The 1980 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1978–80) had 25 entrants. Cyprus and the Netherlands competed in the competition for the first time. 1978 entrants Austria did not enter. Due to 'irregularities', Turkey's first two matches were awarded (3-0) to their opponents. USSR U-21s won the competition. The 25 national teams were divided into eight groups (seven groups of 3 + one group of 4). 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 1980 qualifying with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

Qualified teams

Squads

See 1980 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Knockout stages