The 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 3rd staging of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The qualifying stage spanned two years (1980–82) and had 26 entrants. West Germany competed in the competition for the first time. England U-21s won the competition.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 23 February – 24 May |
| Teams | 27 (from 1 confederation) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  England (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  West Germany |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 74 |
| Goals scored | 194 (2.62 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Pierre Littbarski (6 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Rudi Völler[1] |
← 1980 1984 → | |
The 26 national teams were divided into eight groups (six groups of 3 + two groups of 4). The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided. There was no 3rd-place playoff.
The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:
- Group 1 did not include Albania
- Group 2 did not include Netherlands (moved to Group 8) and Republic of Ireland
- Group 3 did not include Wales and Iceland
- Group 4 did not include Norway (moved to Group 7)
- Group 5 did not include Denmark (moved to Group 6) and Luxembourg (moved to Group 8)
- Group 6 did not include Portugal, Northern Ireland and Israel, but included Denmark (moved from Group 5)
- Group 7 did not include Malta, but included Norway (moved from Group 4)
- Group 8 composed of Netherlands (moved from Group 2), Luxembourg (moved from Group 5) and Spain (who did not participate in World Cup qualification)
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Germany | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 10 |
| 2 | Bulgaria | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| 3 | Austria | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 4 | Finland | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
- Finland 0-1 Bulgaria
- Finland 1-2 Austria
- Bulgaria 1-0 W.Germany
- W. Germany 4-0 Austria
- Bulgaria 1-0 Finland
- Finland 1-2 W. Germany
- Austria 1-2 Bulgaria
- Austria 0-0 Finland
- W. Germany 4-2 Finland
- Austria 0-1 W. Germany
- Bulgaria 1-0 Austria
- W.Germany 4-1 Bulgaria
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Belgium | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Cyprus | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
- France 3-1 Cyprus
- Belgium 2-1 Cyprus
- Cyprus 0-1 Belgium
- France 1-0 Belgium
- Belgium 1-2 France
- Cyprus 2-1 France
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Turkey | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
- Czechoslo. 3-0 Turkey
- Turkey 2-1 Czechoslo.
- USSR 1-0 Turkey
- Turkey 0-0 USSR
- USSR 0-0 Czecho.
- Czechoslo. 0-0 USSR
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | Hungary | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| 3 | Romania | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 5 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 4 |
- Romania 4-0 England
- England 5-0 Switzerland
- England 3-0 Romania
- Switzerland 0-1 Hungary
- Hungary 4-2 Romania
- Switzerland 0-0 England
- Hungary 1-2 England
- Romania 2-1 Hungary
- Romania 1-1 Switz.
- Hungary 5-1 Switzerland
- Switz. 3-0 Romania
- England 2-0 Hungary
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Yugoslavia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | Greece | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
- Italy 1-0 Yugoslavia
- Greece 1-3 Italy
- Yugoslavia 1-1 Greece
- Yugoslavia 1-0 Italy
- Italy 1-0 Greece
- Greece 0-2 Yugoslavia
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scotland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | Denmark | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Sweden | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
- Sweden 2-0 Scotland
- Denmark 2-1 Sweden
- Scotland 2-1 Denmark
- Sweden 0-0 Denmark
- Scotland 4-0 Sweden
- Denmark 1-1 Scotland
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Norway | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| 3 | East Germany | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
- Norway 0-1 Poland
- E. Germany 0-4 Norway
- E. Germany 2-3 Poland
- Norway 1-1 E. Germany
- Poland 3-1 E. Germany
- Poland 4-0 Norway
| Standing | Country | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Luxembourg | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
- Netherlands 0-2 Spain
- Spain 4-1 Luxembourg
- Netherlands 1-0 Luxem.
- Luxembourg 1-5 Spain
- Luxem. 0-2 Netherlands
- Spain 2-1 Netherlands
| Country | Qualified as | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|
| West Germany | Group 1 winner | 0 (Debut) |
| France | Group 2 winner | 0 (Debut) |
| Soviet Union | Group 3 winner | 1 (1980) |
| England | Group 4 winner | 2 (1978, 1980) |
| Italy | Group 5 winner | 2 (1978, 1980) |
| Scotland | Group 6 winner | 1 (1980) |
| Poland | Group 7 winner | 0 (Debut) |
| Spain | Group 8 winner | 0 (Debut) |
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | |||||||||||||||
| Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Scotland | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Scotland | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| England | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Poland | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| England | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| England | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| West Germany | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| France | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Soviet Union | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Soviet Union | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| West Germany | 4 | 5 | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| West Germany | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
- ^ "1982: Rudi Völler". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 1982. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- Results Archive at uefa.com
- RSSSF Results Archive at rsssf.com