / qualification

On the qualification for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2004 to 48 national teams involved and identified participants for the final round, in the period May 27 to June 8, 2004 in Germany was held.

The qualifying games in the ten qualifying groups started on September 6, 2002 and ended on October 11, 2003. The playoffs for the entry into the final round were played in the period from November 14th to 19th, 2003.

While Germany and Switzerland managed to qualify for the finals, Austria had to retire as third in qualifying group 3.

mode

The 48 national teams were drawn into ten groups - eight groups of five and two groups of four teams. The national selections had to play their encounters with two legs. The respective group winners (marked in yellow) as well as the six best runners-up (green) were qualified for the playoffs for the final round. These then determined the eight participants in the final round in the first and second leg.

Attendees

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
France	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Moldova	Latvia
Israel	Denmark	Netherlands	Poland
Malta	Luxembourg	Austria	San Marino
Slovenia	Norway	Czech Republic	Sweden
Cyprus	Romania	Belarus	Hungary

 

Group 5	Group 6	Group 7	Group 8
Germany	Armenia	England	Belgium
Iceland	Greece	North Macedonia	Bulgaria
Lithuania	Northern Ireland	Portugal	Estonia
Scotland	Spain	Slovakia	Croatia
	Ukraine	Turkey

 

Group 9	Group 10
Azerbaijan	Albania
Finland	Georgia
Italy	Ireland
Serbia and Montenegro	Russia
Wales	Switzerland

Performance of the German-speaking teams

Germany

Germany started the qualification under team boss Jürgen Kohler in Lithuania with a clear 4-1 victory, which was remarkable because Aleksa produced two own goals within just nine minutes. In the second leg, Hanke was only able to fix the narrow 1-0 victory in the third minute of stoppage time. The first game under the new team boss Uli Stielike in Scotland ended in a deserved 2-2 draw. The 3-1 mandatory win in Iceland was followed by a disappointing 0-1 home defeat against Scotland. This meant that the group win was also a gamble. As one of the best runners-up, however, Germany managed to qualify for the playoffs for the finals. Germany nominated no fewer than 41 different players in the qualifying group in the six games, indicating a lack of consistency. Benjamin Auer was the only player who started all six games.

• Player squad (qualification): Benjamin Auer (6 games), Tom Starke (6), Markus Feulner (5), Hanno Balitsch (4), Maik Franz (4), Giuseppe Gemiti (4), Mike Hanke (4), Thomas Hitzlsperger (4), Florian Kringe (4), Alexander Madlung (4), Thorben Marx (4), Björn Schlicke (4), Christian Tiffert (4), Tim Wiese (4), Mimoun Azaouagh (3), Jermaine Jones (3 ), Stephan Kling (3), Benjamin Lauth (3), Mathias Abel (2), Timo Achenbach (2), Christoph Preuss (2), Sascha Riether (2), Selim Teber (2), Michael Zepek (2), Kolja Afriyie (1), Thomas Broich (1), Thorsten Burkhardt (1), Andreas Görlitz (1), Daniel Haas (1), Christofer Heimeroth (1), Andreas Hinkel (1), Lars Jungnickel (1), Emmanuel Krontiris (1), Philipp Lahm (1), Denis Lapaczinski (1), Christian Mikolajczak (1), Tobias Rau (1), Moritz Volz (1), Marco Vorbeck (1), Heiko Westermann (1), Andreas Wolf (1 ) - Team boss: Jürgen Kohler (games 1 and 2), Uli Stielike (from game 3).

In the play-offs for the finals, Germany was drawn to Turkey, which surprisingly won the group ahead of Portugal and England. Germany won their home game in Leverkusen 1-0. In the second leg everything seemed to be going to be overtime before Benjamin Auer made it 1-1 in the second minute of stoppage time and thus qualified for the group stage of the final round.

