The draw for the group stage of the 2019 European U17 Championship Finals took place this Thursday evening in the Aviva Stadium, or the Dublin Arena as described by UEFA.
The sixteen finalists were drawn into four groups of four with the top two in each group progressing to the knock-out quarter-final stage.
Group A Group B Group C Group D
Republic of Ireland Holland Iceland Spain
Belgium France Portugal Italy
Czech Republic England Hungary Germany
Greece Sweden Russia Austria
The Republic of Ireland as the host nation were placed in position 1 of Group A and will play two of their matches in Tallaght Stadium with the RSC in Waterford hosting their other group contest.
The competition is set to commence on Friday the 3rd May with the group stage set for completion on Friday the 10th May. The knockout quarter-finals are set for the 12th/13th May, the semi-finals on the 16th May, with the final set for Tallaght Stadium on Sunday the 19th May.
The top five sides will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil later this year.
The various matches will take place at the seven nominated venues:- Dublin [Tallaght Stadium, Tolka Park, UCD Bowl, Whitehall Stadium]. Longford [City Calling Stadium]. Waterford [Regional Sports Centre]. Wicklow [Carlisle Grounds, Bray].
The draw was made by the tournament ambassador John O’Shea, capped 118 times at senior level and a member of our side which, under the guidance of Brian Kerr and the late Noel O’Reilly, won the tournament in 1998.