In profile: who are the 2017 Under-21 finalists?

The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship will be the first 12-team tournament in the competition's history.

Nine of those berths were filled automatically by the teams finishing top of each qualifying group, with two taken by the play-off winners and hosts Poland also involved. UEFA.com profiles those countries who have secured their places.

Czech Republic
Previous final tournaments: 6 (plus three as Czechoslovakia)
U21 best: winners – 2002
How they qualified: Group 1 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Patrik Schick (10)
Did you know? Czech Republic hosted the 2015 finals and exited at the group stage.

Denmark
Previous final tournaments: 6
U21 best: semi-finals – 1992, 2015
How they qualified: Group 5 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Marcus Ingvartsen (8)
Did you know? Denmark lost to neighbours Sweden in the 2015 semi-finals.

England have qualified for six tournaments in a row©Getty Images

England
Previous final tournaments: 13
U21 best: winners – 1982, 1984
How they qualified: Group 9 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Marcus Rashford, Chuba Akpom (3)
Did you know? England have qualified for their sixth consecutive tournament.

FYR Macedonia
Previous final tournaments: 0
U21 best: N/A
How they qualified: Group 3 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Kire Markoski (4)
Did you know? This is the first UEFA final tournament FYR Macedonia have ever qualified for (they played in the 2010 WU19 EURO as hosts).

Germany
Previous final tournaments: 8 (plus two as West Germany)
U21 best: winners – 2009
How they qualified: Group 7 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Davie Selke (7)
Did you know? Germany had the only perfect record in qualifying.

Italy
Previous final tournaments: 18
U21 best: winners – 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004
How they qualified: Group 2 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Marco Benassi (3)
Did you know? Italy's five titles is more than any other nation has managed to win.

Poland fans will watch their team at home next summer©Getty Images

Poland
Previous final tournaments: 5
U21 best: quarter-finals – five occasions
How they qualified: hosts
Top scorer in qualifying: N/A
Did you know? Poland have not been in an U21 finals since 1994.

Portugal
Previous final tournaments: 7
U21 best: runners-up – 2015
How they qualified: Group 4 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Gonçalo Paciência, André Silva (4)
Did you know? Hungary drew 3-3 with Portugal in qualifying, the same scoreline as when their senior teams met at UEFA EURO 2016.

Serbia
Previous final tournaments: 3 (plus two as Serbia and Montenegro and four as Yugoslavia)
U21 best: runners-up – 2007 
How they qualified: play-off victory v Norway (Group 2 runners-up)
Top scorer in qualifying: Uroš Djurdjević (9)
Did you know? Serbia started their campaign with successive 5-0 wins and drew both fixtures against Group 2 winners Italy.

Slovakia
Previous final tournaments: 1
U21 best: fourth place – 2000
How they qualified: Group 8 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Adam Zreľák (5)
Did you know? Slovakia beat England and Turkey at their only previous U21 finals.

Spain
Previous final tournaments: 12
U21 best: winners – 1986, 1998, 2011, 2013
How they qualified: play-off victory v Austria (Group 6 runners-up)
Top scorer in qualifying: Gerard Deulofeu (8)
Did you know? Spain missed the 2015 final tournament despite having won the previous two editions.

Sweden
Previous final tournaments: 7
U21 best: winners – 2015
How they qualified: Group 6 winners
Top scorer in qualifying: Kristoffer Olsson, Gustav Engvall (3)
Did you know? Sweden beat Portugal on penalties to win the 2015 U21 EURO title.

The finals draw will take place at 18:00CET on 1 December in Krakow, with the tournament to be held in Poland from 16 to 30 June next year.