1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Tournament details
Dates	16 February – 12 October
Teams	30 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	France (1st title)
Runners-up	Greece
Tournament statistics
Matches played	98
Goals scored	261 (2.66 per match)
Attendance	143,886 (1,468 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Aris Karasavvidis (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Laurent Blanc[1]
← 1986 1990 →

The 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1986–88), had 30 entrants. The Republic of Ireland competed for the first time. France U-21s won the competition.

The 30 national teams were divided into eight groups (six groups of 4 + two groups of 3). The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided. There was no finals tournament or third-place playoff.

Qualifying stage

Draw

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

• Group 1 featured the same teams
• Group 2 did not include Malta
• Group 3 did not include Iceland (moved to Group 6)
• Group 4 did not include Northern Ireland
• Group 5 did not include Netherlands (moved to Group 8)
• Group 6 did not include Wales, but included Iceland (moved from Group 3)
• Group 7 did not include Bulgaria and Luxembourg (both moved to Group 8)
• Group 8 composed of Bulgaria and Luxembourg (both moved from Group 7), Netherlands (moved from Group 5) and West Germany (who did not participate in senior Euro qualification)

Qualifying Round 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	6	4	2	0	9	1	+8	10	Advance to finals
2	Romania	6	3	0	3	7	7	0	6
3	Austria	6	2	2	2	5	7	−2	6
4	Albania	6	0	2	4	4	10	−6	2

Matches

All times are local (UTC+1)

Romania vs Austria

9 September 1986

12:00 CET (UTC+1)

Romania	1–0	Austria
Mihali 35'

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Carlo Longhi

Austria vs Albania

14 October 1986

12:00 CET (UTC+1)

Austria	1–0	Albania
Kostenberger 85'

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Laszlo Padar

• Spain 1-0 Romania
• Albania 0-0 Spain
• Romania 3-2 Albania
• Austria 1-1 Spain
• Albania 1-1 Austria
• Romania 0-1 Spain
• Spain 3-0 Austria
• Albania 1-2 Romania
• Austria 2-1 Romania
• Spain 3-0 Albania

Qualifying Group 2 P W D L F A Pts 1  Italy 6 3 3 0 14 4 9 2  Sweden 6 1 4 1 6 6 6 3   Switzerland 6 1 3 2 4 7 5 4  Portugal 6 2 0 4 8 15 4

Sweden 0-0 Switzerland Portugal 2-0 Sweden Switzerland 3-1 Portugal Italy 1-1 Switzerland Portugal 1-2 Italy Sweden 2-2 Italy Switzerland 0-0 Sweden Sweden 4-2 Portugal Switzerland 0-3 Italy Portugal 2-0 Switzerland Italy 0-0 Sweden Italy 6-0 Portugal

Qualifying Group 3 P W D L F A Pts 1  France 6 3 2 1 8 6 8 2  East Germany 6 2 3 1 10 6 7 3  Soviet Union 6 3 0 3 7 9 6 4  Norway 6 0 3 3 3 7 3

Norway 0-0 E.Germany France 2-1 USSR USSR 1-0 Norway E.Germany 1-0 France USSR 2-1 E.Germany Norway 0-2 USSR Norway 1-2 France USSR 0-1 France E.Germany 5-1 USSR France 1-1 Norway E.Germany 1-1 Norway France 2-2 E.Germany

Qualifying Group 4 P W D L F A Pts 1  England 4 1 3 0 7 3 5 2  Turkey 4 1 2 1 4 6 4 3  Yugoslavia 4 1 1 2 7 9 3

Yugoslavia 3-0 Turkey England 1-1 Yugoslavia Turkey 0-0 England England 1-1 Turkey Yugoslavia 1-5 England Turkey 3-2 Yugoslavia

Qualifying Group 5 P W D L F A Pts 1  Greece 6 4 1 1 15 5 9 2  Hungary 6 3 1 2 12 7 7 3  Poland 6 3 0 3 5 6 6 4  Cyprus 6 1 0 5 4 18 2

Poland 1-0 Greece Greece 2-1 Hungary Cyprus 0-4 Greece Greece 5-1 Cyprus Cyprus 2-1 Hungary Poland 3-0 Cyprus Greece 2-0 Poland Hungary 3-0 Poland Poland 0-1 Hungary Hungary 2-2 Greece Cyprus 0-1 Poland Hungary 4-1 Cyprus

Qualifying Group 6 P W D L F A Pts 1  Czechoslovakia 6 3 2 1 14 8 8 2  Denmark 6 2 2 2 7 6 6 3  Finland 6 2 1 3 8 11 5 4  Iceland 6 1 3 2 9 13 5

Finland 2-0 Iceland Iceland 0-4 Czechoslo. Czechoslo. 2-0 Finland Denmark 4-1 Finland Czechoslo. 1-1 Denmark Finland 0-1 Denmark Denmark 0-1 Czechoslo. Iceland 0-0 Denmark Iceland 2-2 Finland Denmark 1-3 Iceland Finland 3-2 Czechoslo. Czechoslo. 4-4 Iceland

Qualifying Group 7 P W D L F A Pts 1  Scotland 4 3 1 0 7 2 7 2  Belgium 4 0 3 1 1 2 3 3  Republic of Ireland 4 0 2 2 3 7 2

