2025/26 Under-17 EURO round 1 draw made
Thursday, December 5, 2024
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The draw has set the groups that will begin the road to the eight-team finals in Estonia.
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The 2025/26 UEFA European Under-17 Championship round 1 draw has set the groups that begin the road to the eight-team finals in Estonia.
The draw was made by Bjorn Vassallo, chairman of the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee, and Yaël Thébault, part of the France team in the 2024 finals, who received the Respect Fair Play trophy on behalf of the squad.
2025/26 U17 EURO round 1 draw
Group 1: Italy, Ukraine, Montenegro, Estonia (finals hosts)
Group 2: Czechia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Gibraltar
Group 3: England, Sweden, Lithuania, Scotland
Group 4: Spain, Denmark, Latvia, Andorra
Group 5: Belgium, Norway, Belarus, Moldova
Group 6: Austria, Republic of Ireland, Kosovo, Faroe Islands
Group 7: Serbia, Türkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta
Group 8: Croatia, Netherlands, Albania, Kazakhstan
Group 9: France, Israel, Romania, Azerbaijan
Group 10: Switzerland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, San Marino
Group 11: Northern Ireland, Finland, Cyprus, Armenia
Group 12: Portugal, Slovenia, Wales, Liechtenstein
Group 13: Poland, Germany, Luxembourg
Group 14: Greece, Iceland, Georgia
The mini-tournaments will be played between 1 July and 18 November 2025, with the group hosts agreed after the draw is made. Estonia will take part in both rounds of qualifying though their place in the final tournament is assured as hosts.
On completion of round 1, the 14 group winners and 14 runners-up qualify for round 2 League A. The remaining 26 teams participate in round 2 League B.
Teams in round 2 League A will compete in spring 2026 for seven places alongside hosts Estonia in the final tournament, as well as places in the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.
Teams in both round 2 leagues will play for promotion and relegation between the leagues ahead of 2027/28 U19 EURO round 1.
Competition entries and system
Fifty-four member associations will take part in round 1, including Estonia, the team of the host association staging the final tournament. They will be drawn into 12 groups of four teams and two groups of three teams.
Rankings
The round 1 overall rankings of the 2024/25 edition of the Under-17 championship are taken into account for the round 1 draw of the 2025/26 edition of the Under-17 championship (see article 19.01 of the 2024/25 regulations).
On completion of round 1, an overall ranking is established according to the criteria listed below. Because the groups in round 1 are different sizes, the results of matches against the fourth-placed team are not taken into account for the purposes of comparing the teams placed first, second and third in their respective group.
The following criteria are applied in the order given:
a. higher position in the group
b. higher number of points
c. superior goal difference
d. higher number of goals scored
e. lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points)
f. higher position in the qualifying round coefficient rankings for round 1.
Draw conditions
On the basis of decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and the UEFA Emergency Panel, valid at the time of the draw, the following countries could not be drawn into the same group: Spain and Gibraltar, Belarus and Ukraine, and Kosovo and Serbia.
The other prohibited team pairings could not happen due to the pot composition.
Draw procedure
Pot allocation
The 54 associations were split into 4 pots, as follows:
Pot A:
• Associations ranked 1 to 14 (14 teams)
Italy, Portugal, England, France, Belgium, Spain, Czechia, Switzerland, Poland, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Austria, Northern Ireland
Pot B:
• Associations ranked 15 to 28 (14 teams)
Germany, Iceland, Slovenia, Türkiye, Netherlands, Denmark, Ukraine, Slovakia, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Finland
Pot C:
• Associations ranked 29 to 42 (14 teams)
Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Luxembourg, Romania, Albania, Kosovo, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Wales, Latvia, North Macedonia, Belarus
Pot D:
• Associations ranked 43 to 54 (12 teams)
Scotland, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Armenia, Moldova, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein
The teams were allocated to groups in ascending order. If clashes arose, the team drawn will be moved to the next available group. The draw continued by first filling the slot left vacant. If clashes arose in the last three or four groups, the teams were allocated to groups appropriately.
The draw started with Pot A and end with Pot D. Each pot was emptied before moving to the next pot.
First draw phase
• The teams in Pot A were drawn one after another and placed in the first position in Groups 1 to 14.
Second draw phase
• The teams in Pot B were drawn one after another and placed in the second position in Groups 1 to 14.
Third draw phase
• The teams in Pot C were drawn one after another and each one placed in the third position in one of the 14 groups.
Fourth draw phase
• The teams in Pot D were drawn one after another and each one placed in the fourth position in one of the 12 groups.