U-21 European Football Championship 2021

U-21 European Football Championship 2021
UEFA Under 21 Championship
Number of nations	16  (of 55 applicants)
European champion	Germany (3rd title)
venue	Slovenia Hungary
Opening game	March 24, 2021
Endgame	June 6, 2021
Games	31
Gates	83  (⌀: 2.68 per game)
Top scorer	Lukas Nmecha (4 goals)
Best player	Fábio Vieira
yellow cards	141  (⌀: 4.55 per game)
Yellow-red cards	7  (⌀: 0.23 per game)
Red cards	2  (⌀: 0.06 per game)

The final round of the 23rd U-21 European Football Championship 2021 was originally supposed to take place in Slovenia and Hungary in June 2021 . As hosts, the Slovenian and Hungarian teams were automatically qualified for the final round of the last 16 teams. All other 53 teams had to qualify in the preliminary round. Players born on or after January 1, 1998 were allowed to participate.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , UEFA decided on June 17, 2020 to hold the competition in two phases: the group matches took place from March 24 to March 31, 2021, and the final round from May 31 to June 6, 2021.

qualification

→ Main article : U-21 European Football Championship 2021 / qualification

The 53 teams played in eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams each a return match. The nine group winners and the best runner-up should have qualified for the finals, while the other eight group runners-up should have played against each other in the play-offs with a return leg to determine the four remaining participants. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the date to be postponed, the play-off games were canceled. Instead, the top five runners-up qualified directly for the finals. The teams of Hungary and Slovenia were set directly as organizers.

The group matches of the qualification took place from March 18, 2019 to November 17, 2020.

mode

The 16 teams competing for the first time in a U-21 European football championship final were divided into four groups of four teams in advance. The group winners and runners-up reached the quarter-finals. From this round it continued in the knockout format . If several teams were tied after the group stage, the placement was determined according to the following criteria in this order, whereby the direct comparison had priority:

1. higher number of points from the face-to-face meetings between the teams in question
2. better goal difference from the direct encounters between the teams in question
3. higher number of goals scored from direct encounters between the teams in question
4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, several teams still have the same place, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied, but only to the matches between the teams in question, in order to determine their final ranking. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 8 are applied
5. better goal difference from all group matches
6. higher number of goals scored in all group matches
7. Lower total number of penalty points based on the yellow and red cards received in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion after two yellow cards = 3 points)
8. Position in the U-21 national team coefficient ranking used for the final tournament draw

If two teams met in the last group match with the same number of points, goal difference and the same number of goals, and the game in question ended in a draw, the final placement of the two teams will be determined by penalty shoot-out, provided that no other team in the same group is completed the group stage had the same number of points.

Attendees

The following teams qualified for the finals:

Slovenia (hosts)  Hungary (hosts)  Italy (Winner Group 1)  Iceland (Second Group 1)  France (winner group 2)  Switzerland (second group 2)  England (Winner Group 3)  Czech Republic (winner group 4)

Croatia (second group 4)  Russia (winner group 5)  Spain (winner group 6)  Netherlands (winners group 7)  Portugal (second group 7)  Denmark (Winner Group 8)  Romania (second group 8)  Germany (winner group 9)

draw

The draw took place on December 10, 2020 in Nyon .

Group A

•  Hungary
•  Germany
•  Romania
•  Netherlands

Group B

•  Slovenia
•  Spain
•  Czech Republic
•  Italy

Group C

•  Russia
•  Iceland
•  France
•  Denmark

Group D

•  Portugal
•  Croatia
•  England
•  Switzerland

Venues

Slovenia

Celje	Twill	Ljubljana	Maribor	Celje Twill Ljubljana Maribor Venues
Z'dežele Stadium	ŠRC Bonifika stadium	Stožice Stadium	Stadium Ljudski vrt
Capacity: 13,059	Capacity: 04,047	Capacity: 16,155	Capacity: 12,702

Hungary

Budapest	Gyor	Székesfehérvár	Szombathely	Budapest Gyor Székesfehérvár Szombathely Venues
Bozsik Arena	Ménfői úti stadium	MOL Aréna Sóstó	Haladás Sports Complex
Capacity: 08,468	Capacity: 04,335	Capacity: 014,201	Capacity: 09,859

Preliminary round

Group A

→ Main article : 2021 European Under-21 Football Championship / Group A.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Netherlands	3	1	2	0	008: 300	+5	05
2.	Germany	3	1	2	0	004: 100	+3	05
3.	Romania	3	1	2	0	003: 200	+1	05
4th	Hungary	3	0	0	3	002:110	−9	00

