updated: Tue, 7 September, 2010 18:15 UK

UNDER 21 NEWS Brian Flynn's Under 21s have just missed out on the play off matches. Confirmed on the UEFA web site Spain, England, Belarus and Iceland are the best runners-up.    Italy 1 Wales 0  Hungary 0 Wales 1  Bosnia & Herzegovina 2 Wales 1  Wales 2 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0  Wales 2 Italy 1  Wales 4 Hungary 1  Wales 5 Luxembourg 1  Luxembourg 0 Wales 0

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs
Group winners
Group 1: Romania, Group 2: Switzerland, Group 3: Italy, Group 4: Netherlands, Group 5: Czech Republic, Group 6: Sweden, Group 7: Croatia, Group 8: Ukraine, Group 9: Greece, Group 10: Scotland

Four best runners-up*
Spain, England, Belarus, Iceland - *Pending final confirmation by the UEFA administration

Group runners up final ranking order:

Spain - 19 pts - Goal Diff = +14
England - 17 pts - Goal Diff = +8
Belarus - 17 pts - Goal Diff = +5
Iceland - 16 pts - Goal Diff = +18

Israel- 16 pts - Goal Diff = +10
Wales - 16 pts - Goal Diff = +9
Russia - 16 pts - Goal Diff = +8
Belgium - 15 pts - Goal Diff = +3
Slovakia - 14 pts - Goal Diff = 0
Turkey - 10 pts - Goal Diff = 0

Regulations for Group matches can be found here - Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship - PDF format. Also see below for rules.

UEFA UNDER 21 GROUP 3 FIXTURES AND RESULTS:

The ten group winners and four best runners-up advance to the play-offs. The fixtures of the seven play-off matches are determined by a draw. The qualified runners-up teams cannot play against each other. Play-off matches are played according to the knockout system, with each team playing each opponent home and away. The seven play-off winners join Denmark in the eight-team finals.

UEFA Group regulations:

Match system
7.06 The matches in the qualifying competition will be played in groups according to a league system, with each team playing twice all the other teams in its group in a series of home and away matches. Three points are awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a defeat.

7.07 The best 14 teams from the group stage, namely the group winners and the best runners-up, qualify for the play-off matches.

Equality of points after the group matches

7.08 If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played between the teams in question;
b) superior goal difference from the group matches played between the teams in question;
c) higher number of goals scored in the group matches played between the teams in question;
d) higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played between the teams in question;

If, after applying criteria a) to d) to all teams on equal points, two or more teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to d) will be reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria e) and f) will apply;
e) results of all group matches:
 1. superior goal difference
 2. higher number of goals scored
 3. higher number of goals scored away from home
 4. fair play conduct;

f) drawing of lots.

7.09 If two teams which have the same number of points and the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, their final rankings will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark (Article 16), provided that the other teams within the group do not have the same number of points on completion of all group matches. Should more than two teams have the same number of points, the criteria listed under paragraph 7.08 a) to f) will apply.

This rule is applicable if a ranking of the teams is required to determine the teams qualified for the play-off matches.

7.10 To determine the ranking of the best runner-up teams, only results against the teams in first, third, fourth and fifth place will be taken into account, with the following criteria being taken into consideration in the order given:

a) higher number of points obtained in these matches;
b) superior goal difference from these matches;
c) higher number of goals scored in these matches;
d) higher number of away goals scored in these matches;
e) fair play ranking in these matches;
f) drawing of lots.
 

b) Play-off matches

7.11 The fixtures of the seven play-off matches are determined by means of a draw. The seeded teams will be the seven group winners with the best coefficients on the basis of the results achieved in the qualifying competition of the 2009-11 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and also the qualifying competition of the 2007-09 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (see also paragraph 7.03). The winners and runners-up from the same group must not be drawn against each other. Play-off matches are played according to the knock-out system, with each team playing each opponent twice, in home and away matches. The team which scores the greater aggregate of goals in the two matches qualifies for the final tournament. Otherwise, the provisions of paragraph 7.12 apply.

Away goals and extra time in the knock-out system

7.12 For matches played under the knock-out system, if the two teams involved in a tie score the same number of goals over the two legs, the team which scores more away goals qualifies for the next stage. If this procedure does not produce a result, i.e. if the two teams score the same number of home and away goals, two 15-minute periods of extra time will be played at the end of the second leg. If, during extra time, both teams score the same number of goals, away goals count double (i.e. the visiting team qualifies). If no goals are scored during extra time, kicks from the penalty mark (Article 16)

determine which team qualifies for the next stage.  - taken from UEFA.com

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