Article summary
The 2019/20 qualifying round draw has set the first steps on the road to Estonia.
Article body
The 2019/20 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round draw has been made, involving 52 of the 55 entrants on the road to Estonia.
The draw was made by John Delaney, chairman of the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee, and Francisco Saldanha, who received the 2018 U17 EURO Fair Play prize on behalf of last season's Portugal team, which he captained.
Qualifying round draw
Group 1 (9–15 October): Belgium, Poland*, North Macedonia, Liechtenstein
Group 2 (24–30 October): Italy, Turkey, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg*
Group 3 (12– 18 November): Republic of Ireland*, Israel, Montenegro, Andorra
Group 4 (27 September–3 October): Sweden*, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Lithuania
Group 5 (22–28 October): France, Slovakia, Cyprus*, Gibraltar
Group 6 (24–30 October): Serbia, Hungary, Belarus*, Latvia
Group 7 (22–28 October): Scotland*, Croatia, Iceland, Armenia
Group 8 (13–19 November): Portugal*, Ukraine, Georgia, Albania
Group 9 (13–19 November): Germany, Greece*, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan
Group 10 (24–30 October): Russia, Switzerland, Romania*, San Marino
Group 11 (25 September–1 October): Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Finland*, Moldova
Group 12 (9–15 October): Netherlands*, Slovenia, Wales, Kosovo
Group 13 (17–23 October): Austria, Norway*, Bulgaria, Malta
*Hosts
- The top two in every group, along with the four third-placed sides with the best records against the leading pair, will follow top seeds Spain and England into the elite round in March 2020.
- The eight elite round group winners and seven runners-up with the best records against the teams first and third in their pool will join Estonia in that May's finals.
How the draw worked
Draw procedure and seeding pots
Pot A: Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Serbia*, Scotland, Russia*, Bosnia and Herzegovina*
Pot B: Croatia, Israel, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine*, Norway, Czech Republic, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland
Pot C: Finland, Azerbaijan*, Georgia, Cyprus, Wales, Iceland, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Faroe Islands
Pot D: Lithuania, Latvia, Albania, Armenia*, Luxembourg, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino, Gibraltar, Malta, Kosovo*
Who was involved?
• Hosts Estonia qualify directly for the final tournament in May 2020.
• Top seeds Spain and England receive a bye to the elite round.
• The remaining 52 entrants start in the qualifying round where they have been split into 13 groups of four.
The draw
• There were four seeding pots in accordance with the coefficient rankings list, with the 13 countries with the highest ranking in Pot A, the next 13 in Pot B, and so on.
• Each group has one team from each pot, with hosts then appointed to stage the mini-tournaments in autumn 2019.