1998 UEFA European Under-18 Championship

1998 UEFA European Under-18 Championship

1998 Ευρωπαϊκό πρωτάθλημα ποδοσφαίρου Κ-18 (in Greek)
Tournament details
Host country	Cyprus
Dates	19–26 July
Teams	8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	6 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Republic of Ireland (1st title)
Runners-up	Germany
Third place	Croatia
Fourth place	Portugal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	14
Goals scored	45 (3.21 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Enrico Kern (4 goals)
← 1997 1999 →

The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1998 Final Tournament was held in Cyprus. It also served as the European qualification for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. For this tournament, the age limit was moved back from August to January. Players born on or after 1 January 1979 were eligible to participate in this competition.

Qualification

50 UEFA nations entered the competition, and with the hosts Cyprus qualifying automatically, the other 49 teams competed in the qualifying competition to determine the remaining seven spots in the final tournament. The qualifying competition consisted of two rounds: First round, which took place in autumn 1997 and was played in 14 round-robin tournament groups with three or four teams each; and the Second round, which took place in spring 1998, in which pairs of group winners played home and away matches.

The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Method of qualification	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Cyprus	Hosts	1st	—	Debut
Croatia	Second round winners	1st	—	Debut
England	Second round winners		1996 (third place)	Champions (1948, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1993)
Germany	Second round winners		1994 (runners-up)	Champions (19652, 19702, 19811, 19862)
Lithuania	Second round winners	1st	—	Debut
Portugal	Second round winners		1997 (runners-up)	Champions (1961, 1994)
Republic of Ireland	Second round winners		1997 (fourth place)	Fourth place (1984, 1997)
Spain	Second round winners		1997 (third place)	Champions (1952, 1954, 1995)

1 = as West Germany

2 = as East Germany

Match officials

A total of 6 referees, 7 assistant referees and 2 fourth officials officiated the tournament.

Squads

Each national team submitted a squad of 18 players, including two goalkeepers.

Group stage

Group A

Teams	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany	3	2	0	1	11	4	+7	6
Portugal	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	6
Spain	3	2	0	1	5	6	–1	6
Lithuania	3	0	0	3	2	11	–9	0

19 July 1998 (1998-07-19)

Lithuania	1–7	Germany
Trakys 53'	Report	Majunke 8' Kern 65', 90' Timm 66' Voss 71' Gensler 75' Ernst 80'

Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 200

Referee: Adrian Stoica (Romania)

19 July 1998 (1998-07-19)

Spain	2–1	Portugal
Gerard 49' Couñago 71'	Report	Carreira 64'

GSZ Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 50

Referee: Jan Wegereef (Netherlands)

21 July 1998 (1998-07-21)

Portugal	2–0	Lithuania
Marco Almeida 29', 83'	Report

Ammochostos Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 60

Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

21 July 1998 (1998-07-21)

Germany	4–1	Spain
Deisler 4', 27' Kern 16', 19'	Report	Barkero 20'

GSZ Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 600

Referee: Pascal Garibian (France)

23 July 1998 (1998-07-23)

Portugal	2–0	Germany
Simão 30' Marco Almeida 43'	Report

GSZ Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 200

Referee: Eric Romain (Belgium)

23 July 1998 (1998-07-23)

Spain	2–1	Lithuania
Gerard 88', 89'	Report	Alunderis 54'

Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 200

Referee: Emanuel Raphael Zammit (Malta)

Group B

Teams	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Republic of Ireland	3	2	0	1	8	3	+5	6
Croatia	3	2	0	1	8	5	+3	6
England	3	2	0	1	3	4	–1	6
Cyprus	3	0	0	3	1	8	–7	0

19 July 1998 (1998-07-19)

Croatia	2–5	Republic of Ireland
Deranja 25' Bjelanović 39'	Report	George 2', 90' Keane 10' McPhail 45' Patridge 66'

Municipal Stadium, Ayia Napa

Attendance: 500

Referee: Eric Romain (Belgium)

19 July 1998 (1998-07-19)

England	2–1	Cyprus
Matthews	Report	Woodgate 19' (o.g.)

Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

21 July 1998 (1998-07-21)

Croatia	3–0	Cyprus
Mikić 37' Vranješ 41' Lovrek 90'	Report

Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni

Attendance: 250

Referee: Emanuel Raphael Zammit (Malta)

21 July 1998 (1998-07-21)

England	1–0	Republic of Ireland
Smith 85'	Report

Anagennisi Football Ground, Deryneia

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Jan Wegereef (Netherlands)

23 July 1998 (1998-07-23)

Croatia	3–0	England
Banović 38' (pen.) Mikić 79', 90'	Report

Anagennisi Football Ground, Deryneia

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Adrian Stoica (Romania)

23 July 1998 (1998-07-23)

Republic of Ireland	3–0	Cyprus
B. Quinn 19' Keane 45', 78'	Report

Municipal Stadium, Ayia Napa

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Pascal Garibian (France)

Third place match

26 July 1998 (1998-07-26)

Portugal	0–0	Croatia
	Report
Penalties
	4–5

GSZ Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 400

Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

Final

26 July 1998 (1998-07-26)

19:30

Republic of Ireland	1–1	Germany
A. Quinn 70'	Report	Gensler 89'
Penalties
	4–3

GSZ Stadium, Larnaca

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Eric Romain (Belgium)

Qualification to World Youth Championship

The six best performing teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.

•  Croatia
•  England
•  Germany
•  Portugal
•  Republic of Ireland
•  Spain

Goalscorers

There were 45 goals scored in 14 matches, for an average of 3.21 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

See also

• 1998 UEFA European Under-18 Championship qualifying

External links

• Overview by UEFA.com
• Results by RSSSF

This page was last edited on 7 January 2024, at 12:35