2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship

The 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 61st edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship (the eleventh since the age competition change to an Under-19 level) and took place in Estonia from 3 to 15 July.^[1] Spain were the defending champions. This competition also acted as a qualifying competition for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, as six sides from Europe qualify.

2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship

2012. aasta U-19 Euroopa meistrivõistlused jalgpallis
Tournament details
Host country	Estonia
Dates	3–15 July
Teams	8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Spain (9th title)
Runners-up	Greece
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	49 (3.27 per match)
Attendance	46,022 (3,068 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Jesé (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Gerard Deulofeu
← 2011 2013 →

Players born after 1 January 1993 were eligible to participate in this competition.

Qualification

Main articles: Qualifying round and Elite round

Qualification for the final tournament occurred in two stages: a qualifying round and an elite round. During these rounds, 51 national teams competed to determine the seven teams that would join the automatically qualified host nation Estonia.

The qualifying round was played between 21 September and 16 November 2011. Liechtenstein did not enter and England, France and Spain received a bye to the elite round as a result of their UEFA ranking coefficient. The remaining 48 teams were divided into 12 groups of four teams, with each group being contested as a mini-tournament hosted by one of the group's teams. After all matches were played, the 12 group winners, 12 group runners-up and the best third-placed team advanced to the elite round.

The elite round was played between 23 and 31 May 2012. The 28 teams entering this phase were split into seven groups of four teams for a further round of mini-tournaments. The seven group winners qualified for the final tournament.

Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament:

Country	Qualified as	Previous appearances in final tournament1 only U-19 era (since 2002)
Estonia	Hosts	0 (debut)
France	Winner of Group 1	5 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010)
England	Winner of Group 2	6 (2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Serbia	Winner of Group 3	4 (20052, 2007, 2009, 2011)
Portugal	Winner of Group 4	4 (2003, 2006, 2007, 2010)
Greece	Winner of Group 5	4 (2005, 2007, 2008, 2011)
Croatia	Winner of Group 6	1 (2010)
Spain	Winner of Group 7	8 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

² As Serbia and Montenegro

Venues

Stadium	Location	Capacity[2]	Notes[3]
A. Le Coq Arena	Tallinn	9,692	Three group games, semifinals and the final
Haapsalu linnastaadion	Haapsalu	869	Three group matches
Kadrioru staadion	Tallinn	5,000	Three group matches
Rakvere linnastaadion	Rakvere	2,500	Three group matches

Tallinn

Haapsalu

Rakvere

Match officials

UEFA named six referees and eight assistant referees for the tournament on 18 June 2012, all who are young and upcoming top referees in Europe. Additionally two Estonian referees were chosen as fourth officials for the group stage matches.^[4]

Country	Referee
Denmark	Kenn Hansen
Italy	Paolo Valeri
Latvia	Vadims Direktorenko
Netherlands	Danny Makkelie
Northern Ireland	Arnold Hunter
Switzerland	Alain Bieri

Squads

Main article: 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship squads

Results

2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship teams and final classification

Group stage

The draw was held on 6 June 2012 in Tallinn, Estonia.^[5][6]

Each group winner and runner-up advanced to the semifinals. The top three teams in each group also qualified for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings.^[7]

1. Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question
2. Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question
3. Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question
4. If, after applying criteria 1) to 3) to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 3) will be reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5) and 7) will apply
5. Results of all group matches:
   1. Superior goal difference
   2. Higher number of goals scored
6. Respect Fair Play ranking of the teams in question
7. Drawing of lots

Additionally, if two teams which have the same number of points and the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, their final rankings are determined by the penalty shoot-out and not by the criteria listed above. This procedure is applicable only if a ranking of the teams is required to determine the group winner and the runner-up.

Legend
Advanced to semifinals and qualified for the 2013 U-20 World Cup
Qualified for the 2013 U-20 World Cup

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	3	2	1	0	7	4	+3	7
Greece	3	2	0	1	8	5	+3	6
Portugal	3	1	1	1	8	6	+2	4
Estonia	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

3 July 2012

17:30

Greece	1–2	Spain
Diamantakos 66'	Report	Jesé 30' Derik 40'

Haapsalu Stadium, Haapsalu

Attendance: 1,350^[8]

Referee: Vadims Direktorenko (Latvia)

3 July 2012

20:45

Estonia	0–3	Portugal
	Report	Pikk 5' (o.g.) Betinho 25' Martins 72'

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 6,691^[8]

Referee: Kenn Hansen (Denmark)

---

6 July 2012

17:00

Estonia	1–4	Greece
Luigend 90'	Report	Katidis 43' Fourlanos 55' Diamantakos 85', 90+2'

Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 3,345^[9]

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

6 July 2012

20:00

Portugal	3–3	Spain
Bruma 11' Gomes 39' João Mário 90+1' (pen.)	Report	Jesé 8', 28', 48'

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 3,780^[9]

Referee: Paolo Valeri (Italy)

---

9 July 2012

17:00

Spain	2–0	Estonia
Suárez 39' Alcácer 86'	Report

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 3,877^[10]

Referee: Arnold Hunter (Northern Ireland)

9 July 2012

17:00

Portugal	2–3	Greece
Gomes 19' Betinho 90+6'	Report	Gianniotas 18' Katidis 42', 69'

Haapsalu Stadium, Haapsalu

Attendance: 1,193^[10]

