20
Jun
2023 U21 EURO
UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023 will be co-hosted by Georgia and Romania. They bid for the tournament separately.
The two countries were appointed as co-hosts at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 3 December 2020. Romania will host the opening match, while Georgia will host the final.
The tournament is staged at four stadiums in Georgia (one each in Batumi and Kutaisi, and two in Tbilisi) and four stadiums in Romania (two in Cluj-Napoca and two in Bucharest).
Georgia
Batumi, Batumi Arena: 3 Group C games, Semi-final, Final
Kutaisi, Shengelia Arena: 3 Group C games, Quarter-final
Tbilisi, Meskhi Stadium: 3 Group A games, Quarter-final
Tbilisi, Paichadze Stadium: 3 Group A games (involving Georgia)
Romania
Bucharest, Giulești Stadium: 3 Group B games, Quarter-final
Bucharest, Steaua Stadium: 3 Group B games (involving Romania), Semi-final
Cluj-Napoca, CFR Cluj Stadium 3 Group D games
Cluj-Napoca, Cluj Arena: 3 Group D games, Quarter-final
Georgia hosted the 2017 U19 EURO while the 2015 UEFA Super Cup was played at the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tbilisi, as were the 2013 UEFA Futsal Cup finals. Romania previously hosted the 1998 U21 finals in Bucharest, which was one of the venues for UEFA EURO 2020 and staged the 2012 UEFA Europa League final. Romania also held the U19 EURO in 2011 and is due to do so again in 2025.
Both 2023 hosts were automatically assured of finals spots. Ten more teams clinched places in the qualifying group stage that ran from March 2021 to June 2022, and the remaining four came through the play-offs on 23 and 27 September. The 16 qualified teams that will compete from 21 June to 8 July were drawn into four groups of four for the final tournament, with the winners and runners-up in each section reaching the quarter-finals.
Group A: Georgia (hosts), Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands
Group B: Romania (hosts), Spain, Ukraine, Croatia
Group C: Czechia, England, Germany (holders), Israel
Group D: Norway, Switzerland, France, Italy
This is Georgia's first appearance in the U21 finals. All 14 of Georgia's previous U21 campaigns have ended in the qualifying group stage. Their most successful campaign came in the 1998 preliminaries, when they won three of their eight fixtures, losing only two, and came second behind England in their section, finishing ahead of Italy, Poland and Moldova.
In 2021 qualifying Georgia finished third in Group 2 behind France and Switzerland, winning five of their ten matches but losing the other five. Although this is Georgia's first U21 appearance, they featured in the U19 finals in 2013 and, as hosts, in 2017, and have also taken part in two U17 tournaments, most recently reaching the semi-finals in 2012.
