1976 UEFA European Under-23 Championship

The 1976 UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which spanned two years had 23 entrants. Soviet Union U-23 won the competition.
The 23 national teams were divided into eight groups. 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.

Qualifying stage

Draw

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

Group 1 did not include Cyprus
Group 2 did not include Wales
Group 3 did not include Northern Ireland
Group 4 did not include Spain
Group 5 did not include Poland
Group 6 did not include Republic of Ireland and Switzerland
Group 7 did not include Iceland
Group 8 did not include West Germany and Malta, but included Poland