November's U21 EURO qualifying action
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
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Spain, Serbia and France maintained their perfect records after the last Under-21 qualifiers of the year, while England, holders Germany and Belgium are also well placed.
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Qualifying for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Italy and San Marino ended for the year over the last week.
How qualifying works
• Italy have a bye to the finals in summer 2019 but co-hosts San Marino must qualify.
• Kosovo and Gibraltar are making debuts among record field of 54 teams competing in qualifying.
• The nine group winners qualify automatically for the finals.
• The four runners-up with the best records against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their group go into the play-offs, where a pair of two-legged ties will decide the last two qualifiers.
The groups: what has happened so far?
Group 1
Greece and Croatia had 100% records before Monday's 1-1 draw and at the halfway stage both are six points clear of the Czech Republic, who have a game in hand and won both their November games, and Belarus.
Group 2
Spain beat Iceland 1-0 and then Slovakia for the second time in five weeks to keep up their perfect start and go two points clear of Northern Ireland, who have played a game more and were held 1-1 in Albania.
Group 3
Denmark's advantage at the summit is down to a point as they were overpowered 3-1 by a Poland side that had needed a last-gasp equaliser to draw 2-2 in the Faroe Islands.
Group 4
England's 2-0 win in Ukraine has allowed them to stay five points ahead of the Netherlands, who won 8-0 at home to Andorra, and a Ukraine side that bounced back with a 2-0 home win against Scotland. The Scots also drew 1-1 with Latvia.
Group 5
Holders Germany won 7-0 in Azerbaijan, then put five past Israel though it had been in the balance at 2-2 with 11 minutes left. Norway, who beat Germany last month, claimed a last-gasp victory over the Republic of Ireland.
Group 6
Belgium increased their lead to six points as they won 3-2 against Cyprus and then 2-1 in Turkey while Sweden were held 2-2 in Hungary.Level with Sweden on eight points, and also with two games in hand, are Hungary thanks to their 2-0 win in Cyprus: the top three remain unbeaten.
Group 7
Serbia's perfect record continued as they won 3-1 in Austria and 1-0 in Armenia, leaving them five points clear of Russia. Austria are a point further back after a 4-0 victory in FYR Macedonia.
Group 8
Leaders Romania drew 1-1 with Portugal, allowing Bosnia and Herzegovina to close to within two points thanks to a 4-0 win in Wales. Romania were held again on Tuesday, this time in Wales, while Portugal edged out Switzerland.
Group 9
France maintained their perfect record by beating Bulgaria 3-0 and winning 3-1 against previously unbeaten second-placed Slovenia to go five points clear.
Road to Italy and San Marino: remaining match dates
Qualifying group stage
22–27 March 2018
7–8 June 2018
5–11 September 2018
11–16 October 2018
Play-offs
12–20 November 2018
Final tournament
16–30 June 2019