• Player squad (play-offs): Timo Achenbach , Benjamin Auer , Hanno Balitsch , Thomas Broich , Maik Franz , Andreas Görlitz , Mike Hanke , Thomas Hitzlsperger , Philipp Lahm , Benjamin Lauth , Christoph Preuss , Sascha Riether , Björn Schlicke , Tom Starke , Christian Tiffert , Tim Wiese , Alexander Madlung  ¹⁾ , Marcel Schied  ²⁾ - Team boss: Uli Stielike . (Notes: ¹⁾ = only in game 1, ²⁾ = only in game 2)

Austria

There were consistently surprising results in Austria group 3. The reigning European champions Netherlands could not live up to their reputation in any way and ended up only on the disappointing fourth place. Austria started the qualification successfully and landed 1-0 wins against Moldova and Belarus. A 1-1 home draw against the Netherlands was followed by a 3-1 defeat in the Czech Republic. After a 1-0 away win in Moldova, they lost 2-0 at home against Belarus. In the Netherlands, Austria was able to achieve an honorable 0-0, but the chance of promotion was wasted. With a 2-0 win in Austria, the Czech Republic ultimately secured the group victory over Belarus.

• Player squad (qualification): Hans-Peter Berger (8 games), Jürgen Kampel (8), Joachim Parapatits (8), Markus Berger (7), Andreas Ibertsberger (7), Patrick Pircher (7), Alexander Ziervogel (7), Denis Berger (6), Michael Horvath (6), Stefan Kulovits (6), Florian Sturm (6), Vedran Jerkovic (5), Roman Kienast (5), Thomas Pichlmann (5), Jürgen Friedl (4), Pascal Grünwald (4), Michael Gspurning (4), Rainer Kührer (4), Jürgen Säumel (4), Andreas Schrott (4), Andreas Ivanschitz (3), Andreas Lasnik (3), Roland Linz (3), Philip Eisele (2 ), György Garics (2), Dominic Hassler (2), Mario Konrad (2), Martin Lassnig (2), Thomas Prager (2), Klaus Salmutter (2), Mario Steiner (2), Turgay Bahadir (1), Emanuel Pogatetz (1), Robert Schellander (1), Patrick Wunderbaldinger (1) - Team Principal: Willibald Ruttensteiner .

Switzerland

Switzerland played its preliminary round games in group 10 very confidently. In the eight games, Switzerland defeated only once - in the last and already meaningless home game against Ireland - and only allowed one draw (0-0 in Albania). The remaining six games were won, albeit narrowly, but consistently. Switzerland thus secured qualification for play-offs for entry into the finals.

• Player squad (qualification): Patrick Baumann (8), Marco Wölfli (8 games), Pascal Cerrone (7), Daniel Gygax (7), Kim Jaggy (7), André Muff (7), Alain Rochat (7), Thierno Bah (6), Mario Eggimann (6), Roland Schwegler (6), Steve von Bergen (6), Johan Vonlanthen (6), Luca Denicolà (5), Alain Nef (5), Alain Portmann (5), Philippe Senderos ( 5), Rijat Shala (5), Marco Streller (4), Nicolas Marazzi (4), Yassin Mikari (4), Tranquillo Barnetta (3), Diego Benaglio (3), Raphael Darbellay (3), Stephan Lichtsteiner (3) , Nenad Savić (3), Önder Çengel (2), Philipp Degen (2), Maxime Sanou (2), Davide Chiumiento (1), David Degen (1), Xavier Margairaz (1), Philippe Montandon (1) - team principal : Bernard Challandes .

In the play-offs for the finals, Switzerland was drawn to the Czech Republic. The disappointing 1: 2 home defeat was equalized with a 2: 1 away win. After the overtime did not bring a decision either, a penalty shootout had to decide whether to participate in the final round, where Switzerland prevailed 4-3.

• Player squad (play-offs): Thierno Bah , Tranquillo Barnetta , Patrick Baumann , Diego Benaglio , Davide Chiumiento , David Degen , Philipp Degen , Mario Eggimann , Daniel Gygax , Kim Jaggy , Stephan Lichtsteiner , Alain Nef , Alain Rochat , Roland Schwegler , Marco Streller , Marco Wölfli , Xavier Margairaz ¹⁾ , André Muff ¹⁾ , Pascal Cerrone ²⁾ , Johan Vonlanthen ²⁾ - Team principal: Bernard Challandes . (Notes: ¹⁾ = only in game 1, ²⁾ = only in game 2)

