Under-19 elite round draw made
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
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Seven groups of four will be played from 25 to 31 March deciding Northern Ireland's finals opponents.
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The UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite round draw has produced the groups for the last week of March, with seven places on offer in the finals in Northern Ireland.
The draw was made by Arsen Yeghiazaryan, captain of last season’s Armenia team, who received the Respect Fair Play trophy on behalf of the squad from UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis.
Elite round draw: matches 25–31 March
Group 1: Austria, Wales (hosts), Germany, Serbia
Group 2: Spain (hosts, holders), Belgium, Bulgaria, North Macedonia
Group 3: Georgia, Scotland, France (hosts), Russia
Group 4: England, Ukraine, Denmark (hosts), Latvia
Group 5: Italy (hosts), Norway, Iceland, Slovenia
Group 6: Portugal, Turkey, Croatia (hosts), Slovakia
Group 7: Netherlands (hosts), Czech Republic, Switzerland, Finland
• The group winners qualify to join hosts Northern Ireland in the finals from 19 July to 1 August with the draw on 22 April. The tournament will act as Europe's qualifier for the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia.
• Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, North Macedonia and Wales are aiming to qualify for the first time (though Denmark and Iceland did compete in the pre-2001/02 U18 finals).
How the draw worked
Draw procedure
• There were four seeding pots in accordance with the coefficient rankings list, the seven countries with the highest coefficients in Pot A, the next seven in Pot B, and so on.
The pots
Pot A: Portugal, Austria, Netherlands, England, Italy, Spain (holders), Georgia
Pot B: Turkey, Belgium, Czech Republic, Norway, Ukraine, Wales, Scotland
Pot C: Switzerland, Germany, France, Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Denmark
Pot D: Slovakia, Slovenia, Russia, Serbia, Latvia, Finland, North Macedonia
• No team could play a nation they met in the qualifying round.
• On the basis of previous decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and the UEFA Emergency Panel, the following countries could not be drawn into the same group: Russia and Ukraine.
• Each group comprises one side from each pot, with the hosts then appointed to hold the mini-tournaments in the spring.
• The group winners qualify to join hosts Northern Ireland in the finals from 19 July to 1 August. The tournament will act as Europe's qualifier for the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia.
Who was in which qualifying round group?
Group 1: Turkey, Bulgaria
Group 2: Spain (holders), Serbia
Group 3: Scotland, Germany
Group 4: Belgium, Iceland
Group 5: Wales, Russia
Group 6: Italy, Slovakia
Group 7: Czech Republic, Norway
Group 8: Denmark, France, Finland (best third-placed)
Group 9: Ukraine, Slovenia
Group 10: Austria, Switzerland
Group 11: England, North Macedonia
Group 12: Netherlands, Latvia
Group 13: Georgia, Croatia