UEFA U17 NEW FORMAT

[Jackson Harrison]

UEFA Youth and amateur committee have reccomended a new format for U17 Euro with 8 teams instead of 16 - it makes sense to bring it in line with others - read the latest circular on here https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/documen ... r-letters/

Have emailed Theodore for more info will let you all know when he's replied.

[Jackson Harrison]

Have just recieved a reply from a lady called Sandra (one of Theodore's assistants)

[amenina]

Have just recieved a reply from a lady called Sandra (one of Theodore's assistants)

Thank you very much for the info.

The under 17 format has changed many times.
1982–1984: 4 teams
1985–2002: 16 teams
2003–2014: 8 teams
2015–2024: 16 teams

So it looks like it will be back to 8 teams starting from 2025.

Also they are looking to introduce the two-tier system, similar to the current women’s youth format, for under-17 starting from 2024/25. Possibly also for under-19, but at the earliest 2025/26.

Personally I think two-tier system is better. Teams are guaranteed two mini-tournaments every year, and are playing with teams of similar strength.

As I have proposed in the thread about FIFA youth tournaments, I think they should use the first qualifying round to decide the qualifiers for the under-17 World Cups. Let’s say there are 7 League A groups, and 14 teams qualify for the World Cup, then the top two teams in each League A group in the first qualifying round qualify. And in the second qualifying round, the top team in each League A group qualify for the UEFA final tournament. This way both round 1 played in autumn and round 2 played in spring will be important.

[Jackson Harrison]

Have just recieved a reply from a lady called Sandra (one of Theodore's assistants)

Thank you very much for the info.

The under 17 format has changed many times.
1982–1984: 4 teams
1985–2002: 16 teams
2003–2014: 8 teams
2015–2024: 16 teams

So it looks like it will be back to 8 teams starting from 2025.

Also they are looking to introduce the two-tier system, similar to the current women’s youth format, for under-17 starting from 2024/25. Possibly also for under-19, but at the earliest 2025/26.

Personally I think two-tier system is better. Teams are guaranteed two mini-tournaments every year, and are playing with teams of similar strength.

As I have proposed in the thread about FIFA youth tournaments, I think they should use the first qualifying round to decide the qualifiers for the under-17 World Cups. Let’s say there are 7 League A groups, and 14 teams qualify for the World Cup, then the top two teams in each League A group in the first qualifying round qualify. And in the second qualifying round, the top team in each League A group qualify for the UEFA final tournament. This way both round 1 played in autumn and round 2 played in spring will be important.

Agree when you talk about using R1 as a WC qualifier but it may have some logistical challenges with age limits etc...

Don't think it's a 2 tier system I think it's a 3 tier system like was planned for U19 before Covid. It makes sense to have 8 teams in the FT though same as U19. Also I've heard rounders that UEFA are considering expanding the U21 to 20 teams from 2025 and introducing a new qualifiers format.

[amenina]

Have just recieved a reply from a lady called Sandra (one of Theodore's assistants)

Thank you very much for the info.

The under 17 format has changed many times.
1982–1984: 4 teams
1985–2002: 16 teams
2003–2014: 8 teams
2015–2024: 16 teams

So it looks like it will be back to 8 teams starting from 2025.

Also they are looking to introduce the two-tier system, similar to the current women’s youth format, for under-17 starting from 2024/25. Possibly also for under-19, but at the earliest 2025/26.

Personally I think two-tier system is better. Teams are guaranteed two mini-tournaments every year, and are playing with teams of similar strength.

As I have proposed in the thread about FIFA youth tournaments, I think they should use the first qualifying round to decide the qualifiers for the under-17 World Cups. Let’s say there are 7 League A groups, and 14 teams qualify for the World Cup, then the top two teams in each League A group in the first qualifying round qualify. And in the second qualifying round, the top team in each League A group qualify for the UEFA final tournament. This way both round 1 played in autumn and round 2 played in spring will be important.

Agree when you talk about using R1 as a WC qualifier but it may have some logistical challenges with age limits etc...

Don't think it's a 2 tier system I think it's a 3 tier system like was planned for U19 before Covid. It makes sense to have 8 teams in the FT though same as U19. Also I've heard rounders that UEFA are considering expanding the U21 to 20 teams from 2025 and introducing a new qualifiers format.

That U19 format was so convoluted. The original draw was held in late 2019. There would have been FOUR qualifying rounds, in autumn 2020, spring 2021, autumn 2021, and spring 2022, ending with the final tournament in July 2022. Of course then Covid happened and none of the matches were played, and UEFA decided to go back to the old format and held a new draw in late 2020. Is UEFA really going to bring it back? Assuming it is implemented for the final tournament in 2026, then they have to hold the first draw in late 2023 according to the original timeline.