Qualification groups

Group 1

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Slovenia	1-0	Malta
September 6, 2002	Cyprus	0: 1	France
October 11, 2002	Malta	0: 1	Israel
October 11, 2002	France	1-0	Slovenia
October 15, 2002	Malta	0: 3	France
November 19, 2002	Cyprus	2-0	Malta
March 28, 2003	Cyprus	2-0	Israel
March 28, 2003	France	2-0	Malta
April 1, 2003	Israel	0: 3	France
April 2, 2003	Slovenia	2-0	Cyprus
April 29, 2003	Malta	0-0	Slovenia
April 30, 2003	Israel	0: 3	Cyprus
June 6, 2003	Israel	0-0	Slovenia
June 6, 2003	Malta	0: 1	Cyprus
September 5, 2003	Slovenia	1: 2	Israel
September 5, 2003	France	2-0	Cyprus
September 9, 2003	Israel	3-0	Malta
September 9, 2003	Slovenia	0-0	France
October 11, 2003	Cyprus	4-0	Slovenia
October 11, 2003	France	2-0	Israel

 

Final result group 1
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	France	8th	7th	1	0	14: 00	+14	22nd
2.	Cyprus	8th	5	0	3	12: 05	+7	15th
3.	Israel	8th	3	1	4th	06:11	−5	10
4th	Slovenia	8th	2	3	3	04: 07	−3	9
5.	Malta	8th	0	1	7th	00:13	−13	1

Group winners France were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 2

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Norway	3-0	Denmark
September 6, 2002	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2: 1	Romania
October 11, 2002	Denmark	9-0	Luxembourg
October 11, 2002	Romania	0: 1	Norway
October 15, 2002	Norway	0-0	Bosnia and Herzegovina
October 15, 2002	Luxembourg	0: 2	Romania
March 28, 2003	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1-0	Luxembourg
March 28, 2003	Romania	0: 1	Denmark
April 1, 2003	Denmark	3-0	Bosnia and Herzegovina
April 1, 2003	Luxembourg	0: 5	Norway
June 6, 2003	Romania	0: 1	Bosnia and Herzegovina
June 6, 2003	Denmark	2-0	Norway
June 10, 2003	Norway	2: 1	Romania
June 10, 2003	Luxembourg	0: 6	Denmark
September 5, 2003	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1: 3	Norway
September 5, 2003	Romania	2-0	Luxembourg
September 9, 2003	Denmark	0-0	Romania
September 9, 2003	Luxembourg	0: 1	Bosnia and Herzegovina
October 10, 2003	Norway	5-0	Luxembourg
October 10, 2003	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0: 3	Denmark

 

Final result group 2
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Norway	8th	6th	1	1	19: 04	+15	19th
2.	Denmark	8th	6th	1	1	24: 03	+21	19th
3.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	8th	4th	1	3	06:10	−4	13
4th	Romania	8th	2	1	5	06: 07	−1	7th
5.	Luxembourg	8th	0	0	8th	00:31	−31	0

Norway as group winners and Denmark as runner-up were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 3

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Netherlands	0: 1	Belarus
September 7, 2002	Austria	1-0	Moldova
Ernstbrunn	Goals: 1-0 (28th) Ivanschitz
October 11, 2002	Belarus	0: 1	Austria
Borisov	Goals: 0: 1 (29th) storm
October 12, 2002	Moldova	0: 2	Czech Republic
October 15, 2002	Austria	1: 1	Netherlands
Pasching	Goals: 0: 1 (15th) putter, 1: 1 (73rd) parapatits
October 16, 2002	Czech Republic	3-0	Belarus
March 28, 2003	Netherlands	0: 3	Czech Republic
March 29, 2003	Belarus	3: 1	Moldova
April 1, 2003	Czech Republic	3: 1	Austria
Liberec	Goals: 1: 0 (6th) Licka, 1: 1 (8th) Kienast, 2: 1 (31st) David Kobylík, 3: 1 (90th +1) Slepička
April 2, 2003	Moldova	2: 2	Netherlands
June 6, 2003	Belarus	2: 1	Netherlands
June 7, 2003	Moldova	0: 1	Austria
Chișinău	Goals: 0: 1 (80th) Linz
June 11, 2003	Czech Republic	3-0	Moldova
June 11, 2003	Austria	0: 2	Belarus
Wattens	Goals: 0-1 (50th) Tsyhalka, 0-2 (69th) Kontsevoi
September 5, 2003	Belarus	1-0	Czech Republic
September 5, 2003	Netherlands	0-0	Austria
Roosendaal	Goals: none
September 9, 2003	Czech Republic	1: 2	Netherlands
September 10, 2003	Moldova	0: 2	Belarus
October 10, 2003	Austria	0: 2	Czech Republic
Waidhofen an der Thaya	Goals: 0-1 (42nd) Kolář (Penalty), 0-2 (75th) Svěrkoš
October 11, 2003	Netherlands	0-0	Moldova

