The Cyprus national under-21 football team is the

national under-21 football team A National under-21 football team represents the second-highest stage in European international football competition. Only Europe (UEFA) uses an under-21 age limit, and only for men. FIFA, the sport's worldwide governing body, runs competitions f ...

for Cyprus and like the senior team, is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. The team drew their first official match 0–0 in 1978 at home to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in a qualifying match for the 1980 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. They then drew 0–0 with the trophy holders

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, also at home. They lost both away games though. And finished last in the group of three teams, with two points from four games, and so did not qualify for the Finals. In the qualifying stages for the 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, Cyprus made history when they defeated

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

2–1 in Cyprus as it was the countries first ever official victory at National or Under-21 football level. The scorer of the Cypriot goals was Islington born Kikis Kyriacou of Olympiakos Nicosia whose promising career was brought to a premature end following a horrific leg injury. In the qualifying stages for the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, the team beat

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

1-0 and drew 1–1 with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

who went on to reach the Final. Cyprus finished last in their qualifying group with three points, the same number as Greece. The Under 21 team made gradual improvements and in September 1999, in a qualifying match for the

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants. Northern Ireland competed for the f ...

, drew 1–1 in Spain, the eventual winners of the competition. The team finished fourth out of five teams in their qualifying group, ahead of Austria. The qualifying stages for the

2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 14th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Germany between 27 May and 8 June 2004. Italy U-21s won the competition for the fifth time. Italy's Al ...

provided the greatest achievement for the Cyprus under-21 national team to date, when they finished second in Qualification Group One, with 15 points, winning five of their eight matches. France won the group with 22 points, seven points ahead of Cyprus. In 2004,

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

joined the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, and Cypriot teams took advantage of the

Bosman rule ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

bringing in foreign players. This has meant that young Cypriot players are now not as common in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

and is therefore also having an adverse effect on the under-21 national team.

European Championship record Under-21

UEFA U-21 Euro 2019 qualification

Friendly matches

Coaching staff

Current squad

* The following players were called up for the friendly matches. * Match dates: 17 and 20 November 2022 * Opposition: and * Caps and goals correct as of: 24 September 2022, after the match against

References

External links

CFA.COM.CY U21 - Cyprus Football Association Official Page

{{UEFA U-21 Championship European national under-21 association football teams under-21