[Jackson Harrison]

Thank you very much for the info.

The under 17 format has changed many times.
1982–1984: 4 teams
1985–2002: 16 teams
2003–2014: 8 teams
2015–2024: 16 teams

So it looks like it will be back to 8 teams starting from 2025.

Also they are looking to introduce the two-tier system, similar to the current women’s youth format, for under-17 starting from 2024/25. Possibly also for under-19, but at the earliest 2025/26.

Personally I think two-tier system is better. Teams are guaranteed two mini-tournaments every year, and are playing with teams of similar strength.

As I have proposed in the thread about FIFA youth tournaments, I think they should use the first qualifying round to decide the qualifiers for the under-17 World Cups. Let’s say there are 7 League A groups, and 14 teams qualify for the World Cup, then the top two teams in each League A group in the first qualifying round qualify. And in the second qualifying round, the top team in each League A group qualify for the UEFA final tournament. This way both round 1 played in autumn and round 2 played in spring will be important.

Agree when you talk about using R1 as a WC qualifier but it may have some logistical challenges with age limits etc...

Don't think it's a 2 tier system I think it's a 3 tier system like was planned for U19 before Covid. It makes sense to have 8 teams in the FT though same as U19. Also I've heard rounders that UEFA are considering expanding the U21 to 20 teams from 2025 and introducing a new qualifiers format.

That U19 format was so convoluted. The original draw was held in late 2019. There would have been FOUR qualifying rounds, in autumn 2020, spring 2021, autumn 2021, and spring 2022, ending with the final tournament in July 2022. Of course then Covid happened and none of the matches were played, and UEFA decided to go back to the old format and held a new draw in late 2020. Is UEFA really going to bring it back? Assuming it is implemented for the final tournament in 2026, then they have to hold the first draw in late 2023 according to the original timeline.

Don't actually know exactly what specific format it was as I was abit out of the loop at that time.

Looks like they've used the girls tourneys as a 'dummy run' for the 2 round system with the leagues.

I personally would do this:
League A 20 teams 5*4
League B 20 teams 5*4
League C 15 teams 3*4 + 1*3

2 round with promotion and relegation after each round. 5 winners and 2 beat runners up qualify to Ft with host and 3rd best runner up if host win group.

[Tazmania]

As I have proposed in the thread about FIFA youth tournaments, I think they should use the first qualifying round to decide the qualifiers for the under-17 World Cups. Let’s say there are 7 League A groups, and 14 teams qualify for the World Cup, then the top two teams in each League A group in the first qualifying round qualify. And in the second qualifying round, the top team in each League A group qualify for the UEFA final tournament. This way both round 1 played in autumn and round 2 played in spring will be important.

Does this mean only 28 teams - 7 groups of 4 teams each - can qualify for the U17EC and U17WC?

[amenina]

As I have proposed in the thread about FIFA youth tournaments, I think they should use the first qualifying round to decide the qualifiers for the under-17 World Cups. Let’s say there are 7 League A groups, and 14 teams qualify for the World Cup, then the top two teams in each League A group in the first qualifying round qualify. And in the second qualifying round, the top team in each League A group qualify for the UEFA final tournament. This way both round 1 played in autumn and round 2 played in spring will be important.

Does this mean only 28 teams - 7 groups of 4 teams each - can qualify for the U17EC and U17WC?

By the way UEFA runs things, every team should have a chance to qualify for U17EC at the start of the qualifying campaign (not sure about U17WC because we don't know the qualification method of a 48-team World Cup).

If they use a two-tier model similar to the current WU19EC and WU17EC, then there are two qualifying rounds in each season. In League A, there are 28 teams, divided into 7 groups of 4. The remaining teams are in League B.

After the first qualifying round, the bottom teams in each group of League A drop down to League B, while the top teams in each group of League B move up to League A.

After the second qualifying round, the top teams in each group of League A qualify for the final tournament. There are also promotion/relegation between Leagues A and B similar to the first qualifying round, to decide the starting leagues of each team in the next season.

So if a team start in League B in the first qualifying round, they can still qualify for U17EC, by first winning their first qualifying round group in League B and get promoted, then winning their second qualifying round group in League A. Theoretically possible, although very much unlikely (the majority of teams promoted were relegated back immediately in the next round).

[amenina]

Agree when you talk about using R1 as a WC qualifier but it may have some logistical challenges with age limits etc...

Don't think it's a 2 tier system I think it's a 3 tier system like was planned for U19 before Covid. It makes sense to have 8 teams in the FT though same as U19. Also I've heard rounders that UEFA are considering expanding the U21 to 20 teams from 2025 and introducing a new qualifiers format.

