The year in youth football

The last 12 months in youth football have been particularly hectic with the final tournaments of two UEFA and FIFA competitions all taking place and eight sides reaching next summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship after a lengthy qualification process.

Italian challenge
Reigning U21 champions Italy clinched their 2006 qualifying group by a ten-point margin before squeezing past Hungary 2-1 on aggregate in the play-offs. The holders will face a stern test, however, with Portugal having won all ten qualifying games, defeated Switzerland to reach the finals, and been selected as hosts. Also through are Germany - the second team to qualify unbeaten - France, 2004 runners-up Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine, Denmark and the Netherlands. From 2007 the U21 finals will be held in odd-numbered years, with the Netherlands staging the first of those tournaments.

Europe dominate
Turkey staged the 2005 UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup in February. The four European nations, France, Spain, the hosts and Portugal did not lose a game between them against Africa's Sierra Leone, Egypt, Nigeria and Cameroon. From 2007 there will be a new format; a two-match encounter between Under-18 select teams representing each continent.

Turkish triumph
The year's first European finals took place in Italy, where the hosts, Turkey, England, Belarus, Croatia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Israel contested the fourth European U17 Championship in May. In the semi-finals, the Dutch defeated the hosts 1-0 after extra time in the last four, while Turkey triumphed 3-1 against Croatia. Italy earned third place with a 2-1 extra-time success against Croatia, before Turkey beat the Dutch 2-0 with Deniz Yilmaz and Tevfik Köse goals to lift the trophy.

Peruvian vanguard
Turkey, the Netherlands and Italy therefore represented Europe in the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru in autumn. However, Italy missed reaching the quarter-finals, pipped by the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in Group C. In the last eight, Turkey crushed China 5-1 while the Dutch defeated the US 2-0, but both came unstuck in the semi-finals. Mexico inflicted a 4-0 defeat on the Netherlands, while Turkey battled back from three goals down against Brazil only to lose 4-3. The Netherlands responded better to their disappointment, John Goossen's double earning a 2-1 win against the European champions and third place in the competition, which was won by Mexico, 3-0 against Brazil in Lima.

French flourish
Back in Europe, the European U19 Championship took place in Northern Ireland in July, with France, England, Norway, Armenia - savouring a first final tournament at any level - Germany, Greece and Serbia and Montenegro joining the hosts. The semi-finals pitted France against Germany and England against the Serbo-Montenegrins, with the French prevailing 3-2 while Matthew Fryatt's hat-trick earned England a 3-1 victory. The two met in pouring rain at Belfast’s Windsor Park and England led at half-time through Lee Holmes' deflected effort, but Mohamed Chakouri, Abdoulaye Balde and Yohan Gouffran struck to turn the tide in France's favour. Next year's U19 finals are in Poland, with Luxembourg staging the U17 event. The 28 hopefuls remaining in each competition were drawn into their Elite round groups during the successful UEFA Youth Conference in Cyprus last month.

Dutch disappointment
Six European sides joined hosts the Netherlands in the 24-team FIFA World Youth Championship in early summer, with the Spanish side that lifted the 2004 European U19 crown, runners-up Turkey, Switzerland, Ukraine, Germany and Italy all taking part. The Swiss bowed out in the group stage, Ukraine and Turkey departed in the last 16 and Morocco, Brazil, Nigeria and Argentina defeated Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain respectively in the quarter-finals. Argentina claimed the trophy thanks to two goals in the final against Nigeria from FC Barcelona prodigy Lionel Messi.

2005 Roll of Honour

UEFA European Under-17 Championship (Italy)
Winners: Turkey
Runners-up: Netherlands
3rd place: Italy
4th place: Croatia

UEFA European Under-19 Championship (Northern Ireland)
Winners: France
Runners-up: England
Semi-finals: Germany and Serbia and Montenegro

Qualifiers for 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (Portugal)
Italy (holders), Portugal, Germany, France, Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine, Denmark, Netherlands

UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup (Turkey)
Winners: Europe (France, Spain, Turkey, Portugal)

FIFA U-17 World Championship (Peru)
Winners: Mexico
Runner-up: Brazil
3rd place: Netherlands
4th place: Turkey

FIFA World Youth Championship (Netherlands)
Winners: Argentina
Runners-up: Nigeria
3rd place: Brazil
4th place: Morocco