The 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification began in 1996.
The records of the nine group winners were compared, and the eighth and ninth ranked teams played-off against each other for the eight quarter finals spot.
One of the eight quarter-finalist were then chosen to host the remaining fixtures.
The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations: List of qualifying group winners.
4–4 on aggregate, Greece won on away goals rule.