The 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 5th staging of the
UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The qualifying stage spanned two years (1984–86), had 29 entrants. Spain U-21s won the competition after a
penalty shootout, the first in the U-21 competition's history.
The 29 national teams were divided into eight groups (five groups of 4 + three groups of 3). The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided. There was no finals tournament or 3rd-place playoff.
Qualifying stage
Draw
The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of
1986 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:
Group 1 did not include
Belgium (moved to Group 8)
^"1986: Manuel Sanchís". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 June 1986. Archived from
the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.