Referee: Alain Bieri (Switzerland)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
England	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2	7
France	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	6
Croatia	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	4
Serbia	3	0	0	3	1	8	−7	0

3 July 2012

17:30

England	1–1	Croatia
Chalobah 60'	Report	Pavičić 57'

Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 1,270^[8]

Referee: Alain Bieri (Switzerland)

3 July 2012

18:45

Serbia	0–3	France
	Report	Samnick 17' Pogba 26' (pen.) Vion 32'

Rakvere Stadium, Rakvere

Attendance: 1,827^[8]

Referee: Arnold Hunter (Northern Ireland)

---

6 July 2012

16:30

France	1–0	Croatia
Foulquier 79'	Report

Haapsalu Stadium, Haapsalu

Attendance: 1,182^[9]

Referee: Vadims Direktorenko (Latvia)

6 July 2012

17:30

Serbia	1–2	England
Ninković 70'	Report	Afobe 6' Redmond 63'

Rakvere Stadium, Rakvere

Attendance: 1,712^[9]

Referee: Kenn Hansen (Denmark)

---

9 July 2012

20:00

Croatia	3–0	Serbia
Pavičić 2' Pongračić 49', 57'	Report

Rakvere Stadium, Rakvere

Attendance: 1,647^[10]

Referee: Paolo Valeri (Italy)

9 July 2012

20:00

France	1–2	England
Veretout 31'	Report	Lundstram 16' Kane 39'

Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 3,234^[10]

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	12 July – Tallinn
	Spain	3 (4)
					15 July – Tallinn
	France	3 (2)
					Spain	1
	12 July – Tallinn
					Greece	0
	England	1
	Greece	2

Semi-finals

12 July 2012

16:45

England	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Greece
Afobe 56'	Report	Bougaidis 38' Lykogiannis 108'

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 3,115^[11]

Referee: Kenn Hansen (Denmark)

---

12 July 2012

20:00

Spain	3–3 (a.e.t.)	France
Deulofeu 62', 112' Alcácer 78'	Report	Umtiti 26', 90+1' Pogba 117'
Penalties
Campaña Suárez Jesé Alcácer Deulofeu	4–2	Pogba Pléa Umtiti Kondogbia

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 4,325^[11]

Referee: Arnold Hunter (Northern Ireland)

Final

15 July 2012

21:30

Spain	1–0	Greece
Jesé 80'	Report

Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn

Attendance: 7,864 ^[12]

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

Spain GK 1 Kepa Arrizabalaga  90+2' DF 3 Álex Grimaldo DF 4 Jonás Ramalho DF 5 Derik MF 6 José Campaña (c) MF 8 Suso  71' MF 9 Paco Alcácer FW 10 Jesé  90'  90+1' DF 12 Jonny MF 16 Óliver FW 14 Gerard Deulofeu  84' Substitutes GK 17 Adrián Ortolá FW 7 Juanmi  84' MF 11 Juan Bernat  90+1' DF 14 Pablo Insúa MF 18 Denis Suárez  71' DF 19 Salva Ruiz FW 20 Nono Manager Julen Lopetegui

Greece GK 12 Sokratis Dioudis DF 2 Nikos Marinakis DF 3 Kostas Stafylidis DF 4 Mavroudis Bougaidis MF 6 Panagiotis Ballas FW 7 Charis Mavrias MF 8 Spyros Fourlanos  85' FW 9 Dimitris Diamantakos  67' MF 10 Giorgos Katidis (c)  78'  90' DF 11 Giannis Gianniotas MF 15 Dimitris Kourbelis Substitutes GK 19 Panagiotis Tsintotas DF 5 Konstantinos Triantafyllopoulos MF 13 Konstantinos Rougalas DF 14 Charalambos Lykogiannis FW 17 Anastasios Bakasetas MF 18 Andreas Bouchalakis Manager Kostas Tsanas

2012 UEFA U-19 European champions
Spain 9th title

Goalscorers

5 goals

• Jesé

3 goals

• Dimitris Diamantakos
• Giorgos Katidis

2 goals

• Benik Afobe
• Domagoj Pavičić
• Mihael Pongračić
• Paul Pogba
• Samuel Umtiti
• Betinho
• André Gomes
• Paco Alcácer
• Gerard Deulofeu

1 goal

• Karl-Eerik Luigend
• Nathaniel Chalobah
• Harry Kane
• John Lundstram
• Nathan Redmond
• Dimitri Foulquier
• Richard-Quentin Samnick
• Jordan Veretout
• Thibaut Vion
• Mavroudis Bougaidis
• Spyros Fourlanos
• Giannis Gianniotas
• Charalambos Lykogiannis
• Bruma
• João Mário
• Daniel Martins
• Nikola Ninković
• Derik
• Denis Suárez

1 own goal

• Artur Pikk (against Portugal)

Team of the tournament

After the final, the UEFA technical team selected 23 players to integrate the "team of the tournament".^[13]

Goalkeepers Simon Sluga Alphonse Areola Sokratis Dioudis

Defenders Nathaniel Chalobah Samuel Umtiti Dimitri Foulquier Mavroudis Bougaidis Kostas Stafylidis Álex Grimaldo Derik Osede

Midfielders Domagoj Pavičić Paul Pogba Giorgos Katidis André Gomes José Campaña Saúl Suso Óliver Torres

Forwards Benik Afobe Dimitris Diamantakos Giannis Gianniotas Paco Alcácer Gerard Deulofeu Jesé