The 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship and the 73rd edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are also included. It was the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-19 national teams of Europe. Wales, which was selected by UEFA on 26 September 2023, hosted the tournament from 28 June to 11 July 2026. A total of eight teams played in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2007 eligible to participate.
As with previous editions held in even-numbered years, the tournament acted as the UEFA qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The four semi-finalists qualified for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, while the two third-placed teams in the group stage met in a play-off for another UEFA berth.
Spain won the tournament and extended their lead in total championships for this age range.
Despite being the lowest attended edition of the under-19 tournament in history, Football Association of Wales CEO Noel Mooney said that "UEFA have been absolutely delighted with how we've managed this tournament and the delivery of this tournament."
Wales, making its debut, became the first country to register no points or goals in the tournament since Bulgaria in the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Wales also set a record with the worst goal difference in tournament history (−14).
Venues Upon being awarded the tournament in 2023, the Football Association of Wales anticipated that the tournament would be staged across five venues in north Wales: Bangor, Colwyn Bay, Deeside, Denbigh and Wrexham. The final list of match venues was later confirmed as four stadiums: the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, Bangor City Stadium in Bangor, The Oval in Caernarfon and Central Park in Denbigh. Colwyn Bay and Rhyl were listed among the training venues for the tournament.
Wrexham Bangor Racecourse Ground Bangor City Stadium Capacity: 13,341 Capacity: 3,000 Caernarfon Denbigh The OvalCapacity: 3,000 Central ParkCapacity: 2,300
Qualification
Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the final tournament.
Note: All appearance statistics include only the U-19 era since 2002.
TeamQualification methodDate of qualificationAppearance(s)Previous best performance Host nation1stDebutDebut 200220252 (2008, 2014) 200520221 (2013) 201020161Semi-finals (2010) 202420253Group stage (2024, 2025) 200420241 (2009) 200320241 (2003, 2023) 200220254 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2024)
Officials A total of 6 Referees, 8 Assistants and 2 Fourth Officials were selected for the tournament.
RefereesAssistant RefereesFourth Officials
Squads
Each national team submitted a squad of 20 players, two of whom had to be goalkeepers. Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to participate. The age listed for each player is their age as of 28 June 2026, the first day of the tournament.
Group stage The group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals. The third-placed teams advance to the FIFA U-20 World Cup play-off.
Tie-breaking criteria for group playThe ranking of teams in the group stage is determined as follows:
Points obtained in all group matches; Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Penalty shoot-out if only two teams have the same number of points, and they met in the last round of the group and are tied after applying all criteria above (not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if their rankings are not relevant for qualification for the next stage); Disciplinary points UEFA coefficient for the qualifying round draw; Drawing of lots.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winners if necessary.
Bracket
FIFA U-20 World Cup play-off Winners advance to the inter-confederation play-offs, to qualify for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Semi-finals
Final Spain won their record-extending tenth Under-19 European Championship title, defeating Germany 2–0 in the final at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.
Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 World Cup The following teams from UEFA qualified for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup, including Azerbaijan, which qualified as co-host. was advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Team Qualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup1 (H) 0 (debut) 17th (1977, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2025) 12th (1981, 1987, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2015 and 2017) 6th (2001, 2005, 2015, 2019 and 2025) 4th (1999, 2011 and 2013) 1 Bold indicates champions for that year
Inter-confederation play-offs
A four-team play-off tournament will decide the final slot in the competition. The play-off slot allocation is as follows:
AFC (Asia): 1 slot:TBD (March 2027) CONMEBOL (South America): 1 slot:TBD (February 2027) OFC (Oceania): 1 slot:TBD (12 September 2026) UEFA (Europe): 1 slot:
The competition will be held at a neutral venue and will consist of two single leg semi-finals and a final, with the winner of the final qualifying.
Goalscorers
Team of the Tournament The UEFA Technical Observer group announced the team of the tournament after the end of the competition. Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards Manuel González
Notes
References
External links
UEFA U19 EURO 2026 at the Football Association of Wales