Serbia national under-21 football team

The Serbia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Serbia and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbia national team to be the direct and sole successor of the Yugoslavia under-21 and Serbia and Montenegro under-21 national teams.^[1][2][3]

Serbia U-21

Nickname(s)	Орлићи / Orlići (Little Eagles)
Association	Football Association of Serbia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Zoran Mirković
Captain	Stefan Leković
Most caps	Branislav Ivanović (38)
Top scorer	Uroš Đurđević (16)
FIFA code	SRB
First colours Second colours
First international
FR Yugoslavia 1–0 Malta  (Zrenjanin, FR Yugoslavia, 1 June 1996)
Biggest win
Serbia and Montenegro 9–0 San Marino  (Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro; 12 October 2004)
Biggest defeat
England 9–1 Serbia  (West Bridgford, England; 12 October 2023)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	11 (first in 1978)
Best result	Champions (1978)

History

Serbia's under-21 national team qualified for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship held in the Netherlands, in June 2007, after winning a two-game play-off against Sweden. After a 3–0 loss at home, Serbia overturned the result two weeks later, defeating Sweden 5–0, and advancing to the final tournament. Serbia's 2007 U21 Championship campaign was successful, as they finished in second place, losing the final to the hosts, by a score of 4–1. On their way to the final, they defeated Italy (1–0), Czech Republic (1–0) and Belgium (2–0). The only other loss, besides the final, was the third group game against England (0–2), which was a meaningless game for the Serbian team, as they had already qualified for the semi-finals.

Competitive record

For the competitive record before 1992, see Yugoslavia national under-21 football team.

  Champions    Runners-Up    Third Place    Fourth Place

UEFA European Under-21 Championship record Tournament record Qualification record Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA GP W D L GF GA within SFR Yugoslavia 1978 Champions 1st 6 3 2 1 10 7 4 3 0 1 9 3 1980 Semi-finals 4th 4 1 1 2 3 6 4 2 2 0 4 2 1982 did not qualify 4 2 1 1 4 2 1984 Semi-finals 4th 4 1 0 3 4 6 6 3 2 1 12 5 1986 did not qualify 6 1 2 3 10 16 1988 4 1 1 2 7 9 1990 Final 2nd 6 2 2 2 8 9 6 4 1 1 10 4 1992 did not qualify 6 4 0 2 11 10 within FR Yugoslavia 1994 Suspended Suspended 1996 1998 did not qualify 8 6 0 2 14 3 2000 9 5 2 2 29 13 2002 8 4 3 1 22 11 within Serbia and Montenegro 2004 Final 2nd 6 2 2 2 7 9 10 7 1 2 21 12 2006 Semi-finals 4th 4 1 1 2 2 3 12 9 1 2 34 13 as Serbia 2007 Final 2nd 5 3 0 2 5 6 4 3 0 1 10 4 2009 Group stage 6th 3 0 2 1 1 3 10 7 2 1 26 5 2011 did not qualify 8 4 1 3 14 12 2013 10 5 3 2 17 6 2015 Group stage 8th 3 0 1 2 1 7 10 6 2 2 20 11 2017 10th 3 0 1 2 2 5 12 8 2 2 29 9 2019 12th 3 0 0 3 1 10 10 8 2 0 23 5 2021 did not qualify 10 3 3 4 12 9 2023 10 3 3 4 10 11 2025 10 5 1 4 13 18 2027 qualified qualified as co-host Total 11/24 1 Title 47 13 12 22 44 71 181 103 35 43 361 193

Olympic Games record Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA 1996 Suspended 2000 did not qualify 2004 Group stage 16th 3 0 0 3 3 14 2008 12th 3 0 1 2 3 7 2012 did not qualify 2016 2020 2024 2028 to be determined 2032 Total 2/7 0 Title 6 0 1 5 6 21

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2023

England  v  Serbia

13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	England	9–1	Serbia	West Bridgford, United Kingdom
20:45	Philogene 38', 63' Delap 42' Elliott 45+7', 90+1' Madueke 53', 59' Subotić 89' (o.g.) Rowe 89'	Report	Lučić 27'	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 14,753 Referee: Sven Jablonski (Germany)

Northern Ireland  v  Serbia

16 October 2023 (2023-10-16) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Northern Ireland	1–2	Serbia	Lurgan, United Kingdom
20:30	McGuckin 51' (pen.)	Report	Lučić 15' Pantović 82'	Stadium: Mourneview Park Attendance: 433 Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes (Norway)

Serbia  v  England

18 November 2023 (2023-11-18) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Serbia	0–3	England	Bačka Topola, Serbia
17:00		Report	McAtee 5', 19' Elliott 55'	Stadium: TSC Arena Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Peter Kjærsgaard (Denmark)

Serbia  v  Luxembourg

21 November 2023 (2023-11-21) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Serbia	2–0	Luxembourg	Stara Pazova, Serbia
19:00	Ratkov 13' Lučić 30' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Serbian FA Sports Center Attendance: 300 Referee: Sigurd Kringstad (Norway)

2024

Luxembourg  v  Serbia

22 March 2024 (2024-03-22) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Luxembourg	1–1	Serbia	Luxembourg
		Report

Serbia  v  Northern Ireland

26 March 2024 (2024-03-26) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Serbia	1–2	Northern Ireland	Serbia
		Report

Ukraine  v  Serbia

6 September 2024 (2024-09-06) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Ukraine	2–1	Serbia	Riga (Latvia)
		Report		Stadium: LNK Sporta Parks

