New generation compete for title

Four months after hosts France defeated Spain 2-1 in Châteauroux to claim victory in the 2003/04 UEFA European Under-17 Championship final, 48 sides take the first steps on the long road towards the 2004/05 final tournament in Italy.

Quartet exempt
With the hosts automatically qualifying for next summer’s event, which will be held in Tuscany between 3 and 14 May 2005, the top two from each of the 12 first-round groups, together with the best third-placed side, will join 2004 runners-up Spain, England -  who finished fourth in France - and Hungary in the second qualifying round.

Austrian opening
Austria, who qualified for the 2004 finals but finished third in their first-round group and failed to reach the semi-finals, and Azerbaijan have the honour of contesting the first game of this season’s competition when they meet in Esch-sur-Alzette on 19 September, with Moldova taking on Luxembourg later the same day in the second match in Group 12.

Title defence
The holders are in Group 2, which kicks off on 19 October and with Belgium, Latvia and hosts Bosnia-Herzegovina comprising the opposition. 2003 winners Portugal, meanwhile, get their campaign under way on 24 September against San Marino, with mini-tournament hosts Belarus and Malta making up Group 11.

Tight tussles
Georgia, F.Y.R Macedonia, Finland are Greece will contest two qualifying places in Group 8, which starts on 20 September, while four days later the Czech Republic play Sweden and Denmark take on Slovenia in the opening round of matches in Group 6.

Further groups
Mini-tournament hosts Romania against Belgium is the first match in Group 1 on 25 September, with Poland taking on Estonia in the section’s other game that day. Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia will be most people’s favourites to progress from Group 7, which also includes Albania and Andorra and kicks off on 27 September, while on the final day of the month Iceland meet the Republic of Ireland and Germany play Lithuania as Group 3 begins to take shape.

October encounters
The games continue to come thick and fast in October, with Group 5 beginning 18 days into the month as Israel meet the Faroe Islands and Scotland play Norway, while the following day the Netherlands play Wales and Turkey - 2004 qualifiers - meet Armenia in Group 9.

Final sections
The final two sections are both played at the end of the month, with Cyprus hosting the Group 4 mini-tournament that will also be contested by Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine and kicks off on 26 October, while the following day the 12th and final group is played as Switzerland, Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Liechtenstein meet to decide who will progress from Group 10.

Second-round qualifiers: 

N.B. Seeds in bold. The winners of each second-round group will join hosts Italy at next summer's final tournament.