2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification

The 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying competition was an under-17 football competition played in 2002 and 2003 to determine the 7 teams joining Portugal, who qualified automatically as hosts, in the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournament.
The final tournament also acted as the UEFA qualifier for the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland, with two teams qualifying, Portugal and Spain, as finalists.

Format

The qualifying competition consisted of two rounds:

Qualifying round: Apart from six nations, which received a bye to the elite round, the remaining 44 teams were drawn into 11 groups of four teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. Two best teams from each group advanced to the elite round.
Elite round: The 28 teams were drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The seven group winners qualified for the final tournament.

All times were CET.

The following 8 teams qualified for the final tournament.

Country	Qualified as	Previous appearances in tournament¹ only U-17 era

	Group 1 winner
	Group 2 winner
	Group 3 winner	0
	Group 4 winner	0
	Group 5 winner
	Group 6 winner
	Group 7 winner	0