Host country never won a Youth EC

A European title for Young Oranje will not come automatically. Never in the history of this tournament did the host win the title. This competition was first organized by the UEFA in 1978, when Serbia won the title. Since 1994 it is in the form of a tournament.

Itally has been the most successful country. It won the title 5 times since 1992. Big name players like Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli, Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo won for the Azzurrini. Other players that made a name for themselves are Zidane, Raul, Frank Lampard, Luis Figo and Klaas Jan Huntelaar. This year, there’s only one season between last tournament and this one, since the UEFA wants to play this tournament in odd years as off now, not to collide with the Big EC’s and WC’s.

The former winners:

1978 Serbia
1980 Sovjet-Union
1982 England
1984 England
1986 Spain
1988 France
1990 Russia
1992 Italy
1994 Italy
1996 Italy
1998 Spain
2000 Italy
2002 Czech Republic
2004 Italy
2006 The Netherlands