Germany set to kick off trophy defence

On Saturday the winners of the last three editions, Germany, England and France, enter the race for seven places at the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship this summer.

The trio were all given a bye through September's first qualifying round, but join the 21 qualifiers in the second stage. Germany begin their defence against Poland on Saturday and meet Northern Ireland two days later, but perhaps the biggest obstacle to an automatic spot is Sweden, their final Group 2 opponents on Thursday 5 April.

On paper, England have an easier route to Turkey as they stage Group 6, meeting Finland, Austria and 2013 hosts Wales. Not so France, who, after opening Group 3 against Romania, face the Netherlands, finalists in the past two seasons, before concluding their fixtures against an Iceland side that beat England earlier this month.

Group 5 is perhaps the most daunting of all, however, as that pits together three former winners. Two meet on Saturday as Spain's tie with Italy gets the second qualifying round under way at 10.00CET, before Scotland take on section hosts and 2005 champions, Russia.

The games for all the groups are played on 31 March, 2 April and 5 April. The six group winners and the runners-up with the best record against the teams first and third in their section will join hosts Turkey in the finals from 2 to 14 July.

Second qualifying round match schedule

Second qualifying round groups (*Hosts)
Group 1: Norway, Czech Republic, Belgium, Portugal*

Group 2: Germany, Sweden*, Poland, Northern Ireland

Group 3: France, Iceland, Romania, Netherlands*

Group 4: Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Serbia*

Group 5: Spain, Scotland, Italy, Russia*

Group 6: England*, Austria, Finland, Wales