The 2024 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualifying competition was a women's under-17 football competition that determined the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Sweden in the final tournament.[1]
50 teams, including hosts Sweden, entered the qualifying competition.[1] Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to participate.
Format
In the 2022 season, UEFA implemented a new format for the women's U17 and U19 Euros, based on a league-style qualifying format.
The teams were divided in two leagues: League A (28 teams) and League B (22 teams).
Each league played two rounds:
Round 1: In each league, groups of 4 teams played mini-tournaments. The winners of each mini-tournament in league B and the best runner-up were promoted and the last-placed teams in league A mini-tournaments were relegated.
Round 2: The seven winners of League A qualified for the final tournament. The six winners of mini-tournaments in league B and the best runner-up were promoted and the last-placed teams in league A were relegated for Round 1 of the next edition of the tournament.
Tiebreakers
In Round 1 and Round 2, teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 17.01 and 17.02):[2]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams have the same number of points, and they met in the last round of the group and are tied after applying all criteria above (not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if their rankings are not relevant for qualification for the next stage);
Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
Position in the applicable ranking:
for teams in Round 1, position in 2021–22 Round 2 league rankings;
for teams in Round 2, position in the Round 1 league ranking.
To determine the five best third-placed teams from the qualifying round, the results against the teams in fourth place are discarded. The following criteria are applied (Regulations Article 15.01):[2]
Points;
Goal difference;
Goals scored;
Disciplinary points;
Position in the applicable ranking:
for teams in Round 1, position in the coefficient rankings;
for teams in Round 2, position in the Round 1 league ranking.
Round 1
Draw
The draw for the qualifying round was held on 16 June 2023, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[3]
The teams were seeded according to their final group standings of the 2022–23 competition (Regulations Article 13.01).[2]
Each group contained one team from Pot A, one team from Pot B, one team from Pot C, and one team from Pot D. For political reasons, Belarus and Ukraine could not be drawn in the same group in League A as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan in League B.[3]
To determine the 2022–23 Round 2 league rankings, the following criteria was followed:
higher position in the following classification:
League A Round 2 group winners
League A Round 2 group runners-up
League A Round 2 third-placed teams
Teams promoted from League B
Teams relegated from League A
League B Round 2 runners-up
League B Round 2 third-placed teams
League B Round 2 fourth-placed teams
higher number of points in all mini-tournament matches;
superior goal difference in all mini-tournament matches;
higher number of goals scored in all mini-tournament matches;
lower disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
higher position in the 2022–23 Round 1 league rankings.
The matches in group B2 were originally planned for 5, 8 and 11 November 2023. Because of the safety concerns in light of the October 2023 Gaza−Israel conflict, matches were postponed to 27 and 30 November, and 3 December, venues and times were kept the same.[51]
To determine the best runner-up, only the results of the runner-up teams against the first and third-placed teams in their group are taken into account.
Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) coefficient ranking. Notes:
^ abRanked on disciplinary points: Montenegro: –1, Israel: –2
Round 2
Draw
The teams were seeded according to their results in the Round 1 (Regulations Article 15.01).[76]
Teams entering League A
The 21 teams of Round 1 League A and the 7 teams of Round 1 League B (six group winners and the best runner-up) were drawn in seven groups of four teams. The draw for both leagues was held on 8 December 2023 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[77]
All group winners and the best runner-up of League B were automatically seeded into Pot D. Because League B has two groups with only 3 teams, the results of the group winners against the respective fourth-placed teams are disregarded for their ranking.[76]
^ abRanked on coefficient rankings: Poland: Pot 1, Austria: Pot 3
^ abRanked on disciplinary points: Norway: –1, Portugal: –4
Teams entering League B
The six best fourth-placed teams in League A were automatically seeded into Pot A, with the worst fourth-placed team being seeded into Pot B. The remaining second-, third- and fourth-placed teams from League B were seeded into Pots B, C and D, respectively.
As before, because League B has two groups with only 3 teams, the results against fourth-placed teams in Round 1 are disregarded for the ranking of teams placed second and third in League B Round 1.
To determine the best runner-up, only the results of the runner-up teams against the first and third-placed teams in their group are taken into account.
^CET (UTC+1) for dates up to 26 March 2023, and CEST (UTC+2) for dates thereafter.
^The match, originally scheduled for 19:00, began one hour later due to floodlight failure in the stadium.[84]
^ abcThe matches on 17 and 20 March (except Netherlands vs. Turkey) were originally scheduled for 19:00, but were moved to 15:00 due to faulty floodlights in Gemeentelijk Sportpark S.J.C., Noordwijk.[87]
