The UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals draw will be held on Wednesday at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta. The draw will split the eight contenders into two groups of four teams.

Malta, making their debut in an Under-19 final tournament, will be joined by the seven elite round winners including another team in the finals for the first time, Iceland, who knocked out holders England, plus former champions Italy, Portugal and Spain. The finals run from 3 to 16 July.

Malta will be seeded as the first team in Group A (A1). The remaining teams will be drawn one after another without any further seeding. The draw order will be B1, A2, B2, A3, B3, A4 and B4.

The top two in each group will advance to the knockout phase.

Spain won the competition eight times, the last time being in 2019, reaching the finals twelve times. In the qualifying round, they won Group 7 after defeating Albania 5-0 and a goalless draw with Belgium. In the Elite Round, they drew 0-0 with Denmark but then registered back-to-back 4-0 wins over Luxembourg and Ukraine.

Portugal are the top seed in the tournament. They received a bye in the qualifying round, claiming maximum points from the Elite Round Group 4 thanks to a 1-0 win over Sweden and identical 3-0 wins over Czechia and Croatia. They won the championship in 2018, reaching the finals eleven times.

Italy reached the finals eight times, winning the Under-19 EURO in 2003. They qualified to the Elite Round despite placing third in Group 5 after a 0-2 defeat to Estonia, a 3-2 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina and a 1-0 win over Poland. In the Elite Round Group 2, they defeated Germany 3-2, obtaining a 0-0 draw with Slovenia and a 2-2 draw with Belgium.

Greece reached the finals six times, finishing twice as runners-up in 2007 and 2012. They won Group 1 in the qualifying round thanks to a 2-0 win over Switzerland, a 3-0 win over Andorra and a 1-1 draw with Czechia. In the Elite Round, they won Group 5 after a 3-0 win over Estonia, a 1-1 draw with Slovakia and a 1-0 win over Ireland.

Poland won Group 5 in the qualifying round thanks to two 2-0 wins over Bosnia Herzegovina and Estonia, losing 0-1 to Italy. In the Elite Round, they drew 1-1 with Israel, defeated Latvia 3-0 before another draw, 2-2, with Serbia. They reached the finals twice.

Norway placed second in Group 10 in the qualifying round following a 2-0 win over San Marino and a 6-2 win over North Macedonia, followed by a 0-2 defeat to Serbia. However in the Elite Round Group 1, they claimed maximum points thanks to a 4-0 win over Romania, a 2-1 win over France and a 5-2 win over Northern Ireland. They made it to the finals five times.

Iceland, on the other hand, finished second in Group 8 of the qualifying round following a 1-0 win over Scotland, a 0-2 defeat to France and a 4-1 win over Kazakhstan. Then, in the Elite Round Group 7, they drew 2-2 with Turkiye, defeating holders England 1-0 and Hungary 2-0. This will be the first participation for Iceland in the finals.

Match dates

Group stage Matchday 1: 3/4 July
Group stage Matchday 2: 6/7 July
Group stage Matchday 3: 9/10 July
Semi-finals: 13 July
Final: 16 July

Matches will be played at the National Stadium, Centenary Stadium, Tony Bezzina Stadium and Gozo Stadium.