1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1996–98), had 46 entrants. Before the quarter-finals stage, Romania were chosen as the hosts of the final stages, consisting of four matches in total.

1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Campionatul European de Fotbal sub 21 UEFA 1998
Tournament details
Host country Romania
Dates23 May – 31 May
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)3 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Spain (2nd title)
Runners-up Greece
Third place Norway
Fourth place Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored22 (1.83 per match)
Top scorer(s) Steffen Iversen (3 goals)[1] Nikos Liberopoulos (3 goals)
Best player(s) Francesc Arnau

The exclusion (for political reasons) of the team from Serbia and Montenegro, then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ended. Bosnia and Herzegovina was another former state of Yugoslavia who competed, for the first time. Spain won the competition for the second time.

The 46 national teams were divided into nine groups (eight groups of 5 + one group of 6). The records of the nine group winners were compared, and the eighth and ninth ranked teams played-off against each other for the eight quarter finals spot. One of the eight quarter-finalist were then chosen to host the remaining fixtures.

Qualification
Main article: 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

The qualifying stage for the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship saw Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain and Sweden win their respective groups. Greece and England finished first in their group but were the two worst first placed group winners. Greece defeated England in a playoff to qualify for the tournament.

Qualified teams
CountryQualified asPrevious appearances in tournament1 2
NorwayGroup 3 Winner0 (Debut)
SwedenGroup 4 Winner3 (1986, 1990, 1992)
RussiaGroup 5 Winner1 (1994)
SpainGroup 6 Winner7 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996)
NetherlandsGroup 7 Winner2 (1988, 1992)
RomaniaGroup 8 Winner0 (Debut)
GermanyGroup 9 Winner2 (1992, 1996)
GreecePlayoff Winner1 (1988, 1994)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year

Venues

The final tournament was held in Bucharest, the hosts being only three arenas.

Location of grounds in Bucharest.
 Bucharest (Vatra Luminoasă) Bucharest (Ghencea)
Stadionul Lia Manoliu Stadionul Steaua
Capacity: 60,120 Capacity: 28,365
Bucharest (Cotroceni)
Stadionul Cotroceni
Capacity: 14,542

Match officials
Country Referee
 FR YugoslaviaMiroslav Radoman
 LuxembourgAlain Hamer
 SenegalFalla N'Doye
 SlovakiaĽuboš Micheľ
 TurkeyMetin Tokat

Squads
See also: 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Only players born on or after 1 January 1975 were eligible to play in the tournament. Each nation had to submit a squad of 20 players, two of which had to be goalkeepers. If a player was injured seriously enough to prevent his taking part in the tournament before his team's first match, he can be replaced by another player.

Results

Bracket
  5th-place match (30 May) 5th–8th place (26–27 May) Quarter-finals (23–24 May) Semi-finals (26–27 May) Final (31 May)
                                               
        Netherlands  2  
        Romania  1  
      Romania  0           Netherlands  0  
      Germany (aet)  1           Greece  3  
      Germany  0
        Greece  1  
      Germany  2           Greece  0
      Sweden  1           Spain  1
        Norway  1  
          Sweden  0  
    Sweden  2           Norway  0
  7th-place match (30 May)         Russia  0           Spain (aet)  1     3rd-place match (31 May)
      Romania  1       Spain  1       Netherlands  0
      Russia  2         Russia  0         Norway  2

Quarter-finals
Germany 0–1 Greece
Report Karagounis  57'
Netherlands 2–1 Romania
Wooter  16'
de Jong  79'		 Report Contra  7'
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Metin Tokat (Turkey)
Spain 1–0 Russia
Iván Pérez  84' Report
Referee: Miroslav Radoman (FR Yugoslavia)
Norway 1–0 Sweden
Iversen  45' Report

5th-8th places
Romania 0–1 (a.e.t.) Germany
Report Schwarz  101'
Attendance: 1,600
Russia 0–2 Sweden
Report Mellberg  15'
Bärlin  68'

Semi-finals
Spain 1–0 (a.e.t.) Norway
Víctor  94' Report
Netherlands 0–3 Greece
Report Liberopoulos  21', 90'
Antzas  57'
Referee: Miroslav Radoman (FR Yugoslavia)

7th place
Russia 2–1 Romania

5th place
Germany 2–1 Sweden
Brdarić  71'
Frings  77'		 Report Åslund  88'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Miroslav Radoman (FR Yugoslavia)

Third place
Netherlands 0–2 Norway
Report Iversen  17', 74'
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Metin Tokat (Turkey)

Final
Greece 0–1 Spain
Report Iván Pérez  65'
Attendance: 5,000

References
  1. "1998: Iván Pérez applies finishing touch". UEFA.com. 1 June 1998. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
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