1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

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.

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)
 * Group 2 did not include Malta
 * Group 3 did not include Northern Ireland
 * Group 4 did not include Luxembourg (moved to Group 8)
 * Group 5 featured the same nations
 * Group 6 did not include Republic of Ireland
 * Group 7 did not include Wales
 * Group 8 composed of Belgium (moved from Group 1), Luxembourg (moved from Group 4) and Italy (who did not participate in World Cup qualification)

Qualified teams

 * 1 Bold indicates champion for that year

Squads
See 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads