2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Qualifying Round Draw

England's Under-21s have been drawn in Group 3 alongside Portugal and the Republic of Ireland, with a place in the 2009 UEFA Championship Finals the eventual goal.

The draw for the qualifying round took place at the Hilton Stockholm Slussen Hotel today and also saw Montenegro, in their first ever UEFA tournament, and Bulgaria picked in the Three Lions' group.

51 teams in all will compete in ten groups over ten matchdays, which climax in September 2008.

The ten group winners and four best runners-up will go through to seven play-off matches to determine the seven finalists joining hosts Sweden at the 2009 Finals.

The Draw in full

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Italy
Croatia
Greece
Albania
Azerbaijan
Faroe Island		 Czech Rep
Ukraine
Turkey
Armenia
Liechtenstein

Portugal
England
Bulgaria
Rep. Ireland
Montenegro

 Spain
Russia
Poland
Georgia
Kazakhstan

Holland
Switzerland
Norway
Macedonia
Estonia

Group 6

Group 7

Group 8

Group 9

Group 10

Denmark
Slovenia
Lithuania
Finland
Scotland		 Belgium
Slovakia
Iceland
Austria
Cyprus

Serbia
Hungary
Belarus
Latvia
San Marino

 Germany
Israel
Moldova
N Ireland
Luxembourg		 France
Romania
Bosnia-Herze
Wales
Malta


Five grounds around Sweden will stage the matches at the Finals with the Råsunda Stadion in Stockholm the venue for the Final itself.

The 36,800 capacity Råsunda has hosted England's senior team eight times, their last visit a 2-1 defeat in September 1998, and it also played host to the 1958 World Cup Final and the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final.

The opening match of the Finals, along with other Group A matches, will be played at a brand-new, 28,000 capacity stadium, which is currently being built next to the Malmö Stadion, home of Malmo FF. Other games in the group will be at Helsingborgs' Olympia Stadion.

Gothenburg's new Ullevi stadium will host games in Group B along with the Borås Arena, home of 2006 Swedish champions IF Elfsborg.

Details of fixtures and dates will be announced in due course here on TheFA.com.