Wed., March 24, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Budapest
Romania	-	Netherlands	1: 1 (1: 1)
Wed., March 24, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Székesfehérvár
Hungary	-	Germany	0: 3 (0: 0)
Sat., March 27, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Budapest
Hungary	-	Romania	1: 2 (0: 0)
Sat., March 27, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Székesfehérvár
Germany	-	Netherlands	1: 1 (0: 0)
Tue., March 30, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Székesfehérvár
Netherlands	-	Hungary	6: 1 (1: 0)
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Budapest
Germany	-	Romania	0-0

Group B

→ Main article : 2021 European Under-21 Football Championship / Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Spain	3	2	1	0	005-000	+5	07th
2.	Italy	3	1	2	0	005: 100	+4	05
3.	Czech Republic	3	0	2	1	002: 400	−2	02
4th	Slovenia	3	0	1	2	001: 800	−7	01

Wed., March 24, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Maribor
Slovenia	-	Spain	0: 3 (0: 0)
Wed., March 24, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Celje
Czech Republic	-	Italy	1: 1 (0: 1)
Sat., March 27, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Celje
Slovenia	-	Czech Republic	1: 1 (1: 0)
Sat., March 27, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Maribor
Spain	-	Italy	0-0
Tue., March 30, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Maribor
Italy	-	Slovenia	4: 0 (3: 0)
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Celje
Spain	-	Czech Republic	2: 0 (0: 0)

Group C

→ Main article : 2021 European Under-21 Football Championship / Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Denmark	3	3	0	0	006-000	+6	09
2.	France	3	2	0	1	004: 100	+3	06th
3.	Russia	3	1	0	2	004: 600	−2	03
4th	Iceland	3	0	0	3	001: 800	−7	00

Thursday, March 25th, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Szombathely
Russia	-	Iceland	4: 1 (3: 0)
Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Győr
France	-	Denmark	0: 1 (0: 0)
Sun., March 28, 2021 at 3 p.m. in Győr
Iceland	-	Denmark	0: 2 (0: 2)
Sun., March 28, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Szombathely
Russia	-	France	0: 2 (0: 2)
Wed., March 31, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Győr
Denmark	-	Russia	3: 0 (2: 0)
Wed., March 31, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Szombathely
Iceland	-	France	0: 2 (0: 2)

Group D

→ Main article : 2021 European Under-21 Football Championship / Group D.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Portugal	3	3	0	0	006-000	+6	09
2.	Croatia	3	1	0	2	004: 500	−1	03
3.	Switzerland	3	1	0	2	003: 600	−3	03
4th	England	3	1	0	2	002: 400	−2	03

Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 3 p.m. in Koper
England	-	Switzerland	0: 1 (0: 0)
Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Koper
Portugal	-	Croatia	1: 0 (0: 0)
Sun., March 28, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Koper
Croatia	-	Switzerland	3: 2 (1: 0)
Sun., March 28, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Ljubljana
Portugal	-	England	2: 0 (0: 0)
Wed., March 31, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Ljubljana
Switzerland	-	Portugal	0: 3 (0: 1)
Wed., March 31, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Koper
Croatia	-	England	1: 2 (0: 1)

Final round

→ Main article : U-21 European Football Championship 2021 / final round

Quarter finals

Mon., May 31, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Budapest
Netherlands	-	France	2: 1 (0: 1)
Mon., May 31, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Maribor
Spain	-	Croatia	2: 1 a.d. (1: 1, 0: 0)
Mon., May 31, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Székesfehérvár
Denmark	-	Germany	2: 2 n.V. (1: 1, 0: 0) 5: 6 i. E.
Mon., May 31, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Ljubljana
Portugal	-	Italy	5: 3 n.V. (3: 3, 2: 1)

Semifinals

Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 6 p.m. in Maribor
Spain	-	Portugal	0: 1 (0: 0)
Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Székesfehérvár
Netherlands	-	Germany	1: 2 (0: 2)

final

Sun., June 6, 2021 at 9 p.m. in Ljubljana
Germany	-	Portugal	1: 0 (0: 0)

Best goal scorers

Listed below are the final scorers who have scored at least two goals.

rank	player	Gates	Game minutes
1	Luke Nmecha	4th	442
2	Patrick Cutrone	3	251
	Dany Mota	3	257
	Myron Boadu	3	333
	Javi Puado	3	382
7th	Dani Gomez	2	34
	Francisco Conceição	2	178
	Florian Wirtz	2	221
	Francisco Trincão	2	168
	Cody Gakpo	2	198
	Dreyer is different	2	256
	Gianluca Scamacca	2	265
	Odsonne Edouard	2	272
	Luka Ivanušec	2	390
	Ridle Baku	2	527
	Perr Schuurs	2	450

Note: Florian Wirtz's goal in the semifinals to 1-0 against the Netherlands after 29 seconds is the fastest goal in U-21 European Championship history.