 

Final result group 3
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Czech Republic	8th	6th	0	2	17: 04	+13	18th
2.	Belarus	8th	6th	0	2	11: 06	+5	18th
3.	Austria	8th	3	2	3	05: 08	−3	11
4th	Netherlands	8th	1	4th	3	06:10	−4	7th
5.	Moldova	8th	0	2	6th	03:14	−11	2

The Czech Republic as group winners and Belarus as runner-up were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the final round.

Group 4

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Latvia	0: 4	Sweden
September 6, 2002	San Marino	1: 5	Poland
October 11, 2002	Poland	3-0	Latvia
October 11, 2002	Sweden	1-0	Hungary
October 15, 2002	Hungary	4: 1	San Marino
November 19, 2002	San Marino	0: 2	Latvia
March 28, 2003	Poland	3: 2	Hungary
April 1, 2003	Poland	7-0	San Marino
April 2, 2003	Hungary	5: 2	Sweden
April 29, 2003	Latvia	4: 1	San Marino
June 6, 2003	Hungary	3: 1	Latvia
June 6, 2003	San Marino	1: 5	Sweden
June 10, 2003	Sweden	1: 1	Poland
June 10, 2003	San Marino	1: 2	Hungary
September 5, 2003	Latvia	0: 2	Poland
September 5, 2003	Sweden	00: 3 *	San Marino
September 9, 2003	Poland	1: 1	Sweden
September 9, 2003	Latvia	2-0	Hungary
October 10, 2003	Sweden	3: 2	Latvia
October 10, 2003	Hungary	1: 2	Poland
Note: * = Sweden won the game 5: 0, but this was subsequently certified 3: 0 for San Marino

 

Final result group 4
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Poland	8th	6th	2	0	24: 06	+18	20th
2.	Sweden	8th	4th	2	2	17:13	+4	14th
3.	Hungary	8th	4th	0	4th	17:13	+4	12
4th	Latvia	8th	3	0	5	11:16	−5	9
5.	San Marino	8th	1	0	7th	08:29	−21	3

Poland as group winners and Sweden as runner-up were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 5

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Lithuania	1: 4	Germany
Vilnius	Goals: 1-0 (16th) Kalonas (Penalty), 1: 1 (40th) Jones, 1: 2 (53rd) Zepek, 1: 3 (60th) Aleksa (own goal), 1: 4 (69th) .) Aleksa (own goal)
October 11, 2002	Iceland	0: 2	Scotland
October 15, 2002	Iceland	1: 2	Lithuania
March 28, 2003	Germany	1-0	Lithuania
Fuerth	Goals: 1-0 (90th +3) Hanke
March 28, 2003	Scotland	1-0	Iceland
April 1, 2003	Lithuania	2: 1	Scotland
June 6, 2003	Scotland	2: 2	Germany
Kilmarnock	Goals: 0: 1 (9th) Lauth, 1: 1 (16th) Lynch, 2: 1 (25th) Gary Caldwell, 2: 2 (28th) Balitsch
June 10, 2003	Lithuania	3-0	Iceland
September 5, 2003	Iceland	1: 3	Germany
Akranes	Goals: 0: 1 (25th) Auer, 1: 1 (46th) Kristjansson, 1: 2 (63rd) Auer (penalty), 1: 3 (69th) Hanke
September 9, 2003	Germany	0: 1	Scotland
Awls	Goals: 0-1 (63rd) Maloney
October 10, 2003	Scotland	3: 2	Lithuania
October 10, 2003	Germany	1-0	Iceland
Lübeck	Goals: 1-0 (84th) Lauth

 

Final result group 5
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Scotland	6th	4th	1	1	10: 06	+4	13
2.	Germany	6th	4th	1	1	11: 05	+6	13
3.	Lithuania	6th	3	0	3	10:10	± 0	9
4th	Iceland	6th	0	0	6th	02:12	−10	0

