The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 24th UEFA European Under-19 Championship, UEFA's premier competition for players under the age of 19. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic with matches played from 14 July to 26 July 2008. Players born after 1 January 1989 were eligible to participate in this competition. The top three teams in each group qualified for the 2009 U-20 World Cup.
Qualification
Qualification for the final tournament was played over two stages. The first qualifying stage divided the remaining 52 UEFA nations (minus the hosts, the Czech Republic) into 13 groups of four teams. Matches in the first stage were played from 24 September 2007 to 15 November 2007. The top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams then qualified for the elite qualifying stage, where the 28 teams were divided into seven groups of four. Matches in the elite qualifying stage were played from 1 March 2008 to 31 May 2008, when the top team from each group advanced to the final tournament.
The following teams qualified for the tournament: (as host)
Germany
Squads
Final group stage
The groups were drawn on 1 June 2008 in Prague by the first vice-chairman of the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee, Jim Boyce, and senior Czech internationals Petr Čech and Martin Fenin.
In the following tables:
Key: Pld Matches played, W Won, D Drawn, L Lost, GF Goals for, GA Goals against, GD Goal Difference, Pts Points
Group A
Group B
Knock-out stage
Bracket
Semi-finals
Final
Goalscorers
4 goals
Tomáš Necid
3 goals
Richard Sukuta-Pasu
2 goals
Jan Morávek
Lars Bender
Marcel Risse
Alberto Paloschi
Andrea Poli
Emilio Nsue
1 goal
Benjamin Mee
Freddie Sears
Daniel Sturridge
1 goal, cont. Dennis Diekmeier Timo Gebhart Savio Nsereko Stefan Reinartz Ömer Toprak Michalis Pavlis Olivér Nagy Krisztián Németh András Simon Giacomo Bonaventura Fernando Forestieri Silvano Raggio Garibaldi Jordi Alba Fran Mérida Aarón
Countries to participate in 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup
Germany
Team of the tournament
After the final, the UEFA technical team selected 22 players to integrate the "team of the tournament".