Cymru MU17 will discover their opponents for the 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals when the draw takes place in Budapest, Hungary on April 3.
Cymru have been placed in Pot 2 and will be joined by 15 other UEFA member associations in the draw, which gets under way at 4pm BST on Monday.
Cymru’s Route to Qualifying
Cymru’s journey to the finals began in October 2022 with a 2-0 victory over Croatia in the qualifying round before a dramatic 3-3 draw with Sweden and goalless draw against Albania.
Craig Knight’s side were the only side to go unbeaten in their qualifying group and finished top to advance to the elite round, where they were drawn against Scotland, Iceland and Montenegro.
Cymru beat Scotland 4-2 at Rodney Parade in their elite round opener on Wednesday 22 March before a 1-1 draw with Iceland at Dragon Park three days later. Cymru knew a draw would be enough to qualify in their final game against Montenegro at Dragon Park but they were 2-0 down at the break after two quick-fire goals on the stroke of half time.
But second-half goals from Iwan Morgan and Dylan Lawlor ensured Cymru earned a draw and sealed the point they needed to top the group and reach the finals for the first time.
The Draw Format
The hosts Hungary will be seeded as the first team in Group A (A1) in Monday’s draw. The other 15 participating teams will be split into two pots and drawn into four groups of four teams (Groups A to D).
- Pot 1: the seven best elite round group winners (7 teams).
- Pot 2: the remaining elite round group winner and the seven best runners-up (8 teams).
- The draw starts with Pot 2 from where the teams are drawn to fill position four in each group.
- The order of the draw is as follows:
- One ball is drawn from Pot 2 and the team assigned to position four in Group A; a second ball is drawn and the team assigned to position four in Group B; and so on until Group D.
- The same procedure will apply for position three in each group with the four remaining balls in Pot 2, starting with Group A and ending with Group D.
- Once Pot 2 is empty, the draw continues with Pot 1, using the same procedure as with Pot 2 to fill position two in each group, then position one in Groups B, C and D to complete the draw.
The Qualified Teams
Cymru will join Croatia, England, France, Germany, Hungary (hosts), Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland in the finals.
Seeding Pots
Hosts: Hungary
Pot 1 (Best seven elite round group winners): France (holders), Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia.
Pot 2 (Remaining group winners and best seven runners-up): Cymru, Italy, Germany, Poland, England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Scotland.
The top two in each group will advance to the knockout phase.
The Finals Tournament
Group stage Matchday 1: 17/18 May
Group stage Matchday 2: 20/21 May
Group stage Matchday 3: 23/24 May
Quarter-finals: 27 May
Semi-finals & FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off: 30 May
Final: 2 June