Belgium 0-0 R. Ireland R. Ireland 1-2 Scotland Scotland 4-1 R. Ireland Belgium 0-0 Scotland R. Ireland 1-1 Belgium Scotland 1-0 Belgium

Qualifying Group 8 P W D L F A Pts 1  Netherlands 6 5 0 1 12 5 10 2  Bulgaria 6 4 0 2 8 7 8 3  West Germany 6 3 0 3 12 9 6 4  Luxembourg 6 0 0 6 2 13 0

W.Germany 2-0 Bulgaria Bulgaria 1-0 Netherlands Luxem. 0-2 Netherlands W.Germany 4-1 Luxem. Bulgaria 1-0 Luxembourg Nether. 3-1 W.Germany Luxembourg 0-1 Bulgaria Netherlands 1-0 Luxem. Luxem. 1-4 W.Germany W.Germany 0-2 Nether. Bulgaria 2-1 W.Germany Netherlands 4-3 Bulgaria

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Previous appearances in tournament1
Spain	Group 1 winner	3 (1982, 1984, 1986)
Italy	Group 2 winner	5 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986)
France	Group 3 winner	3 (1982, 1984, 1986)
England	Group 4 winner	5 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986)
Greece	Group 5 winner	0 (Debut)
Czechoslovakia	Group 6 winner	2 (1978, 1980)
Scotland	Group 7 winner	3 (1980, 1982, 1984)
Netherlands	Group 8 winner	0 (Debut)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

Squads

See 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Finals
	Scotland	0	0	0
	England	1	1	2
							England	2	2	4
							France	4	2	6
	France	2	2	4
	Italy	1	2	3
													France	0	3	3
													Greece	0	0	0
	Greece	1	2	3
	Czechoslovakia	1	2	3
							Greece	5	0	5
							Netherlands	0	2	2
	Netherlands	2	1	3
	Spain	1	0	1

Quarter-finals

First leg

16 February 1988

Scotland	0–1	England
	Report	Porter 83'

Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen

Attendance: 14,200

Referee: Bo Karlsson (Sweden)

16 March 1988

France	2–1	Italy
Paille 81' Sauzée 90'	Report	Maldini 51'

Stade Marcel Picot, Nancy

Attendance: 13,462

Referee: Lajos Németh (Hungary)

2 March 1988

Greece	1–1	Czechoslovakia
Borbokis 49'	Report	Němeček 65'

Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, Athens

Attendance: 2,846

Referee: Ioan Igna (Romania)

24 February 1988

Spain	0–1	Netherlands
	Report	Plomp 89' (pen.)

La Condomina, Murcia

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Renzo Peduzzi (Switzerland)

Second leg

22 April 1988

England	1–0	Scotland
White 82'	Report

City Ground, Nottingham

Attendance: 11,284

Referee: Karl-Heinz Tritschler (West Germany)

23 March 1988

Italy	2–2	France
Rizzitelli 42' Ciocci 63'	Report	Paille 83', 88'

Stadio Riviera delle Palme, San Benedetto del Tronto

Attendance: 13,505

Referee: Helmut Kohl (Austria)

23 March 1988

Czechoslovakia	2–2	Greece
Vakalopoulos 77' (o.g.) Litoš 84'	Report	Karasavvidis 20' Kapouranis 86'

Stadion Střelecký ostrov, České Budějovice

Attendance: 4,200

Referee: José dos Santos (Portugal)

23 March 1988

Netherlands	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Spain
van Loen 100' Viscaal 108'	Report	Loren 40'

Nieuw Galgenwaard, Utrecht

Attendance: 3,724

Referee: Einar Halle (Norway)

Semi-finals

First leg

13 April 1988

France	4–2	England
Angloma 23' Cantona 49' Dogon 78' Paille 83'	Report	Parker 40' Stewart 60' (pen.)

Stade Léo Lagrange, Besançon

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Yusuf Namoğlu (Turkey)

13 April 1988

Greece	5–0	Netherlands
Karasavvidis 10', 41', 73', 85' Ikonomidis 13'	Report

Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Attendance: 3,216

Referee: Klaus Peschel (West Germany)

Second leg

27 April 1988

England	2–2	France
Gascoigne 5' Silvestre 59' (o.g.)	Report	Cantona 56', 78'

Highbury Stadium, London

Attendance: 5,661

Referee: Marcel Van Langenhove (Belgium)

27 April 1988

Netherlands	2–0	Greece
Fraser 60' Witschge 88'	Report

Nieuw Galgenwaard, Utrecht

Attendance: 750

Referee: Aron Schmidhuber (West Germany)

Final

First leg

25 May 1988

Greece	0–0	France
	Report

Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Attendance: 21,038

Referee: Ion Crăciunescu (Romania)

Second leg

12 October 1988

France	3–0	Greece
Sauzée 8', 55' Silvestre 67'	Report

Stade Léo Lagrange, Besançon

Attendance: 22,000

Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland)

Goalscorers

5 goals

• Aris Karasavvidis

4 goals

• Stéphane Paille

3 goals

• Eric Cantona
• Franck Sauzée

1 goal

Own goal

• Pagonis Vakalopoulos (playing against Czechoslovakia)
• Franck Silvestre (playing against England)