The 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1986–88), had 30 entrants. The

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

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 nations * Group 2 did not include

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

* Group 3 did not include

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

(moved to Group 6) * Group 4 did not include

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

* Group 5 did not include

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(moved to Group 8) * Group 6 did not include

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, but included

(moved from Group 3) * Group 7 did not include

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

(both moved to Group 8) * Group 8 composed of

and

(both moved from Group 7),

(moved from Group 5) and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

(who did not participate in senior Euro qualification)

Qualified teams

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

Squads

''See 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads''

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

First leg

---- ---- ----

Second leg

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

First leg

----

Second leg

----

Final

First leg

Second leg

Goalscorers

;5 goals * Aris Karasavvidis ;4 goals *

Stéphane Paille Stéphane Paille (27 June 1965 – 27 June 2017) was a French professional footballer who played for the France national team as well as for various club sides in France, Portugal, Switzerland and Scotland. After he retired from playing he ...

;3 goals *

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

Franck Sauzée Franck Gaston Henri Sauzée (born 28 October 1965) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played 39 times for the France national team between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals and captaining the team several times. He achiev ...

;1 goal * Václav Němeček * Marcel Litoš * Paul Gascoigne * Garry Parker * Gary Porter * Paul Stewart * David White *

Jocelyn Angloma Jocelyn Angloma (born 7 August 1965) is a football manager and former professional player who played as a defender. Born in Guadeloupe, he represented both the France and Guadeloupe national teams. He is the head coach of the Guadeloupe nationa ...

Jean-Luc Dogon Jean-Luc Dogon (born 13 October 1967) is a French football coach and a former player. He manages the Under-19 squad of Bordeaux. While at Bordeaux he won the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup and played in the 1996 UEFA Cup Final. While at Strasbourg he ...

* Franck Silvestre *

Stefanos Borbokis Stefanos Borbokis ( el, Στέφανος Μπορμπόκης; born 1 September 1966) is a Greek former footballer. He is the brother of Vassilis Borbokis who also played for PAOK FC. Club career Borbokis began his career at PAOK FC in 1986 and ...

* Kostas Ikonomidis * Giorgos Kapouranis * Massimo Ciocci *

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

Ruggiero Rizzitelli Ruggiero Rizzitelli (; born 2 September 1967) is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker. Due to his goalscoring ability, he was given the nickname "Rizzi-gol" by the fans. Club career Rizzitelli started his professional career f ...

Henk Fraser Hendrikus "Henk" Fraser (born 7 July 1966) is a Dutch football coach and former player who most recently managed Eredivisie side FC Utrecht. He played as a defender for various Dutch teams. Born in Suriname, he earned seven caps for the Neth ...

John van Loen Johannes ("John") Maria van Loen (born 4 February 1965 in Utrecht) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. he earned seven caps for the Netherlands national football team, with which he scored one goal. He played in ...

Gerrit Plomp Gerrit Plomp (born 27 June 1963) is a retired Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the ...

Eric Viscaal Eric Viscaal (born 20 March 1968) is a former football player from the Netherlands, who played much of his career as a forward in Belgium (Beveren, KAA Gent, KV Mechelen). He earned five caps for the Dutch national team and was part of their s ...

Rob Witschge Robert Witschge (born 22 August 1966) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his 14-year professional career with Feyenoord, but started out at Ajax, amassing Eredivisie totals of 281 matches and ...

Loren Loren is a given name, nickname and surname which may refer to: Given name Men * Loren Acton (born 1936), American physicist and astronaut * Loren C. Ball (born 1948), amateur astronomer who has discovered more than 100 asteroids * Loren M. Ber ...

;Own goal * Pagonis Vakalopoulos (playing against Czechoslovakia) * Franck Silvestre (playing against England)

References

External links

Results Archive
''at uefa.com''

''at rsssf.com {{DEFAULTSORT:UEFA European Under-21 Championship,1988

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

1986–87 in European football 1987–88 in European football 1988 in youth association football