Ranking the top five favourites to win UEFA U19 Euro 2023

The tournament is already underway

The UEFA U19 Euro 2023, also known as the U19 Euros, is a highly anticipated tournament that showcases the future stars of European football. The competition is fierce and captivating with talented young players representing their countries.

A new champion will be declared after the competition, England, the reigning champions failed to qualify for this year, Malta will be having a debut U-19 experience in the competition. Of the qualified nations, Spain are the most successful team, having won the trophy 11 times.

So, in this article, we highlight the top five favourites to win the UEFA U19 Euro 2023:

5. Poland

Poland arrived at this tournament with a record of five games without defeat, in which they won three and drew two. But, in their first match against Portugal they faced a 2-0 defeat on matchday 1 of the tournament.

Poland are the underdogs in their group, they will look to stop either Italy or Portugal from qualifying for the semi-finals. Their hope to qualify for the semi-final relies highly on their captain, Oliwier Zych, who is based in England and is on the books of Aston Villa's youth teams. He has regularly featured for the English club in Premier League 2, was also named in senior matchday squads on a couple of occasions.

4. Norway

Norway have started their campaign with a nine-goal thriller win against Greece in their opening match. They qualified for the U19 European Championship after finishing second in the group with six points in the first round and then certified its qualification in 2023 after three victories and leading Group 1.

Norway has already produced some quality players, Erik Flataker and Nikolai Hopland are two other players to watch for in this Norwegian team. Erik Flataker, an 18-year-old forward was instrumental, scoring four goals and assisting an assist in the second qualifying round. Hopland, the 16-year-old center-back is a good ball-winning defender and has the ability to pose a set-piece threat in the opposition box.

3. Portugal

The Equipa das Quinas have been drawn in Group A alongside the hosts, Poland and Italy. Their campaign began against Poland, the match took place in Paola on 3 July. Joaquim Milheiro's team is attempting to lift the trophy for the second time. They won it first time in 2018 in Finland, defeating Italy 4-3 in extra time in the final.

Portugal have a proud history at the tournament, winning in 1961 when it was the UEFA Youth Tournament. They won in 1994 and 1999 when it was the UEFA European U18 Championship. A standout performer from the lower tiers of Portuguese football who should be watched closely in Malta is Rodrigo Ribeiro. The 18-year-old forward has appeared in the UEFA Champions League, as well as standing out with six goals in the UEFA Youth League. He's going to be a key figure if Portugal have to win this year's edition.

2. Italy

In the opening match against host nation Malta, Italy went as the favourites to win the match and they did not disappoint at all. They beat Malta 4-0, converted three of their four penalties in what was a comfortable victory over ten-man Malta.

The only player who can rival Europe's best in terms of talent and potential at this tournament is Italian midfielder Cher Ndour. Ndour spent most of the 2022-23 season with Benfica’s B team in the Portuguese second tier, but his performances were impressive enough to get the attention of clubs like Manchester United, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain. The modern day box to box midfielder has signed up a deal with PSG until 2028.

1. Spain

Spain always heads into this tournament as favourites and this year the 11-time champions will look to make it 12 U19 Euro titles. They started their campaign against Iceland, it was a narrow 2-1 win against the Icelanders. It is evident with the kind of teams in the group that they will surely make it into the semi-finals.

One of the best players in this tournament by far is the 19-year-old Spanish right-back Ivan Fresneda, who has already impressed at a level as high as La Liga. Fresneda caught the eye with his intense all-action defending playing for relegation-battlers Real Valladolid. His versatility definitely caught the eyes of some big clubs like Arsenal and Barcelona, but Barcelona are the front-runners right now to sign this young talented right-back.