UEFA European Under 19 Championship

The UEFA European Under-19 Championship is an annual football competition organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. The competition has been held since 1948. It was originally called the FIFA junior tournament, until it was taken over by UEFA in 1955. In 1980, it was restyled the European Under 18 Football Championship, and as changes were made to player eligibility dates in 2001, the championship received its current name, and this name has been used since the 2002 championship. The contest has been held every year since its inauguration in 1948, except for the period between 1984 and 1992, when it was only held every other year.

Contents

• Winners by country
• Golden Player
• Top goalscorer
• References

The tournament has been played in a number of different formats during its existence. Currently it consists of two stages, similarly to UEFA's other European championship competitions. The qualifying stage is open to all UEFA members, and the final stage is contested between eight teams.

During even years, the best finishing teams qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in the next (odd) year. Currently, five teams can qualify for the World Cup, consisting of the top two of their groups plus the winner of a play-off match between the third-placed teams of each group.

The age limit of the event was under-18 (calendar year) at the beginning of the qualification but co-current with the new name, the age limit became under-19 during the final tournament. Thus, the age limit never changed as the qualification always began a year before the final tournament.