Squad

Germany

The following players were in the competition line-up for which coach Stefan Kuntz was responsible. Lukas Nmecha (three games) and Markus Schubert (without commitment) already took part in the EM 2019 . Youssoufa Moukoko was unable to play during the preliminary round due to an injury. Because of this injury, he fell out of the club until the end of the season and thus also for the final round. Stephan Ambrosius tore a cruciate ligament at the end of April 2021 .

In comparison to the preliminary round, Florian Krüger and Malick Thiaw were also not nominated. The four players were replaced by Paul Jaeckel , Florian Wirtz , Karim Adeyemi and Janni Serra . One day after the squad was nominated for the final round, Maxim Leitsch had to cancel his participation due to injury. He was replaced by Lars Lukas Mai . Janni Serra also dropped out before the start of the final round, after which Shinta Appelkamp moved into the team.

position	No.	Surname	Club (league)	Date of birth	Games	Gates
goal	12th	Finn Dahmen	1. FSV Mainz 05 ( Bundesliga )	March 27, 1998	6th	0
	23	Lennart Grill	Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Bundesliga)	Jan 25, 1999	Without any effort
	01	Markus Schubert	Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga)	June 12, 1998	Without any effort
Defense	14th	Stephan Ambrosius VR	Hamburger SV ( 2nd Bundesliga )	Dec 18, 1998	Without any effort
	14th	Paul Jaeckel FR	SpVgg Greuther Fürth (2nd Bundesliga)	July 22, 1998	1	0
	15th	Ismail Jacob	1. FC Cologne (Bundesliga)	Aug 17, 1999	5	0
	19th	Maxim Leitsch VR	VfL Bochum (2nd Bundesliga)	May 18, 1998	Without any effort
	19th	Lars Lukas May FR	SV Darmstadt 98 (2nd Bundesliga)	March 31, 2000	1	0
	05	Amos Pieper	Arminia Bielefeld (Bundesliga)	Jan. 17, 1998	6th	0
	03	David room	SpVgg Greuther Fürth (2nd Bundesliga)	Apr 22, 1998	6th	0
	04th	Nico Schlotterbeck	1. FC Union Berlin (Bundesliga)	Dec 1, 1999	6th	0
	16	Malick Thiaw VR	FC Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)	Aug 8, 2001	Without any effort
	02	Josha Vagnoman	Hamburger SV (2nd Bundesliga)	Dec 11, 2000	4th	0
Midfield / storm	18th	Karim Adeyemi FR	FC Red Bull Salzburg ( Bundesliga )	Jan. 18, 2002	3	0
	16	Shinta Appelkamp FR	Fortuna Düsseldorf (2nd Bundesliga)	Nov 1, 2000	Without any effort
	21	Ridle Baku	VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)	Apr 8, 1998	6th	2
	11	Mërgim Berisha	FC Red Bull Salzburg (Bundesliga)	May 11, 1998	6th	0
	09	Jonathan Burkardt	1. FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga)	July 11, 2000	5	1
	06th	Niklas Dorsch	KAA Gent ( Division 1A )	Jan 15, 1998	5	0
	20th	Vitaly Janelt	Brentford FC ( EFL Championship )	May 10, 1998	4th	0
	22nd	Mateo Klimowicz	VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga)	July 6, 2000	3	0
	18th	Florian Krüger VR	FC Erzgebirge Aue (2nd Bundesliga)	Feb 13, 1999	1	0
	08th	Arne Maier	Arminia Bielefeld (Bundesliga)	Jan. 8, 1999	6th	0
	07th	Youssoufa Moukoko VR	Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)	Nov 20, 2004	Without any effort
	10	Luke Nmecha	RSC Anderlecht (Division 1A)	Dec 14, 1998	6th	4th
	13th	Salih Ozcan	1. FC Cologne (Bundesliga)	Jan. 11, 1998	4th	0
	17th	Anton Stach	SpVgg Greuther Fürth (2nd Bundesliga)	Nov 15, 1998	4th	0
	07th	Florian Wirtz FR	Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Bundesliga)	May 3, 2003	3	2
As of June 6, 2021