Scotland as group winners and Germany as runner-up were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 6

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Armenia	1: 1	Ukraine
September 6, 2002	Greece	1-0	Spain
October 11, 2002	Ukraine	1: 1	Greece
October 11, 2002	Spain	1-0	Northern Ireland
October 15, 2002	Greece	2: 1	Armenia
October 15, 2002	Northern Ireland	1: 1	Ukraine
March 28, 2003	Armenia	2-0	Northern Ireland
March 28, 2003	Ukraine	0-0	Spain
April 1, 2003	Spain	5-0	Armenia
April 1, 2003	Northern Ireland	2: 6	Greece
June 6, 2003	Ukraine	4-0	Armenia
June 6, 2003	Spain	2-0	Greece
June 10, 2003	Greece	0-0	Ukraine
June 10, 2003	Northern Ireland	1: 4	Spain
September 5, 2003	Armenia	0-0	Greece
September 5, 2003	Ukraine	1-0	Northern Ireland
September 9, 2003	Spain	2-0	Ukraine
September 9, 2003	Northern Ireland	3: 1	Armenia
October 10, 2003	Armenia	0: 2	Spain
October 10, 2003	Greece	0: 1	Northern Ireland

 

Final result group 6
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Spain	8th	6th	1	1	16: 02	+14	19th
2.	Greece	8th	3	3	2	10: 07	+3	12
3.	Ukraine	8th	2	1	5	08: 05	+3	11
4th	Northern Ireland	8th	2	1	5	08:16	−8	7th
5.	Armenia	8th	1	2	5	05:17	−12	5

Group winners Spain were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 7

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Turkey	2: 1	Slovakia
September 6, 2002	Portugal	1-0	North Macedonia
October 11, 2002	North Macedonia	0: 4	Turkey
October 11, 2002	Slovakia	0: 4	England
October 15, 2002	Turkey	4: 2	Portugal
October 15, 2002	England	3: 1	North Macedonia
March 28, 2003	Portugal	4: 2	England
March 29, 2003	North Macedonia	0: 2	Slovakia
April 1, 2003	Slovakia	0: 2	Portugal
April 1, 2003	England	1: 1	Turkey
June 6, 2003	Slovakia	0: 1	Turkey
June 6, 2003	North Macedonia	1: 4	Portugal
June 10, 2003	Turkey	3-0	North Macedonia
June 10, 2003	England	2-0	Slovakia
September 5, 2003	North Macedonia	1: 1	England
September 5, 2003	Portugal	1: 2	Turkey
September 9, 2003	England	1: 2	Portugal
September 10, 2003	Slovakia	5: 1	North Macedonia
October 10, 2003	Turkey	1-0	England
October 10, 2003	Portugal	4: 1	Slovakia

 

Final result group 7
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Turkey	8th	7th	1	0	18: 05	+13	22nd
2.	Portugal	8th	6th	0	2	20:11	+9	18th
3.	England	8th	3	2	3	14:10	+4	11
4th	Slovakia	8th	2	0	6th	09:16	−7	6th
5.	North Macedonia	8th	0	1	7th	04:23	−19	1

Turkey as group winners and Portugal as runner-up were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 8

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Croatia	3: 1	Estonia
September 6, 2002	Belgium	3: 1	Bulgaria
October 11, 2002	Bulgaria	1: 3	Croatia
October 15, 2002	Estonia	0: 1	Belgium
March 28, 2003	Croatia	1: 1	Belgium
April 1, 2003	Estonia	1: 1	Bulgaria
June 6, 2003	Bulgaria	2: 1	Belgium
June 10, 2003	Estonia	0-0	Croatia
September 5, 2003	Bulgaria	1-0	Estonia
September 9, 2003	Belgium	0: 2	Croatia
October 10, 2003	Croatia	0: 1	Bulgaria
October 10, 2003	Belgium	4: 2	Estonia

 

Final result group 8
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Croatia	6th	3	2	1	09: 04	+5	11
2.	Belgium	6th	3	1	2	10: 08	+2	10
3.	Bulgaria	6th	3	1	2	07: 08	−1	10
4th	Estonia	6th	0	2	4th	04:10	−6	2

Group winners Croatia were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 9

