| Jalkapallon alle 19-vuotiaiden Euroopan-mestaruuskilpailut 2018 (in Finnish) U19-Europamästerskapet i fotboll 2018 (in Swedish) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Finland |
| Dates | 16–29 July |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Portugal (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 58 (3.63 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | JotaFrancisco Trincão (5 goals each)[1] |
←2017 2019 → | |
The2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known asUEFA Under-19 Euro 2018) was the 17th edition of theUEFA European Under-19 Championship (67th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youthfootball championship organised byUEFA for the men's under-19 national teams of Europe.Finland hosted the final tournament, between 16 and 29 July, after being selected by UEFA on 26 January 2015.[2] A total of eight teams competed in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 1999 eligible to participate.
Same as previous editions held in even-numbered years, the tournament acted as the UEFA qualifiers for theFIFA U-20 World Cup. The top five teams of the tournament qualified for the2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup inPoland as the UEFA representatives, besidesPoland who qualified automatically as hosts.
In the final, 2017 runners-upPortugal beat the 2016 losing finalistsItaly 4–3, after extra-time, to win their first title in the under-19 era and their fourth overall.[3] Having won theUnder-17 title in 2016, this generation of players became the first to hold the European title in both youth categories.[4]England were the defending champions, but were eliminated by France, finishing third in the group stage. They lost 0–3 toNorway in the play-off round and thus failed to qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where they would also defend their title.
All 55 UEFA nations entered the competition (including Kosovo who entered for the first time), and with the hosts Finland qualifying automatically, the other 54 teams competed in the qualifying competition to determine the remaining seven spots in the final tournament.[5] The qualifying competition consisted of two rounds:Qualifying round, which took place in autumn 2017, andElite round, which took place in spring 2018.[6]
The following teams qualified for the final tournament.[7]
Note: All appearance statistics include only U-19 era (since 2002).
| Team | Method of qualification | Appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Finland | Hosts | 1st | — | Debut |
 Norway | Elite round Group 1 winners | 4th | 2005 (group stage) | Group stage (2002,2003,2005) |
 England | Elite round Group 2 winners | 10th | 2017 (champions) | Champions (2017) |
| Italy | Elite round Group 3 winners | 6th | 2016 (runners-up) | Champions (2003) |
 Ukraine | Elite round Group 4 winners | 5th | 2015 (group stage) | Champions (2009) |
| Portugal | Elite round Group 5 winners | 10th | 2017 (runners-up) | Runners-up (2003,2014,2017) |
 France | Elite round Group 6 winners | 10th | 2016 (champions) | Champions (2005,2010,2016) |
 Turkey | Elite round Group 7 winners | 6th | 2013 (group stage) | Runners-up (2004) |
The final draw was held on 30 May 2018, 12:00EEST (UTC+3), at the Vaasa City Hall inVaasa, Finland.[8] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. There was no seeding, except that hosts Finland were assigned to position A1 in the draw.
The tournament took place inVaasa andSeinäjoki.[9]
| Seinäjoki | Vaasa | |
|---|---|---|
| OmaSP Stadion | Hietalahti Stadium | |
| Capacity:5,672 | Capacity:5,572 | |
 |  |
A total of 6 referees, 8 assistant referees and 2 fourth officials were appointed for the final tournament.[7]
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|
Each national team submitted a squad of 20 players (Regulations Article 39).[6]
The final tournament schedule was confirmed on 5 June 2018.[10]
The group winners and runners-up advanced to the semi-finals and qualified for the2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The third-placed teams entered the FIFA U-20 World Cup play-off.
In the group stage, teams were ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 16.01 and 16.02):[6]
All times were local,EEST (UTC+3).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup |
| 2 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 | |
| 3 | Norway | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 | FIFA U-20 World Cup play-off |
| 4 | Finland(H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 |
| Finland | 2–3 | Norway |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Portugal | 2–3 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Portugal | 3–0 | Finland |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ukraine | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | Knockout stage and 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup |
| 2 | France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 6 | |
| 3 | England | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 4 | FIFA U-20 World Cup play-off |
| 4 | Turkey | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 0 |
| Turkey | 2–3 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| France | 1–2 | Ukraine |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| England | 0–5 | France |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
In the knockout stage,extra time andpenalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.[6]
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 26 July –Vaasa | ||||||
| Italy | 2 | |||||
| 29 July –Seinäjoki | ||||||
| France | 0 | |||||
| Italy | 3 | |||||
| 26 July –Vaasa | ||||||
| Portugal(a.e.t.) | 4 | |||||
| Ukraine | 0 | |||||
| Portugal | 5 | |||||
| World Cup play-off | ||||||
| 26 July –Seinäjoki | ||||||
| Norway | 3 | |||||
| England | 0 | |||||
Winner qualified for2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Norway | 3–0 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
The following six teams from UEFA qualify for the2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, including Poland which qualified as hosts.
| Team | Qualified on | Previousappearances inFIFA U-20 World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|
 Poland | 16 March 2018[11] | 4 (1979,1981,1983,2007) |
| Italy | 22 July 2018[12] | 6 (1977,1981,1987,2005,2009,2017) |
| Portugal | 22 July 2018[12] | 11 (1979,1989,1991,1993,1995,1999,2007,2011,2013,2015,2017) |
| Ukraine | 23 July 2018[13] | 3 (2001,2005,2015) |
| France | 23 July 2018[13] | 6 (1977,1997,2001,2011,2013,2017) |
| Norway | 26 July 2018[14] | 2 (1989,1993) |
There were 58 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.62 goals per match.
5 goals
4 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Source: UEFA.com[15]
The UEFA technical observers selected the following 11 players for the team of the tournament (and an additional nine substitutes):[16]
Starting XI:
| Substitutes:
|
