U19 European Championship

First final in 1980
The Under-19 and Under-17 competitions are the direct successors to the International Youth Tournament, which had been staged since 1948 with the first Under-18 Championship held in 1980. Eight teams compete in the Under-19 finals, held in July to accommodate the clubs who already have these young players on their books.

Success spread round
Captains from 13 different countries have lifted the trophy while Spain and Portugal have performed so consistently at this age-level that, of the finals played since 1988, 11 have involved an Iberian team. The Republic of Ireland's victory over Germany in Cyprus in 1998 interrupted a sequence of southern European wins that had lasted since 1993, but the Latin teams resumed their winning ways with the successes of Portugal (1999) and France (2000).

Poland victorious
In 2001 Poland signalled the beginning of a renaissance at all levels, and the end of the U18 age level, by triumphing in Finland. They defeated the Czech Republic 3-1 in a dramatic final. The first Under-19 event took place in 2002 in Norway and was won by Spain, who beat Germany 1-0 in the final to give coach Iñaki Sáez a perfect send-off as he departed to take over the senior Spanish side.

Italy end wait
The 2002/03 finals in Liechtenstein saw yet more Iberian representation in the final in the form of Portugal. However Italy denied the Portuguese an U17-U19 double by winning 2-0 - thereby lifting the trophy after three previous losing appearances in the final at U18 level.

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