The Malta under-21 national team was drawn in Group 2 to qualify for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championships, which will be hosted in Israel.
Malta was drawn against Sweden, Ukraine, Finland, Slovenia, and Lithuania. Two of the five countries in this group, Slovenia and Ukraine, already took part with Malta in the last qualifying group 8 of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Competition structure
With Israel automatically qualifying for the finals in June 2013 as hosts, the
remaining 52 teams were drawn into 10 groups, eight with five sides and two with six, with the nations allocated to five draw pots in accordance with their coefficient ranking.
Group stage matches will be played according to a standard, home and away,league system, kicking off on March 25 and concluding with on September 10, 2012.
The 10 group winners and four best runners-up will move on to the following month's play-offs, with the winners of those seven two-legged ties joining Israel in the final tournament.
Qualifying group stage draw
Group 1: Germany, Belarus, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino
Group 2: Sweden, Ukraine, Finland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta
Group 3: Czech Republic, Wales, Armenia, Montenegro, Andorra
Group 4: Serbia, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Faroe Islands
Group 5: Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Georgia, Estonia
Group 6: Russia, Portugal, Moldova, Poland, Albania
Group 7: Italy, Turkey, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Liechtenstein
Group 8: England, Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Azerbaijan
Group 9: Romania, France, Slovakia, Latvia, Kazakhstan
Group 10: Netherlands, Austria, Scotland, Bulgaria, Luxembourg
Following a three hour discussion at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon between all the representatives of the U21 National Teams of Group 2, the following calendar of matches was decided and concluded:
3rd June 2011 - Finland vs. Malta
7th June 2011 - Lithuania vs. Malta
2nd September 2011 - Malta vs. Slovenia
6th September 2011 - Malta vs. Finland
7th October 2011 - Malta vs. Ukraine
11th October 2011 - Malta vs. Lithuania
15th November 2011 - Malta vs. Sweden
1st June 2012 - Slovenia vs. Malta
6th June 2012 - Sweden vs. Malta
6th September 2012 - Ukraine vs. Malta