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Under-21 EURO records, facts and figures

All the records from the Under-21 EURO and its predecessor U23 competition.

Spain won a record-equalling fifth title in 2019
Spain won a record-equalling fifth title in 2019 AFP via Getty Images

Roll of honour: finals

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

16-team final tournaments
2023: England 1-0 Spain (hosts: Georgia and Romania)
2021: Germany 1-0 Portugal (Hungary and Slovenia)

12-team final tournaments
2019: Spain 2-1 Germany (Italy and San Marino)
2017: Germany 1-0 Spain (Poland)

How the Under-21 finals were won 1996-2017

Eight-team final tournaments (including group stage)
2015: Sweden 0-0aet, 4-3pens Portugal (Czechia)
2013: Spain 4-2 Italy (Israel)
2011: Spain 2-0 Switzerland (Denmark)
2009: Germany 4-0 England (Sweden)
2007: Netherlands 4-1 Serbia (Netherlands)
2006: Netherlands 3-0 Ukraine (Portugal)
2004: Italy 4-0 Serbia and Montenegro (Germany)
2002: Czechia 0-0aet, 3-1pens France (Switzerland)
2000: Italy 2-1 Czechia (Slovakia)

Eight-team final tournaments (knockout)
1998: Spain 1-0 Greece (Romania)

Four-team final tournaments (knockout)
1996: Italy 1-1aet, 4-2pens Spain (Spain)
1994: Italy 1-0aet Portugal (France)

Two-legged final
1992: Italy 2-1agg Sweden
1990: Soviet Union 7-3agg Yugoslavia
1988: France 3-0agg Greece
1986: Spain 3-3agg, 3-0pens Italy
1984: England 3-0agg Spain
1982: England 5-4agg West Germany
1980: Soviet Union 1-0agg East Germany
1978: Yugoslavia 5-4agg East Germany

UEFA European Under-23 Championship

Two-legged final
1976: Soviet Union 3-2agg Hungary
1974: Hungary 6-3agg East Germany
1972: Czechoslovakia 5-3agg Soviet Union

Team records

Spain vs Italy: Stars of previous U21s

Most titles
5: Italy
5: Spain
3: England
3: Germany
2: Netherlands
2: Russia (including Soviet Union)

Most finals
9: Spain
7: Italy
5: Germany (including West Germany)
4: England
4: Serbia (including Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro)
3: Portugal

Most semi-finals
11: Italy
11: Spain
10: England
7: Serbia (including Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro)
6: France
6: Germany (including West Germany)
6: Netherlands

In 2000 there was no semi-final round. Italy beat Czechia in the final after both won their groups; Spain beat Slovakia for third place after both finished second in their groups.

Most games played (including qualifying)
274: Italy
271: England
264: Spain
241: France
238: Germany (including West Germany)
234: Portugal
227: Serbia (including Serbia and Montenegro/Yugoslavia)
225: Sweden
224: Netherlands
220: Denmark

Most goals scored (including qualifying)
581: Spain
571: Germany (including West Germany)
564: England
511: Italy
494: Portugal
477: Netherlands
468: France
442: Denmark

Biggest wins

Qualifying: Spain 14-0 San Marino (08/02/2005)
Two-legged knockout: England 6-1 France (28/02/1984), West Germany 5-0 Soviet Union (30/04/1982), Hungary 5-0 Poland (26/03/1986), Denmark 5-0 Poland (11/03/1992)
Final tournament: England 6-0 Türkiye (29/05/2000)

Player records

Individual match goalscoring

Qualifying: 5 – Jan Chramosta (Czechia, vs Andorra, 05/06/2012), Gojko Kačar (Serbia, vs Hungary, 07/09/2008)

Two-legged knockout: 4 – Aris Karasavvidis (Greece, vs Netherlands, semi-final first leg, 13/04/1988), Mark Hateley (England, vs France, quarter-final first leg, 28/02/1984)

Final tournament: 3 – Luca Waldschmidt (Germany, vs Serbia, 20/06/2019), Marco Asensio (Spain, vs North Macedonia, 17/06/2017), Jan Kliment (Czechia, vs Serbia, 20/06/2015), Thiago Alcántara (Spain, vs Italy, 18/06/2013), Marcus Berg (Sweden, vs Belarus, 16/06/2009)

Fastest goal: 20 seconds – Abel Ruiz (Spain, vs Croatia, 24/06/2023)

