Players born after 1 January 1991 were eligible to participate in this competition.

Two rounds of qualifying were held in order to determine the seven teams to join the hosts, Turkey, at the final tournament.

The qualifying round, held from 14 September to 28 October 2007, divided the 52 remaining UEFA nations into 13 groups of four.

The elite round, held from 13 to 31 March 2008, divided the remaining 28 teams into seven groups of four.

At the end of the round, the top team in each group advanced to the final tournament.