It was a busy day at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Tuesday, as the draws for the European Championship Elite Rounds were made.
England have qualified in both the U19 and U17 edition and now know who they must face if they are to secure a spot at next summer’s Euro Finals in Georgia and Croatia respectively.
And last season’s U19s captain Freddie Woodman was in Switzerland to make the draw as well as collect the Fair Play Award following the Young Lions’ performances at the Euro Finals in Germany earlier this year.
Keith Downing’s U19s were in the third pot of seedings for their draw and were pulled out alongside Spain, Norway and Belarus in Group 3, with only the nation who tops the group progressing to next July’s finals. However, England will have home advantage as they will host the mini-tournament.
The UEFA European U19 Championship trophy
For Steve Cooper’s U17s, they will take on Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia and Czech Republic knowing that the group winners and seven best runners-up will all qualify for the trip to Croatia in May. Those games will be staged by Bosnia & Herzegovina in March.
The draws for next season’s U19 and U17 first qualifying round were also made on Tuesday morning, with the U19s drawn out in Group 8 alongside Bulgaria, Faroe Islands and Iceland.
England U17s will not be involved in the 2017-18 qualifying stages, with automatic qualification due to hosting the Finals in May 2018.
U19s Elite Round draw
Group 1 (23–28 March): Netherlands*, Greece, Ukraine, Finland
Group 2 (23–28 March): Germany*, Slovakia, Serbia, Cyprus
Group 3 (22–27 March): Spain, Norway, England*, Belarus
Group 4 (23–28 March): Croatia, Turkey, Poland, Portugal*
Group 5 (22–27 March): Israel, France* (holders), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria
Group 6 (22–27 March): Austria, Czech Republic*, Hungary, Scotland
Group 7 (23–28 March): Sweden, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Belgium*
*Hosts
The seven group winners will join hosts Georgia in the finals from 2 to 15 July.
U17s Elite Round draw
Group 1 (23–28 March): Germany, Turkey*, Finland, Armenia
Group 2 (21–26 March): Russia, Israel, Hungary*, Norway
Group 3 (10–15 March): Spain, Portugal* (holders), Greece, Poland
Group 4 (17–22 March): Scotland*, Switzerland, Serbia, Montenegro
Group 5 (14–19 March): Netherlands*, Italy, Belarus, Belgium
Group 6 (23–28 March): Sweden, France, Austria*, Ukraine
Group 7 (23–28 March): England, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Slovenia, Czech Republic
Group 8 (15–20 March): Republic of Ireland, Cyprus*, Slovakia, Faroe Islands
*Hosts
• The eight group winners and the seven runners-up with the best records against the teams first and third in their section will join hosts Croatia in the finals from 3 to 19 May.
• The final tournament will also act as the European qualifier for UEFA's five berths in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, running from 6 to 28 October.
