2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round

The 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round was the first round of qualification for the final tournament of the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Malta. Fifty-two teams entering in this round were drawn into 13 groups of four teams, where they played each other in a single round-robin mini-tournament hosted by one of the group's teams. The 13 group winners, 13 group runners-up and the best third-placed team advanced to the elite round, the second round of qualification.

As hosts, Malta qualified directly for the final tournament, while Germany received a bye to the elite round as the side with the highest competition coefficient. The draw for the qualifying round was held on 5 December 2012 in Nyon, and matches took place between 21 September and 19 November 2013.^[1]

Seeds[]

A total of fifty-two participating teams were divided in two draw pots based on the UEFA Under-17 coefficient ranking. Before the draw UEFA confirmed that, for political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan would not host the mini-tournament if they are drawn in the same group due to the dispute concerning territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, with the same rule applying for Georgia and Russia due to the dispute regarding the territory of South Ossetia. The UEFA Executive Committee admitted Gibraltar as a provisional member of UEFA on 1 October 2012. Gibraltar Football Association was admitted as a full member of UEFA at the XXXVII Ordinary UEFA Congress in London in May 2013.^[2]

Pot A	Pot B
England France Netherlands Spain Czech Republic Portugal Denmark Serbia Georgia Hungary Belgium Turkey Greece Switzerland Republic of Ireland Italy Croatia Romania Poland Iceland Norway Northern Ireland Sweden Scotland Russia Belarus	Slovakia Austria Ukraine Luxembourg Bosnia and Herzegovina Finland Israel Bulgaria Wales Lithuania Montenegro Azerbaijan Slovenia Kazakhstan Albania Estonia Armenia Macedonia Cyprus Latvia Faroe Islands Andorra Moldova San Marino Liechtenstein Gibraltar

Tiebreakers[]

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings.^[3]

Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question
Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question
Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question
If, after applying criteria 1) to 3) to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 3) will be reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5) and 6) will apply
Results of all group matches:
1. Superior goal difference
2. Higher number of goals scored
Drawing of lots

Additionally, if two teams which have the same number of points and the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, their final rankings are determined by the penalty shoot-out and not by the criteria listed above. This procedure is applicable only if a ranking of the teams is required to determine the group winner or the runners-up and the third-placed team.

Groups[]

The hosts of the thirteen mini-tournament groups are indicated below.

All times are CEST (UTC+02:00) until 26 October 2013 and CET (UTC+01:00) starting from 27 October 2013.

Group 1[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	3	0	0	4	0	+4	9	Elite round
2	Albania (H)	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4	Elite round
3	Belarus	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	Finland	3	0	1	2	0	2	−2	1

Source:^{[citation needed]}
(H) Host

18 October 2013