Everything you need to know about the European Under-21 Championship

When is the European Under-21 Championship?

The 12-team tournament starts on Sunday, June 16 and the final is on Sunday, June 30. Germany are the reigning champions.

Where is the European Under-21 Championship?

The championship is being held at five venues in Italy and one in San Marino. They are:

Stadio Friuli, Udine (capacity 25,114) The home of Serie A side Udinese will host four matches (three group games and the final).
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna (capacity 38,279) The home of Serie A side Bologna will stage four matches (three group games and a semi-final).
Stadio Citta del Tricolore, Reggio Emilia (capacity 21,584) The stadium of Serie D side Reggio Audice will play host to four matches (three group games and a semi-final).
Stadio Dino Manuzzi, Cesena (capacity 23,860) The home of newly-promoted Serie C side RC Cesena will stage three group games.
Stadio Nereo Rocco, Trieste (capacity 21,000) The base of Serie C side Triestina will host three group games.
San Marino Stadium, Serravalle (capacity 6,664) This is the ground used by the San Marino national team and Serie D side San Marino Calcio. It will host three group games.

Where can you watch the European Under-21 Championship?

The whole tournament will be shown live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Go app.

Tournament format

The 12 teams have been split into three groups of four, with hosts Italy allotted a top seeding along with the top two sides in Uefa's Under-21 coefficient, Germany and England.

Group A: Italy, Spain, Poland and Belgium
Group B: Germany, Denmark, Serbia and Austria
Group C: England, France, Romania and Croatia

The sides will play each other in a round-robin format with each group winners advancing to the semi-finals along with the runners-up with the best record.

Players born after January 1, 1996 are eligible to be selected.

Match fixtures

Group stage

Sunday, June 16
Poland v Belgium, 5.30pm (Reggio Emilia)
Italy v Spain, 8pm (Bologna)

Monday, June 17
Serbia v Austria, 5.30pm (Trieste)
Germany v Denmark, 8pm (Udine)

Tuesday, June 18
Romania v Croatia, 5.30pm (Serravalle)
England v France, 8pm (Cesena)

Wednesday, June 19
Spain v Belgium, 5.30pm (Reggio Emilia)
Italy v Poland, 8pm (Bologna)

Thursday, June 20
Denmark v Austria, 5.30pm (Trieste)
Germany v Serbia, 8pm (Udine)

Friday, June 21
England v Romania, 5.30pm (Cesena)
France v Croatia, 8pm (Serravalle)

Saturday, June 22
Belgium v Italy, 8pm (Reggio Emilia)
Spain v Poland, 8pm (Bologna)

Sunday, June 23
Austria v Germany, 8pm (Udine)
Denmark v Serbia, 8pm (Trieste)

Monday, June 24
France v Romania, 8pm (Cesena)
Croatia vs England, 8pm (Serravalle)

Semi-finals

Thursday, June 27
Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B or C or Winner Group C, 5pm (Bologna)
Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A or Winner Group C, 8pm (Reggio Emilia)

Final

Sunday, June 30 7.45pm (Udine)

NB An extra match will be scheduled in Cesena should England qualify for the semi-finals. This is due to the tournament doubling up as qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games. England are ineligible so the two group runners-up who didn't qualify for the semi-finals would play off to join the three eligible semi-finalists in Japan for the Olympics).

Who is in the England squad for the European Under-21 Championship?

Manager Aidy Boothroyd's 23-man squad is:

Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Southampton), Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle).
Defenders: Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), Jay Dasilva (Chelsea), Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth), Jonjoe Kenny (Schalke), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace).
Midfielders: Harvey Barnes (Leicester), Hamza Choudhury (Leicester), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolves), James Maddison (Leicester), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham).
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Demarai Gray (Leicester), Reiss Nelson (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth).

Who are the favourites?

France head the market at 7-2 from England, who are a best-priced 11-2. Belgium (7-1), Spain (15-2) and Germany (17-2) are also in the mix.

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