Azerbaijan  v  Serbia

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Azerbaijan	0–2	Serbia	Azerbaijan
		Report

Serbia  v  Ukraine

15 October 2024 (2024-10-15) 2025 UEFA U-21 Q	Serbia	1–0	Ukraine	Serbia
		Report

Players

Current squad

The following players have been called up for the friendly matches against Bulgaria on 31 May and Greece and 4 June 2025.^[4]

Caps and goals updated as of 4 June 2025, after the match against Greece.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Lazar Kaličanin	(2004-05-21) 21 May 2004 (age 21)	3	0	Čukarički
1	1GK	Luka Lijeskić	(2005-02-23) 23 February 2005 (age 20)	1	0	Radnički 1923
12	1GK	Filip Stanić	(2005-06-15) 15 June 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Borac Čačak
23	1GK	Aleksa Todorović	(2004-01-25) 25 January 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Rijeka
5	2DF	Stefan Leković (captain)	(2004-01-09) 9 January 2004 (age 21)	4	0	Monza
4	2DF	Aleksej Vukičević	(2005-06-11) 11 June 2005 (age 20)	4	0	OFK Beograd
2	2DF	Ognjen Mimović	(2004-08-17) 17 August 2004 (age 21)	4	0	Zenit Saint Petersburg
13	2DF	Stefan Džodić	(2005-03-15) 15 March 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Montpellier
15	2DF	Vojin Serafimović	(2005-10-14) 14 October 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Čukarički
6	2DF	Veljko Milosavljević	(2007-06-28) 28 June 2007 (age 18)	0	0	Red Star Belgrade
3	2DF	Stefan Bukinac	(2005-07-08) 8 July 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Vojvodina
19	2DF	Boris Matić	(2004-08-19) 19 August 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Wolfsberger AC
	2DF	Adem Avdić	(2007-09-24) 24 September 2007 (age 17)	0	0	OFK Beograd
20	3MF	Jovan Šljivić	(2005-10-14) 14 October 2005 (age 19)	4	0	Red Star Belgrade
11	3MF	Milan Aleksić	(2005-08-30) 30 August 2005 (age 19)	2	1	Sunderland
19	3MF	Nikola Krstić	(2004-12-01) 1 December 2004 (age 20)	2	0	IMT
8	3MF	Aleksa Cvetković	(2005-05-13) 13 May 2005 (age 20)	1	1	OFK Beograd
16	3MF	Matija Mitrović	(2004-12-12) 12 December 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Železničar Pančevo
14	3MF	Strahinja Rakić	(2006-02-18) 18 February 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Jedinstvo Ub
21	3MF	Vanja Dragojević	(2006-01-11) 11 January 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Partizan
6	3MF	Aleksandar Stanković	(2005-08-03) 3 August 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Luzern
	3MF	Ognjen Ugrešić	(2006-07-15) 15 July 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Partizan
10	4FW	Miloš Luković	(2005-11-18) 18 November 2005 (age 19)	4	0	Heerenveen
9	4FW	Vanja Vlahović	(2004-03-23) 23 March 2004 (age 21)	3	1	Atalanta
17	4FW	Bogdan Mirčetić	(2005-10-25) 25 October 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Radnički 1923
7	4FW	Lazar Jovanović	(2006-11-30) 30 November 2006 (age 18)	0	0	OFK Beograd
18	4FW	Mihailo Ivanović	(2004-11-29) 29 November 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Millwall
22	4FW	Mihajlo Cvetković	(2007-01-10) 10 January 2007 (age 18)	0	0	Čukarički

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months, that are still eligible to represent Serbia at youth

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Veljko Ilić	(2003-07-21) 21 July 2003 (age 22)	7	0	TSC	v.  Northern Ireland, 24 March 2024
DF	Mihajlo Ilić	(2003-06-04) 4 June 2003 (age 22)	8	2	Partizan	v.  Northern Ireland, 24 March 2024
MF	Igor Miladinović	(2003-06-08) 8 June 2003 (age 22)	6	0	Čukarički	v.  Northern Ireland, 24 March 2024
MF	Nikola Jojić	(2003-09-15) 15 September 2003 (age 21)	1	0	Stoke City	v.  Northern Ireland, 24 March 2024
FW	Petar Ratkov	(2003-08-18) 18 August 2003 (age 22)	7	2	Red Bull Salzburg	v.  Luxembourg, 22 March 2024

Previous squads

• 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad
• 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad
• 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad
• 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad
• 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad
• 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad
• 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad

Coaches

Dates	Name
2025–	Zoran Mirković
2024–2025	Aleksandar Kolarov
2023–2024	Ljubinko Drulović
2023	Dušan Đorđević
2022–2023	Goran Stevanović
2021	Aleksandar Rogić (caretaker)
2021	Zvonko Živković
2019–2021	Ilija Stolica
2019	Nenad Milovanović
2017–2019	Goran Đorović
2017	Nenad Lalatović
2015–2016	Tomislav Sivić
2014–2015	Mladen Dodić
2013–2014	Radovan Ćurčić
2010–2012	Aleksandar Janković
2010	Tomislav Sivić (caretaker)
2009–2010	Ratomir Dujković
2007–2009	Slobodan Krčmarević
2006–2007	Miroslav Đukić

See also

• Serbia national under-21 football team results
• UEFA European Under-21 Championship
• Serbia national football team
• Serbia national under-20 football team
• Serbia national under-19 football team
• Yugoslavia national under-21 football team

Notes