Spain is already classified for the U21 Eurocup after beating Kazakhstan at the Municipal de Santo Domingo. The National Team has secured the first place in Group 6, with two days remaining for the conclusion of the preliminary phase. That guarantees the presence in the European tournament, which will be based in Hungary and Slovenia and will be played from next March 24. Those of Luis de la Fuente start as one of the great favorites to win the trophy. Although the teams change, they have the endorsement of winning the 2019 edition and being runners-up in the 2017 one.
When and where is the U21 Euro Cup played and what is its format?
It will be an anomalous Eurocup. Mainly because it will not be disputed for the first time. This was approved by the UEFA Executive Committee last June. The 16 qualifiers will be paired into four groups of four teams each, of which there will be eight tickets for the quarterfinals. The leaders and the second classified will get into the crosses, although these will be disputed some time later.
From March 24 to 31, 2021, the first phase will be played. That is, the groups. Thus, clubs will lose their young internationals for a week. The second will already be with the season ended. From June 31 to 6, 2021, the quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the tournament would be played. Of course, all the mentioned dates are conditioned by the evolution of the pandemic on the continent.
The venues will be Hungary and Slovenia. It is pending to know the exact distribution of the groups and in which venues the different matches will be played. For the moment, It is known that the final will be played in Ljubljana on June 6.
Classifieds
Hungary and Slovenia were already qualified for the final phase, without the need to participate in the qualifiers due to their status as hosts. The previous one has eight groups of six teams and one of only five, who face back and forth for the remaining 14 places.
Initially, the Eurocup was going to have 12 participants, although UEFA changed its plans and expanded it to 16. In addition, a Playoff was to be played with the eight worst seconds to distribute four places, the other being directly awarded to the best runner-up. Now, due to the pandemic, such playoffs were suppressed and tickets for the finals were awarded directly for the six best seconds.
Of course, due to the different number of teams depending on the group, UEFA has decided that the places awarded to the best second are decided with the results in the hands of those teams against the first five rivals. That is, the points obtained against the bottom do not count.
At the moment they have a place in the Euro: Hungary, Slovenia, Denmark, Spain and Russia.
Who can play it?
As always, the Under-21 tournaments can be played by footballers who are over that age. In other words, It can be done by those who were under 21 years old at the time the qualifying phase began. Or what is the same, those born from 1998 onwards. Thus, in the European championship there will be footballers whose DNI marks 23 years.