Scotland under-19s have been drawn against France, Iceland and Kazakhstan in the first round of qualification for the 2023 Euro U19 Championship in Malta.
The draw took place this morning and sees Billy Stark’s side in Group 8 as UEFA kick off the qualifying campaign for the 2023 finals.
#SCO19s | We have been drawn in Group 8 for the 2022-23 UEFA #U19EURO Qualifying Round:
🇫🇷 France
🏴 Scotland
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan#YoungTeam pic.twitter.com/iINH3KoWX2— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) December 8, 2021
The finals take place in Malta in 2023 and one of the four nations in the group will be picked to host a mini-tournament which will be played either between 30 May and 14 June or 19 and 27 September 2022.
The top two teams in each group will join top seeds Portugal in the spring 2023 elite round along with the third-placed team with the best record against the top two in their section.
Scotland last reached the finals in 2006 – ending the tournament as runners-up to Spa
France won the Under-19 Euros in 2016 with Dundee United star Jeando Fuchs joining Kylian Mbappé in the French squad for the tournament which was hosted in Germany.
Just to confuse matters, the under-19s will also be involved in the draw later today for the elite round of qualifying for the 2022 finals which are to be held in Slovakia next summer.
The 2023 qualifying tournament follows the same format as the 2022 edition – which saw Stark’s side qualify for the elite round after coming through a group containing Croatia, Armenia and Gibraltar.
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