The 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 3rd staging of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The qualifying stage spanned two years (1980–82) and had 26 entrants.

West Germany competed in the competition for the first time.

The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided.

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations: