The qualifying stage spanned two years (1982–84) and had 30 entrants.

Albania, Iceland and Wales competed in the competition for the first time.

England U-21s won the competition for the second time running.

There was no finals tournament or third-place playoff.

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations: See 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads