1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
International football competition
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The 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the ninth UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted in France between 15 and 20 April 1994.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  France |
| Dates | 9 March – 20 April |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Italy (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Portugal |
| Third place |  Spain |
| Fourth place | France |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 25 (2.08 per match) |
| Attendance | 94,670 (7,889 per match) |
| Top scorer | João Pinto (3 goals) |
| Best player | Luís Figo |
← 1992 1996 → | |
The qualification stage spanned two years from 1992 to 1994. The qualification process consisted of 32 entrants. After the two-legged quarter-final stage, France was chosen as the first hosts of the final stage, which consisted of four matches in total. The finals included for the first time a third-place play-off.
Italy won the competition for the second consecutive time.[1] Luís Figo won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Golden player award.[2]
Qualification
The draw for the 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying round saw Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Poland, Russia and Spain win their respective groups. Greece and Portugal qualified for the tournament as the two best runners-up. France, Italy, Portugal and Spain qualified for the 1996 Summer Olympics in the United States.
This was the last performance of Czechoslovakia, as the nation actually have split.
List of qualified teams
| Country | Qualified as | Previous appearances in tournament1 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | Group 1 winner | 8 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992) |
 Poland | Group 2 winner | 4 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1992) |
| Spain | Group 3 winner | 5 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990) |
 Czechoslovakia | Group 4 winner | 5 (1978, 1980, 1988, 1990, 1992) |
 Russia | Group 5 winner | 0 (debut) |
| France | Group 6 winner | 4 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988) |
 Greece | Best runner-up | 1 (1988) |
| Portugal | Second best runner-up | 0 (debut) |
- 1 Bold indicates champion for that year
Squads
Only players born on or after 1 January 1971 were eligible to play in the tournament.
Results
Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 9 March, and the second legs were played on 23 March 1994.
First leg
Second leg
| Czechoslovakia | 1–0 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
Svoboda  89' |
Report |
Semi-finals
| Portugal | 2–0 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Rui Costa 48' João Pinto 82' |
Report |