2019 highlights: Germany 6-1 Serbia

Top scorers

Final tournament (since introduction of group stage)
2023: Sergio Gómez (Spain), Abel Ruiz (Spain), Georgiy Sudakov (Ukraine) 3
2021: Lukas Nmecha (Germany) 4
2019: Luca Waldschmidt (Germany) 7
2017: Saúl Ñíguez (Spain) 5
2015: Jan Kliment (Czechia) 3
2013: Álvaro Morata (Spain) 4
2011: Adrián (Spain) 5
2009: Marcus Berg (Sweden) 7
2007: Maceo Rigters (Netherlands) 4
2006: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands) 4
2004: Alberto Gilardino (Italy), Johan Elmander (Sweden) 4
2002: Massimo Maccarone (Italy) 3
2000: David Jarolím (Czechia), Igor Tudor (Croatia), Lukáš Došek (Czechia) 2

Overall competition (including qualifying)
2023: Gonçalo Ramos (Portugal) 12
2021: Odsonne Édouard (France), Eddie Nketiah (England) 13
2019: Dawid Kownacki (Poland), George Puşcaş (Romania) 11
2017: Patrik Schick (Czechia) 11
2015: Saido Berahino (England) 10
2013: Rodrigo (Spain) 12
2011: Tomáš Pekhart (Czechia) 10
2009: Robert Acquafresca (Italy) 8
2007: Nikita Bazhenov (Russia), Igor Denisov (Russia), Dragan Mrdja (Serbia), Maceo Rigters (Netherlands), Theo Walcott (England) 4
2006: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands) 14
2004: Alberto Gilardino (Italy) 11
2002: Ricardo Cabanas (Switzerland) 9
2000: Lampros Choutos (Greece) 15
1998: Steffen Iversen (Norway) 9
1996: Roy Makaay (Netherlands), Ole Gunnar Solskjær (Norway) 10
1994: Toni (Portugal) 8
1992: Peter Møller (Denmark) 9
1990: Igor Kolyvanov (Soviet Union) 9
1988: Aristidis Karasavidis (Greece) 5
1986: Gianluca Vialli (Italy) 4
1984: Mark Hateley (England) 6
1982: Pierre Littbarski (West Germany) 6
1980: Ramaz Shengelia (Soviet Union) 3
1978: Vahid Halilhodžić (Yugoslavia) 6

Under-21 rewind: Berg hat-trick stuns Belarus

All-time final tournaments (since 2000)
7 Marcus Berg (Sweden)
7 Luca Waldschmidt (Germany)
5 Adrián (Spain)
5 Saúl Ñíguez (Spain)

All-time competition, including qualifying
15 Lampros Choutos (Greece)
15 Tomáš Pekhart (Czechia)
15 George Puşcaş (Romania)
14 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands)
14 Roy Makaay (Netherlands)
14 Marcus Ingvartsen (Denmark)
14 Gonçalo Ramos (Portugal)
14 Fábio Silva (Portugal)*
13 Odsonne Édouard (France)
13 Ikoma-Loïs Openda (Belgium)
13 Eddie Nketiah (England)
13 Fábio Vieira (Portugal)

*includes 2025 edition

Most appearances

Final tournaments (since 2000)
13 Branislav Ivanović (Serbia/Serbia and Montenegro)
11 Dejan Milovanović (Serbia/Serbia and Montenegro)
10 Thiago Alcántara (Spain)
10 Nathaniel Chalobah (England)
10 David de Gea (Spain)
10 Nathan Redmond (England)
10 Abel Ruiz (Spain)

Overall, including qualifying
32 James Milner (England)
29 Jan Polák (Czechia)
28 Mickaël Landreau (France)
27 Gerard Deulofeu (Spain)
27 Branislav Ivanović (Serbia/Serbia and Montenegro)
27 Victor Nelsson (Denmark)

Highest attendances

U21 final tournament: 44,338 – Georgia vs Israel (01/07/2023, Tbilisi)
U21 final
: 35,500 – Italy vs Spain (31/05/1996, Barcelona)
U21 two-legged knockout
: 32,152 – Spain vs Italy (29/10/1986, Valladolid)
U21 qualifying play-off
: 42,000 – Türkiye vs Germany (18/11/2003, Istanbul)
U21 qualifying group
: 38,763 – Russia vs Serbia (11/09/2018, Nizhniy Novgorod)
U23: 67,392 – Austria vs Czechoslovakia (15/10/1972, Vienna)

Last updated: 15/10/2024