^VR only preliminary round

^FR only final round

Switzerland

The following players were in the competition line-up for which coach Mauro Lustrinelli was responsible.

position	No.	Surname	Club (league)	Date of birth	Games	Gates
goal	01	Philipp Koehn	FC Wil ( Challenge League )	Apr 2, 1998	Without any effort
	12th	Timothy Fayulu	FC Sion ( Super League )	July 24, 1999	Without any effort
	21	Anthony Racioppi	FCO Dijon ( Ligue 1 )	Dec 31, 1998	3	0
Defense	03	Silvan Sidler	FC Luzern (Super League)	July 7, 1998	1	0
	04th	Jan Bamert	FC Sion (Super League)	March 9, 1998	2	0
	05	Cédric Zesiger	BSC Young Boys (Super League)	June 24, 1998	2	0
	07th	Kevin Rüegg	Hellas Verona ( Serie A )	Aug 5, 1998	3	0
	15th	Leonidas Stergiou	FC St. Gallen (Super League)	March 3, 2002	1	0
	20th	Miro Muheim	FC St. Gallen (Super League)	March 24, 1998	2	0
	23	Jordan Lotomba	OGC Nice (Ligue 1)	29 Sep 1998	3	0
midfield	02	Jasper van der Werff	FC Basel (Super League)	Dec 9, 1998	2	0
	06th	Toni Domgjoni	FC Zurich (Super League)	4th Sep 1998	3	0
	08th	Bastien Toma	KRC Genk ( Division 1A )	June 24, 1999	3	0
	10	Petar Pušić	Grasshopper Club Zurich (Challenge League)	Jan 25, 1999	1	0
	13th	Fabian Rieder	BSC Young Boys (Super League)	Feb 16, 2002	1	0
	16	Simon Sohm	Parma Calcio (Serie A)	Apr 11, 2001	1	0
	17th	Castriot Imeri	Servette FC (Super League)	June 27, 2000	3	1
	22nd	Alexandre Jankewitz	Southampton FC ( Premier League )	Dec 25, 2001	3	0
Storm	09	Jérémy Guillemenot	FC St. Gallen (Super League)	Jan. 6, 1998	3	0
	11	Andi Zeqiri	Brighton & Hove Albion (Premier League)	June 22, 1999	3	0
	14th	Dan Ndoye	OGC Nice (Ligue 1)	Oct 25, 2000	3	1
	18th	Filip Stojilković	FC Aarau (Challenge League)	Jan. 4, 2000	Without any effort
	19th	Felix Mambimbi	BSC Young Boys (Super League)	Jan. 18, 2001	3	0

referee

UEFA initially nominated twelve referee trios for the group stage , each consisting of a main referee and two assistants. In addition, four referees were nominated who could only be used in the role of fourth official . In contrast to the previous edition of the tournament, video evidence was not used in the games .

country	referee	Assistant referees	annotation
Spain	Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea 1 Guillermo Cuadra Fernández	José Enrique Naranjo Pérez Íñigo Prieto López de Ceráin
Poland	Bartosz Frankowski	Jakub Winkler Dawid Igor Golis
Netherlands	Dennis Higler	Johan Balder Joost van Zuilen
Belgium	Lawrence Visser	Thibaud Nijssen Ruben Wyns Rien Vanyzere 1
Georgia	Giorgi Kruashvili	Levan Waramishvili Zaza Pipia	final
France	François Letexier	Cyril Mugnier Mehdi Rahmouni
Italy	Maurizio Mariani	Alberto Tegoni Daniele Bindoni
Turkey	Halil Umut Meler	Ibrahim Çağlar Uyarcan Mustafa Emre Eyisoy
Germany	Harm Osmers	Eduard Beitinger Dominik Schaal
Sweden	Glenn Nyberg	Mahbod Begi Andreas Söderkvist	Semifinals
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Irfan Peljto	Before that, Beljo Senad Ibrišembegović
Switzerland	Sandro Schärer	Stephane de Almeida Bekim Zogaj	Semifinals

Fourth official

•  Irakli Kvirikashvili
•  Espen Eskås
•  Rade Obrenović
•  Horațiu Feşnic
•  Ádám Farkas

¹Tested positive for COVID-19 just before the start of the group stage and removed it from the list.

Broadcast and reporting

Germany

In January 2019, it was announced that Seven.One Sports , ProSiebenSat.1 Media's sports rights agency , had signed a broadcasting rights agreement with the German Football Association . As a result, all qualifying matches for the German team for the 2021 European Championship were broadcast on the free-to-air channels ProSieben Maxx (seven games) and ProSieben (one game) as part of the television program ran Fußball . In parallel, they were also on the sports website ran.de sent.

