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

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