That U19 format was so convoluted. The original draw was held in late 2019. There would have been FOUR qualifying rounds, in autumn 2020, spring 2021, autumn 2021, and spring 2022, ending with the final tournament in July 2022. Of course then Covid happened and none of the matches were played, and UEFA decided to go back to the old format and held a new draw in late 2020. Is UEFA really going to bring it back? Assuming it is implemented for the final tournament in 2026, then they have to hold the first draw in late 2023 according to the original timeline.

Don't actually know exactly what specific format it was as I was abit out of the loop at that time.

Looks like they've used the girls tourneys as a 'dummy run' for the 2 round system with the leagues.

I personally would do this:
League A 20 teams 5*4
League B 20 teams 5*4
League C 15 teams 3*4 + 1*3

2 round with promotion and relegation after each round. 5 winners and 2 beat runners up qualify to Ft with host and 3rd best runner up if host win group.

This was the original format and draw results if you are interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =933563817

So the league compositions are:
League A: 20 teams, 5 groups of 4
League B: 16 teams, 4 groups of 4
League C: 18 teams, 5 groups of 3 or 4

After each round, 5 teams are promoted/relegated between Leagues A/B and B/C.

Also in round 3, only Leagues A and B are played, while League C is no longer played (since teams in League C can no longer qualify for the final tournament). And in round 4, only League A is played, while Leagues B and C are no longer played (same reason as teams in League B can no longer qualify). The five group winners and the two best runners-up of League A round 4 qualify for the final tournament.

Moreover, the final tournament hosts only play the first two rounds. So after round 2, a team will be promoted to fill their spot if necessary.

It means the promotion/relegation between leagues are done within a season only. There are no promotion/relegation across different seasons. The reason is that with the qualifying campaign lasting two years, there will be two parallel qualifying campaigns playing at the same time. For example, let's assume they start to use this qualifying format for 2026 U19:

Code: Select all

             2026 U19        2027 U19        2028 U19
Autumn 2023  Round 1 draw
Autumn 2024  Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2025  Round 2
Autumn 2025  Round 3         Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2026  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2026  Final tournament
Autumn 2026                  Round 3         Round 1
Spring 2027                  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2027                  Final tournament

[amenina]

Also I've heard rounders that UEFA are considering expanding the U21 to 20 teams from 2025 and introducing a new qualifiers format.

According to UEFA, the 2025 U21 final tournament hosts will announced on 25 January (same day as UEFA Nations League finals draw), the qualifying draw will be held 2 February, and the qualifiers will officially start in March. So we will soon see whether there is any change in format.

https://www.uefa.com/returntoplay/news/ ... -calendar/

[Jackson Harrison]

That U19 format was so convoluted. The original draw was held in late 2019. There would have been FOUR qualifying rounds, in autumn 2020, spring 2021, autumn 2021, and spring 2022, ending with the final tournament in July 2022. Of course then Covid happened and none of the matches were played, and UEFA decided to go back to the old format and held a new draw in late 2020. Is UEFA really going to bring it back? Assuming it is implemented for the final tournament in 2026, then they have to hold the first draw in late 2023 according to the original timeline.

Don't actually know exactly what specific format it was as I was abit out of the loop at that time.

Looks like they've used the girls tourneys as a 'dummy run' for the 2 round system with the leagues.

I personally would do this:
League A 20 teams 5*4
League B 20 teams 5*4
League C 15 teams 3*4 + 1*3

2 round with promotion and relegation after each round. 5 winners and 2 beat runners up qualify to Ft with host and 3rd best runner up if host win group.

This was the original format and draw results if you are interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =933563817

So the league compositions are:
League A: 20 teams, 5 groups of 4
League B: 16 teams, 4 groups of 4
League C: 18 teams, 5 groups of 3 or 4

After each round, 5 teams are promoted/relegated between Leagues A/B and B/C.

Also in round 3, only Leagues A and B are played, while League C is no longer played (since teams in League C can no longer qualify for the final tournament). And in round 4, only League A is played, while Leagues B and C are no longer played (same reason as teams in League B can no longer qualify). The five group winners and the two best runners-up of League A round 4 qualify for the final tournament.

Moreover, the final tournament hosts only play the first two rounds. So after round 2, a team will be promoted to fill their spot if necessary.