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 6, 2002	Azerbaijan	0: 3	Italy
September 6, 2002	Finland	2: 1	Wales
October 11, 2002	Finland	3-0	Azerbaijan
October 11, 2002	Italy	4: 1	Serbia and Montenegro
October 15, 2002	Serbia and Montenegro	3: 3	Finland
October 15, 2002	Wales	1: 2	Italy
November 19, 2002	Azerbaijan	0: 1	Wales
February 11, 2003	Serbia and Montenegro	3-0	Azerbaijan
March 28, 2003	Wales	03: 0 *	Azerbaijan
March 28, 2003	Italy	1-0	Finland
June 6, 2003	Finland	1: 2	Serbia and Montenegro
June 10, 2003	Finland	1: 2	Italy
June 11, 2003	Azerbaijan	0: 2	Serbia and Montenegro
August 19, 2003	Serbia and Montenegro	3-0	Wales
September 5, 2003	Italy	8: 1	Wales
September 6, 2003	Azerbaijan	0: 1	Finland
September 9, 2003	Serbia and Montenegro	1-0	Italy
September 9, 2003	Wales	0-0	Finland
October 10, 2003	Italy	6-0	Azerbaijan
October 10, 2003	Wales	0: 1	Serbia and Montenegro
Note: * = Wales won the game 1-0, but this was subsequently certified 3-0

 

Final result group 9
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Italy	8th	7th	0	1	26: 05	+21	21st
2.	Serbia and Montenegro	8th	6th	1	1	16: 08	+8	19th
3.	Finland	8th	3	2	3	11: 09	+2	11
4th	Wales	8th	2	1	5	07:16	−9	7th
5.	Azerbaijan	8th	0	0	8th	00:22	−22	0

Italy as group winners and Bosnia and Herzegovina as runner-up were thus qualified for the play-offs for participation in the finals.

Group 10

date	Home team	Result	Away team
September 7, 2002	Russia	2-0	Ireland
September 7, 2002	Switzerland	2-0	Georgia
Grenchen	Goals: 1-0 (23rd) Muff, 2-0 (90th +2) Savic (Penalty)
October 11, 2002	Georgia	0: 3	Russia
October 11, 2002	Albania	0-0	Switzerland
Tirana	Goals: none
October 15, 2002	Ireland	2: 3	Switzerland
Kilkenny	Goals: 1-0 (2nd) Hoolahan, 2-0 (8th) Miller, 2: 1 (43rd) Cerrone, 2: 2 (74th) Rochat, 2: 3 (80th) Vonlanthen
October 16, 2002	Russia	1-0	Albania
March 28, 2003	Georgia	1: 1	Ireland
March 29, 2003	Albania	1: 4	Russia
April 1, 2003	Albania	1-0	Ireland
April 2, 2003	Georgia	0: 2	Switzerland
Tbilisi	Goals: 0: 1 (32nd) Muff, 0: 2 (39th) Nef
June 6, 2003	Switzerland	1-0	Russia
Freiburg in Üechtland	Goals: 1-0 (22nd) Streller
June 6, 2003	Ireland	00: 3 *	Albania
June 10, 2003	Switzerland	2: 1	Albania
La Chaux-de-Fonds	Goals: 0: 1 (18th) Mancaku, 1: 1 (49th) Muff, 2: 1 (90th) Vonlanthen (Penalty)
June 10, 2003	Ireland	1: 1	Georgia
September 5, 2003	Ireland	2-0	Russia
September 6, 2003	Georgia	3: 1	Albania
September 9, 2003	Albania	3-0	Georgia
September 9, 2003	Russia	1: 2	Switzerland
Moscow (Eduard Streltsov)	Goals: 0: 1 (15th) Nef, 0: 2 (28th) Gygax (Penalty), 1: 2 (40th) Gogniev
October 10, 2003	Russia	3: 2	Georgia
October 10, 2003	Switzerland	0: 2	Ireland
Neuchâtel	Goals: 0-1 (61st) Walters, 0-2 (73rd) Walters
Note: * = Republic of Ireland won the game 2: 1, but this was subsequently certified 3: 0 for Albania

 

Final score group 10
Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	TD	P
1.	Switzerland	8th	6th	1	1	12: 06	+6	19th
2.	Russia	8th	5	0	3	14: 08	+6	15th
3.	Albania	8th	3	1	4th	10:10	± 0	10
4th	Ireland	8th	2	2	4th	08:11	−3	8th
5.	Georgia	8th	1	2	5	07:16	−9	5

Group winners Switzerland were thus qualified for the playoffs for participation in the finals.

