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Malta U-17s to meet Austria, Slovenia and Bulgaria

Published: 06-12-2017 09:15
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Malta have been drawn against Austria, Slovenia and Bulgaria in Group 3 of the 2018/19 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round. The mini-tournament will take place in Slovenia in October 2018. A few weeks ago, the Malta FA hosted the Group 1 qualifying tournament for the current Euro U-17 Championship. The other participating teams were Belgium and Switzerland, who have advanced to the elite round, and Northern Ireland. The qualifying round draw for the next Euro U-17 Championship in 2019, made on Wednesday morning at UEFA’s Nyon headquarters, involved 52 of the 54 nations. A total of 15 nations will join hosts Ireland in the final tournament, to be played in May 2019. Top seeds England and Germany have each been awarded a bye to the elite round while, for the draw, the remaining entrants were split into four pots of 13 teams each according to their coefficient. In all, 13 groups were formed, each containing one team from each of the seeding pots, with the hosts appointed after the draw and games to be played next autumn, by 20th November, 2018. The top two in each group, along with the four third-placed teams with the best record against the leading pair, will advance to the elite round where they will join England and Germany The elite round will be played in March 2019. After that round, the eight group winners and seven runners-up with the best record against the teams first and third in their pool will join Ireland in that May’s finals, which will also double up as Europe's qualifier for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. QUALIFYING ROUND DRAWGroup 1: Netherlands, Sweden, Montenegro, Liechtenstein Group 2: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Iceland, Gibraltar Group 3: Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Malta Group 4: Spain, Israel, Faroe Islands, FYR Macedonia Group 5: Scotland, Switzerland, Cyprus, Kosovo Group 7: France, Poland, Finland, Luxembourg Group 8: Czech Republic, Norway, Azerbaijan, Albania Group 9: Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania Group 10: Turkey, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, San Marino Group 11: Portugal, Wales, Belarus, Kazakhstan Group 12: Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Moldova Group 13: Italy, Croatia, Armenia, Andorra