Belarus the goal for record Women's U17 entry
Saturday, November 1, 2014
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Andorra make a debut and Armenia and Georgia return as 44 of the record entry of 47 go into the 2015/16 qualifying round draw streamed live on 19 November.
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A record entry of 47 has been confirmed for the 2015/16 UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship with 44 of those in the qualifying round draw streamed live from Nyon at 08.40CET on Wednesday 19 November.
Belarus will stage the third final tournament since the expansion to eight teams, provisionally from 4-16 May 2016, following in the footsteps of England last season and Iceland next June. Of the other entrants, Andorra are in a UEFA women's competition for the first time, Armenia enter having last competed at this level in 2010/11 and Georgia end a two-season absence.
While Belarus qualify directly for the finals as hosts, the two countries with the highest rating on the coefficient ranking list (based on results from 2011/12 to 2013/14) receive a bye to the elite round in March 2016: Germany and France. The remaining 44 entrants will be in the qualifying round where they will be split into 11 groups of four.
There are three seeding pots composed according to the coefficient ranking list. The 11 nations with the highest coefficients are in Pot A, the next 11 in Pot B and the remainder in Pot C. Each group will include one team from each of Pots A and B, and two from Pot C, with hosts then appointed to stage the mini-tournaments between 1 August and 31 October 2015.
The top two in each group will accompany the two top seeds into the 24-team elite round. Seven countries will eventually qualify for the finals to join Belarus.
Seeding pots
Pot A: Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Iceland
Pot B: Czech Republic, Russia, Netherlands, England, Finland, Scotland, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey, Northern Ireland, Greece
Pot C: Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Wales, Portugal, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Slovakia, Croatia, Moldova, Latvia, Israel, Faroe Islands, Estonia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Andorra, Armenia
Based on previous decisions of the UEFA Executive Committtee and UEFA Emergency Panel, Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be placed in the same group and the same applies to Russia and Ukraine.
Bye to elite round: Germany, France
Bye to final tournament: Belarus (hosts)