Playoffs for a place in the finals

The ten group winners and the six best runners-up were qualified for the play-offs for a place in the finals.

Fixtures
date	Home team	Result	Away team
November 14, 2003	Serbia and Montenegro	5: 1	Norway
Belgrade	Goals: 1-0 (2nd) Vidić, 2-0 (14th) Delibašić, 3-0 (39th) Delibašić, 4-0 (47th) Krasić, 4-1 (55th) Ludvigsen, 5-1 (80.) Djalović
November 18, 2003	Norway	3-0	Serbia and Montenegro
Drammen	Goals: 1-0 (8th) Karadas (Penalty), 2-0 (43rd) Pedersen, 3-0 (47th) Muri
Newcomers: Serbia and Montenegro with an overall result of 5: 4
November 14, 2003	Germany	1-0	Turkey
Leverkusen	Goals: 1-0 (14th) Balitsch
November 18, 2003	Turkey	1: 1	Germany
Istanbul (Sukru Saraçoglu)	Goals: 1: 0 (69th) Hamit Altıntop, 1: 1 (90th +2) Auer
Newcomers: Germany with an overall result of 2: 1
November 15, 2003	Portugal	1: 2	France
Guimarães	Goals: 1-0 (5th) Jorge Ribeiro, 1: 1 (23rd) Cissé, 1: 2 (32nd) Cissé
November 18, 2003	France	1: 2 a.d.	Portugal
Clermont-Ferrand	Goals: 0: 1 (29th) Cristiano Ronaldo, 1: 1 (41st) Cissé, 1: 2 (75th) Bruno Alves
Newcomers: Portugal with an aggregate result of 3: 3 and a 4: 1 on penalties
November 15, 2003	Denmark	1: 1	Italy
Farum	Goals: 1-0 (4th) Kahlenberg (Penalty), 1: 1 (45th) Andersen (own goal)
November 19, 2003	Italy	0-0	Denmark
Rieti	Goals: none
Newcomers: Italy with an overall score of 1-1 on the away goals rule
November 15, 2003	Belarus	1: 1	Poland
Minsk	Goals: 1-0 (31st) Kontsevoi, 1: 1 (84th) Stasiak
November 19, 2003	Poland	0: 4	Belarus
Wronki	Goals: 0: 1 (41st) Shkabara, 0: 2 (52nd) Baga, 0: 3 (70th) Vyacheslav Hleb (Penalty), 0: 4 (72nd) Aleksandr Hleb
Newcomers: Belarus with an overall result of 5: 1
November 15, 2003	Sweden	2-0	Spain
Halmstad	Goals: 1-0 (55th) Farnerud, 2-0 (90th +2) Källström
November 19, 2003	Spain	1: 1	Sweden
Almendralejo	Goals: 1-0 (23rd) Rubén, 1: 1 (71st) Hysén
Newcomers: Sweden with an overall result of 3-1
November 15, 2003	Switzerland	1: 2	Czech Republic
Basel	Goals: 1-0 (7th) Nef, 1: 1 (32nd) Svěrkoš, 1: 2 (41st Koubský)
November 19, 2003	Czech Republic	1: 2	Switzerland
Ostrava	Goals: 1-0 (57th) Koubský, 1: 1 (76th) Eggimann, 1: 2 (85th) Koubský (own goal)
Newcomers: Switzerland with an overall result of 3: 3 and a 4: 3 on penalties
November 16, 2003	Croatia	2-0	Scotland
Varaždin	Goals: 1-0 (7th) Babić, 2-0 (11th) Ljubojević
November 18, 2003	Scotland	1-0	Croatia
Edinburgh	Goals: 1-0 (10th) O'Connor
Newcomers: Croatia with an overall result of 2-1

Finalists

The following nations qualified for the finals of the U-21 European Football Championship 2004 , which took place in Germany from May 27 to June 8, 2004 :

Group A	Group B
Croatia	Germany
Italy	Portugal
Serbia and Montenegro	Sweden
Belarus	Switzerland

Web links

• UEFA: Official website of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship