The 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 5th staging of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The qualifying stage spanned two years (1984–86), had 29 entrants. Spain U-21s won the competition after a penalty shootout, the first in the U-21 competition's history.
The 29 national teams were divided into eight groups (five groups of 4 three groups of 3). 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.
The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:
Group 1 did not include Belgium (moved to Group 8)
^"1986: Manuel Sanchís". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 June 1986. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.