England face Netherlands, Scotland in 2019 U21 qualifying

The nine qualifying groups for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Italy and San Marino were decided by Thursday's draw in Nyon. A record 54 teams will be involved, with the first matches taking place in late March – nearly three months before the 2017 finals in Poland.

2019 Under-21 qualifying group stage draw
Group 1: Czech Republic*, Croatia, Greece, Moldova, Belarus, San Marino

Group 2: Spain*, Slovakia*, Iceland, Albania, Estonia, Northern Ireland

Group 3: Denmark*, Poland*, Finland, Georgia, Lithuania, Faroe Islands

Group 4: England*, Netherlands, Ukraine, Scotland, Latvia, Andorra

Group 5: Germany*, Israel, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Azerbaijan, Kosovo

Group 6: Sweden*, Belgium, Turkey, Hungary, Cyprus, Malta

Group 7: Serbia*, Austria, Russia, FYR Macedonia*, Armenia, Gibraltar

Group 8: Portugal*, Switzerland, Romania, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein

Group 9: France, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg

*Competing at 2017 finals in Poland from 16–30 June along with Italy

Draw lowdown
• Italy have a bye to the finals in summer 2019 but their co-hosts San Marino must qualify.

• Kosovo and Gibraltar are making debuts among a record 54 teams competing in qualifying.

• The nine group winners will qualify automatically for the finals.

• The four runners-up with the best records against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their group will go into the play-offs and be drawn into two ties to decide the last pair of qualifiers.

Road to Italy and San Marino: match dates
Qualifying group stage
20–28 March 2017
5–13 June 2017
28 August–5 September 2017
2–10 October 2017
6–14 November 2017
19–27 March 2018
3–11 September 2018
8–16 October 2018

Play-offs
12–20 November 2018