The 1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which spanned two years (1970–72) had 23 entrants.

Czechoslovakia U-23s won the competition.

[citation needed] 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.

[citation needed] The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations: Czechoslovakia qualify as group winners Bulgaria qualify as group winners Greece qualify as group winners Soviet Union qualify as group winners Denmark qualify as group winners Sweden qualify as group winners Netherlands qualify as group winners West Germany qualify as group winners