The 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification began in 2000. The final tournament was held in 2002. The 47 national teams were divided into nine groups (one group of four, five groups of 5, and three groups of 6). The records of the nine group runners-up were then compared. The top seven joined the nine winners in a play-off for the eight finals spots. One of the eight qualifiers was then chosen to host the remaining fixtures.
The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:
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Switzerland qualify as group winners
Russia fail to qualify as one of best runners-up
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Portugal qualify as group winners
Netherlands qualify as one of best runners-up
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Czech Republic
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10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 5 | +23 | 27 |
 Bulgaria
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10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 18 |
 Denmark
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10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 15 |
 Iceland
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10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 17 | −4 | 11 |
 Northern Ireland
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10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 8 |
 Malta
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10 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 20 | −15 | 4 |
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(*) Match awarded 3-0 to N.Ireland
due to Malta fielding an ineligible player. Czech Republic qualify as group winners Bulgaria fail to qualify as one of best runners-up
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Turkey
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10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 6 | +13 | 23 |
 Sweden
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10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 6 | +13 | 19 |
 Slovakia
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10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 16 |
 Moldova
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10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 9 |
 Azerbaijan
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10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 17 | −13 | 9 |
 Macedonia
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10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 18 | −12 | 5 |
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Turkey qualify as group winners Sweden qualify as one of best runners-up
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Ukraine qualify as group winners
Poland qualify as one of best runners-up
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Belgium qualify as group winners
Croatia qualify as one of best runners-up
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 France
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8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 20 |
 Spain
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8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 16 |
 Israel
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8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 12 |
 Austria
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8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 8 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
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8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 17 | −12 | 1 |
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France qualify as group winners Spain qualify as one of best runners-up
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Italy
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8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 19 |
 Romania
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8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 16 |
 Hungary
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8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 15 |
 Lithuania
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8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 17 | −12 | 6 |
 Georgia
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8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 3 |
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(*) Match awarded 3-0 to Romania
due to Lithuania fielding an ineligible player. Italy qualify as group winners Romania qualify as one of best runners-up
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England
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8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 17 |
 Greece
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8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 16 |
 Germany
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8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 16 |
 Finland
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8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 20 | −13 | 4 |
 Albania
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8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 19 | −16 | 4 |
England qualify as group winners Greece qualify as one of best runners-up
Greece (16pts) Germany (16pts) head-to-head:
2-1 in GER, 2-0 in GRE
.: Greece better (3-2 on aggregate)
Because groups contained different number or teams (six, five and four), matches against the fifth- and sixth-placed teams in each group are not included in the ranking. As a result, six matches played by each team counted for the purposes of the second-placed table. The top seven advanced to the play-off.
| Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Greece
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6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 12 |
| 4 | Sweden
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 11 |
| 5 | Poland
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 11 |
| 6 | Croatia
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 11 |
| 2 | Netherlands
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 11 |
| 8 | Romania
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6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 10 |
| 7 | Spain
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6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Bulgaria
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6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 10 |
| 1 | Russia
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6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 9 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden
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3–4 | Belgium
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3–2 | 0–2 |
| Greece
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4–2 | Turkey
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3–0 | 1–2 |
| Netherlands
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2–3 | England
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2–2 | 0–1 |
| Spain
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2–2 (a) | Portugal
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2–1 | 0–1 |
| Croatia
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1–1 (a) | Czech Republic
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1–1 | 0–0 |
| Poland
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2–5 | Italy
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2–5 | 0–0 |
| Romania
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0–5 | France
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0–1 | 0–4 |
| Ukraine
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2–4 | Switzerland
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1–2 | 1–2 |
