The Cyprus national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team for Cyprus. It is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association.
The team drew their first official match 0–0 in 1978 at home to Spain in a qualifying match for the 1980 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. They then drew 0–0 with the trophy holders Yugoslavia, also at home. They lost both away games though. And finished last in the group of three teams, with two points from four games, and so did not qualify for the Finals.
In the qualifying stages for the 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, Cyprus made history when they defeated France 2–1 in Cyprus as it was the countries first ever official victory at National or Under-21 football level. The scorer of the Cypriot goals was Islington born Kikis Kyriacou of Olympiakos Nicosia whose promising career was brought to a premature end following a horrific leg injury.
In the qualifying stages for the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, the team beat Greece 1-0 and drew 1–1 with Sweden who went on to reach the Final. Cyprus finished last in their qualifying group with three points, the same number as Greece.
The Under 21 team made gradual improvements and in September 1999, in a qualifying match for the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, drew 1–1 in Spain, the eventual winners of the competition. The team finished fourth out of five teams in their qualifying group, ahead of Austria.
The qualifying stages for the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship provided the greatest achievement for the Cyprus under-21 national team to date, when they finished second in Qualification Group One, with 15 points, winning five of their eight matches. France won the group with 22 points, seven points ahead of Cyprus.
In 2004, Cyprus joined the European Union, and Cypriot teams took advantage of the Bosman rule bringing in foreign players. This has meant that young Cypriot players are now not as common in the Cypriot First Division and is therefore also having an adverse effect on the under-21 national team.
European Championship record Under-21 UEFA European Under-21 Championship recordUEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Qualification recordYearRound1978did not enter-1980Europe U-21 Championship 1980did not qualify4 0 2 2 1 5 −41982Europe U-21 Championship 19824 1 0 3 4 7 −31984Europe U-21 Championship 19846 0 0 6 4 14 −101986Europe U-21 Championship 19866 0 2 4 3 13 -101988Europe U-21 Championship 19886 1 0 5 4 18 −141990Europe U-21 Championship 19904 0 1 3 0 3 −31992Europe U-21 Championship 19926 1 1 4 3 15 −12 1994Europe U-21 Championship 19948 0 0 8 4 21 −17 1996Europe U-21 Championship 199610 3 1 6 10 25 −15 1998Europe U-21 Championship 19988 3 1 4 16 15 +1 2000Europe U-21 Championship 20008 1 3 4 7 18 −11 2002Europe U-21 Championship 20028 3 0 5 9 17 −8 2004Europe U-21 Championship 20048 5 0 3 12 5 +7 2006Europe U-21 Championship 20068 0 1 7 2 17 -15 2007Europe U-21 Championship 20072 0 0 2 0 3 −3 2009Europe U-21 Championship 20098 2 0 6 9 15 −6 2011Europe U-21 Championship 20118 2 0 6 8 13 −5 2013Europe U-21 Championship 201310 4 0 6 16 20 −4 2015Europe U-21 Championship 20158 2 0 6 7 21 −14 20175 0 1 4 2 12 −10 2019Qualification in progress8 2 0 6 7 18 -11 Total0/210000000139321999132286−154
UEFA U-21 Euro 2019 qualification
Friendly matches
Coaching staff Position Name Coach Nikos Andronikou Assistant coach Venizelos Tziambazis Goalkeeper coach Christoforos Loizou Fitness coach Constantinos Rostantis
Players Current squad Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible for 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying games.
The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group A matches against Romania, Kosovo and San Marino on 25, 30 September and 6 October 2026; respectively.
Caps and goals correct as of 30 September 2026, after the match against Kosovo.
Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up for Cyprus under-21's within the last twelve months and remain eligible for selection.
See also Cyprus national football team Cyprus national under-19 football team Cyprus national under-17 football team UEFA European Under-21 Championship
References
External links CFA.COM.CY U21 - Cyprus Football Association Official Page UEFA.COM - Cyprus U21 National Team