| Tourney Name: | 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship |
| Country: |  Spain |
| Dates: | 12 March – 31 May |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Venues: | 1 |
| Cities: | 1 |
| Count: | 3 |
| Matches: | 12 |
| Goals: | 28 |
| Attendance: | 197229 |
| Top Scorer: | Raúl (3 goals) |
| Player: |  Fabio Cannavaro |
| Prevseason: | 1994 |
| Nextseason: | 1998 |
The 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1994–96), had 44 entrants. After the quarter-finals stage, Spain were chosen as the hosts of the final stages, consisting of four matches in total. Italy U-21s won the competition for the third consecutive time.
No fewer than 13 newly independent nations competed for the first time – due mainly to the fall of Socialist rule in Europe in the early 1990s.
Russia, who competed in 1994 were joined by nine further former Soviet Union states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine.
The exclusion (for political reasons) of the team from Serbia and Montenegro, then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia continued. Croatia, Slovenia and the Republic of Macedonia were three former states of Yugoslavia who did compete though.
Czechoslovakia became two separate nations – teams from the Czech Republic and Slovakia complete the list of new entrants.
The 44 national teams were divided into eight groups (four groups of 5 + four groups of 6). The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis to determine the final four, one of whom would host the last four matches. The top five nations qualify for the Atlanta '96 Olympics.
See main article: 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.
| Country | Qualified as | Previous appearances in tournament1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 winner | 5 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1994) | ||
| Group 2 winner | 5 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990) | ||
| Group 3 winner | 3 (1978, 1980, 1986) | ||
| Group 4 winner | 9 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994) | ||
| Group 5 winner | 6 (19782, 19802, 19882, 19902, 19922, 19942) | ||
| Group 6 winner | 1 (1994) | ||
| Group 7 winner | 3 (19823, 19903, 1992) | ||
| Group 8 winner | 4 (1980, 1982, 1984, 1988) |
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 As Czechoslovakia
3 As West Germany
See main article: 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads.
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Vladimír Šmicer Robert Vágner
Patrick Moreau
Gábor Egressy Károly Szanyó Gábor Zavadszky Christian Vieri Dani Óscar Iván de la Peña Roberto Fresnedoso Iñigo Idiakez (playing against Italy)