It means the promotion/relegation between leagues are done within a season only. There are no promotion/relegation across different seasons. The reason is that with the qualifying campaign lasting two years, there will be two parallel qualifying campaigns playing at the same time. For example, let's assume they start to use this qualifying format for 2026 U19:

Code: Select all

             2026 U19        2027 U19        2028 U19
Autumn 2023  Round 1 draw
Autumn 2024  Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2025  Round 2
Autumn 2025  Round 3         Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2026  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2026  Final tournament
Autumn 2026                  Round 3         Round 1
Spring 2027                  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2027                  Final tournament

Have blurred some things out as it some personal info.

[amenina]

Don't actually know exactly what specific format it was as I was abit out of the loop at that time.

Looks like they've used the girls tourneys as a 'dummy run' for the 2 round system with the leagues.

I personally would do this:
League A 20 teams 5*4
League B 20 teams 5*4
League C 15 teams 3*4 + 1*3

2 round with promotion and relegation after each round. 5 winners and 2 beat runners up qualify to Ft with host and 3rd best runner up if host win group.

This was the original format and draw results if you are interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =933563817

So the league compositions are:
League A: 20 teams, 5 groups of 4
League B: 16 teams, 4 groups of 4
League C: 18 teams, 5 groups of 3 or 4

After each round, 5 teams are promoted/relegated between Leagues A/B and B/C.

Also in round 3, only Leagues A and B are played, while League C is no longer played (since teams in League C can no longer qualify for the final tournament). And in round 4, only League A is played, while Leagues B and C are no longer played (same reason as teams in League B can no longer qualify). The five group winners and the two best runners-up of League A round 4 qualify for the final tournament.

Moreover, the final tournament hosts only play the first two rounds. So after round 2, a team will be promoted to fill their spot if necessary.

It means the promotion/relegation between leagues are done within a season only. There are no promotion/relegation across different seasons. The reason is that with the qualifying campaign lasting two years, there will be two parallel qualifying campaigns playing at the same time. For example, let's assume they start to use this qualifying format for 2026 U19:

Code: Select all

             2026 U19        2027 U19        2028 U19
Autumn 2023  Round 1 draw
Autumn 2024  Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2025  Round 2
Autumn 2025  Round 3         Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2026  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2026  Final tournament
Autumn 2026                  Round 3         Round 1
Spring 2027                  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2027                  Final tournament

Have blurred some things out as it some personal info.

Ok, we are talking about the potential new qualifying format for U19 instead of U17, right?

So looks like they are thinking of having three rounds of qualifying for 2026/27: Spring 2026, Autumn 2026, Spring 2027, followed by the final tournament in summer 2027. This does point to three tiers, so a team which start from the third tier can still qualify for the final tournament.

So let's summarize

U17
2024: the qualifying draw has already been held, one tier, two qualifying rounds, 16-team final tournament
2025: potential 8-team final tournament, possible tier-based qualifying, but most likely won't be 3 tiers (as the email says, it won't be introduced until 2026/27 U19), so maybe 2 tiers

U19
2024: the qualifying draw has already been held, one tier, two qualifying rounds, 8-team final tournament
2025: same format as 2024
2026: possible change in qualifying? maybe 2 tiers?
2027: possible change in qualifying? maybe 3 tiers, with 3 rounds?

[Jackson Harrison]

Don't actually know exactly what specific format it was as I was abit out of the loop at that time.

Looks like they've used the girls tourneys as a 'dummy run' for the 2 round system with the leagues.

I personally would do this:
League A 20 teams 5*4
League B 20 teams 5*4
League C 15 teams 3*4 + 1*3

2 round with promotion and relegation after each round. 5 winners and 2 beat runners up qualify to Ft with host and 3rd best runner up if host win group.

This was the original format and draw results if you are interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =933563817

So the league compositions are:
League A: 20 teams, 5 groups of 4
League B: 16 teams, 4 groups of 4
League C: 18 teams, 5 groups of 3 or 4

After each round, 5 teams are promoted/relegated between Leagues A/B and B/C.

Also in round 3, only Leagues A and B are played, while League C is no longer played (since teams in League C can no longer qualify for the final tournament). And in round 4, only League A is played, while Leagues B and C are no longer played (same reason as teams in League B can no longer qualify). The five group winners and the two best runners-up of League A round 4 qualify for the final tournament.

Moreover, the final tournament hosts only play the first two rounds. So after round 2, a team will be promoted to fill their spot if necessary.

It means the promotion/relegation between leagues are done within a season only. There are no promotion/relegation across different seasons. The reason is that with the qualifying campaign lasting two years, there will be two parallel qualifying campaigns playing at the same time. For example, let's assume they start to use this qualifying format for 2026 U19:

Code: Select all

             2026 U19        2027 U19        2028 U19
Autumn 2023  Round 1 draw
Autumn 2024  Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2025  Round 2
Autumn 2025  Round 3         Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2026  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2026  Final tournament
Autumn 2026                  Round 3         Round 1
Spring 2027                  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2027                  Final tournament

Have blurred some things out as it some personal info.

Just had a chat with Sandra. She says that A) it's not gunna be the same format that was presented pre Covid and B) it's not finialised yet but the plan is to have a 4 tier 3 round system from 2025 for U17 and 2027 for U19.

Format not yet finalised but have a feeling either way this is gunna end in tiers...

[Jackson Harrison]

This was the original format and draw results if you are interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =933563817

So the league compositions are:
League A: 20 teams, 5 groups of 4
League B: 16 teams, 4 groups of 4
League C: 18 teams, 5 groups of 3 or 4

After each round, 5 teams are promoted/relegated between Leagues A/B and B/C.

Also in round 3, only Leagues A and B are played, while League C is no longer played (since teams in League C can no longer qualify for the final tournament). And in round 4, only League A is played, while Leagues B and C are no longer played (same reason as teams in League B can no longer qualify). The five group winners and the two best runners-up of League A round 4 qualify for the final tournament.

Moreover, the final tournament hosts only play the first two rounds. So after round 2, a team will be promoted to fill their spot if necessary.

It means the promotion/relegation between leagues are done within a season only. There are no promotion/relegation across different seasons. The reason is that with the qualifying campaign lasting two years, there will be two parallel qualifying campaigns playing at the same time. For example, let's assume they start to use this qualifying format for 2026 U19:

Code: Select all

             2026 U19        2027 U19        2028 U19
Autumn 2023  Round 1 draw
Autumn 2024  Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2025  Round 2
Autumn 2025  Round 3         Round 1         Round 1 draw
Spring 2026  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2026  Final tournament
Autumn 2026                  Round 3         Round 1
Spring 2027                  Round 4         Round 2
Summer 2027                  Final tournament

Have blurred some things out as it some personal info.

Just had a chat with Sandra. She says that A) it's not gunna be the same format that was presented pre Covid and B) it's not finialised yet but the plan is to have a 4 tier 3 round system from 2025 for U17 and 2027 for U19.

Format not yet finalised but have a feeling either way this is gunna end in tiers...

Here is my interpretation of the proposed format:

Code: Select all

Round 1 (Sping of the year before FT)
           League A
           16 teams (4 bottom relegated)
           League B
           16 teams (4 tops promoted 4 bottom relegated)
           League C
           12 teams (3 tops and best 2nd promoted, 4 bottom relegated)
           League D
           11 teams (3 tops promoted)
Round 2 (Autumn of the year before FT)
           League A
           16 teams (4 winners qualify to FT, 4 runners-up qualify to R3)
           League B
           16 teams (4 winners qualify to R3)
           League C
           12 teams (3 winners qualify to R3)
           League D
           11 teams
Round 3
           12 teams: (3 tops qualify)
           4 from League A
           4 from League B
           3 from League C
           1 other (don't know how they qualify)

[amenina]

Have blurred some things out as it some personal info.

Just had a chat with Sandra. She says that A) it's not gunna be the same format that was presented pre Covid and B) it's not finialised yet but the plan is to have a 4 tier 3 round system from 2025 for U17 and 2027 for U19.

Format not yet finalised but have a feeling either way this is gunna end in tiers...

Here is my interpretation of the proposed format:

Code: Select all

Round 1 (Sping of the year before FT)
           League A
           16 teams (4 bottom relegated)
           League B
           16 teams (4 tops promoted 4 bottom relegated)
           League C
           12 teams (3 tops and best 2nd promoted, 4 bottom relegated)
           League D
           11 teams (3 tops promoted)
Round 2 (Autumn of the year before FT)
           League A
           16 teams (4 winners qualify to FT, 4 runners-up qualify to R3)
           League B
           16 teams (4 winners qualify to R3)
           League C
           12 teams (3 winners qualify to R3)
           League D
           11 teams
Round 3
           12 teams: (3 tops qualify)
           4 from League A
           4 from League B
           3 from League C
           1 other (don't know how they qualify)

Thanks for the explanation. So this is a very similar format to the new Women’s Euro qualifying format.

The first round is basically a “preparation” round. Does not impact qualification directly, but teams are playing for a higher/lower league.

The second round is the “qualifying” round. The top teams from League A will qualify directly for the final tournament, while other teams compete for play-off places.

The third round is the “play-off” round which decides the remaining places of the final tournament.

This way, all teams are guaranteed to play the first two rounds, including the final tournament hosts.

I would also think after the second round, there will be promotion and relegation, to decide the starting league of the first round of next season.