Seven.One Sports also secured the broadcast rights to the 2021 final tournament. The agreement with UEFA was announced in early February 2021. While all games with German participation were broadcast on ProSieben, almost all other games were broadcast on ProSieben Maxx. In addition, all 31 games could be seen on ran.de.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the broadcasts from TV studios in Unterföhring were moderated and commented on.

and
function	Preliminary round		Final round
Studio presenters	Christian Düren	Anna Kraft	Christian Düren	Anna Kraft
Studio experts	René Adler	Markus Feulner	René Adler	Markus Babbel
On-site reporter	Max Zielke (in Hungary) Lisa Hofmann (in Slovenia)		Max Zielke (companion of the DFB-Elf) Lisa Hofmann
Studio reporter	Icke Dommisch		Icke Dommisch
Studio commentators	Matthias Stach Uwe Morawe Franz Büchner		Uwe Morawe Franz Büchner

ran.de took over the broadcast signal and thus also the live commentary for games that were simultaneously broadcast on ProSieben or ProSieben Maxx. For games that were only shown on ran.de, either international English commentators were used or a German commentator was used.

Austria

The ORF secured the broadcasting rights for the final round of the European Championship in 2021.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein

The SRG SSR institutions equipment SRF , RTS , RSI and RTR also secured the broadcasting rights to the finals of the European Championships 2,021th

For German-speaking Switzerland , all games of the Swiss national team as well as a few other games were broadcast on SRF Zwei. All 31 games could be seen in live streams on the homepage or in the app. The TV broadcasts were moderated by Annette Fetscherin and commented by Reto Held.

While some games for French-speaking Switzerland were shown on television on RTS 2 and in livestreams on RTS Sport , some games for Italian-speaking Switzerland were broadcast on television on RSI LA 2 and in livestreams on RSI Sport .

Web links

• Official UEFA website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ U21 euros: New format announced. uefa.com, June 17, 2020, accessed June 17, 2020 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} finals of the U21 Euro: Germany versus Netherlands. de.uefa.com, accessed December 10, 2020.
3. ↑ UEFA competitions to resume in August. uefa.com (English).
4. ↑ Regulations for the 2019-21 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. uefa.com, accessed March 12, 2021 . 
5. ↑ Top scorer list , on kicker.de
6. ↑ Wirtz scores the fastest goal in a U21 final. uefa.com, June 3, 2021, accessed June 7, 2021.
7. ↑ The squad for the European Championships in Hungary and Slovenia. dfb.de, accessed on March 22, 2021.
8. ↑ Playing to win with Dahmen - Moukoko missed U-21 debut. kicker.de, March 29, 2021, accessed on March 31, 2021.
9. ↑ Moukoko is absent from Dortmund for the rest of the season. kicker.de, April 5, 2021, accessed on April 28, 2021.
10. ↑ Injured during training: Ambrosius suffers another cruciate ligament tear. kicker.de, April 28, 2021, accessed on April 28, 2021.
11. ↑ U 21: Kuntz appoints squad for EM final round. dfb.de, May 24, 2021, accessed on May 24, 2021.
12. ↑ Leitsch is out, new in the squad in May. dfb.de, May 25, 2021, accessed on May 25, 2021.
13. ↑ Kiel's Serra is missing injured in the U21 European Championship - Düsseldorf's Appelkamp moves up. transfermarkt.de, accessed on May 30, 2021.
14. ↑ Squad. uefa.com, accessed March 22, 2021.
15. ↑ 2021 UEFA Under-21 Championship (Group Stage from 24 to 31 March 2021) - Selected Officials. Law5 - The Referee , March 1, 2021, accessed March 2, 2021 . 
16. ↑ Thomas Lückerath: Football at ProSieben: U21 international games secured until 2023. DWDL.de , January 13, 2019, accessed on March 21, 2021 . 
17. ↑ Alexander Krei: ProSieben secures live rights to the U21 European Championship. DWDL.de, February 2, 2021, accessed on March 21, 2021 . 
18. ↑ Alexander Krei: ProSieben presents its team for the U21 European Championship. DWDL.de, March 19, 2021, accessed on March 21, 2021 . 
19. ↑ ^{a b} Where the U21 Euro 2021 can be seen. uefa.com, December 10, 2020, accessed March 21, 2021 . 
20. ↑ All information about the U21 European Football Championship 2021. Blick.ch , accessed on March 21, 2021 .