[1][2] A total of 16 teams were scheduled to play in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2004 eligible to participate.

[3] The Netherlands were the two-time defending champions, having won the last two tournaments held in 2018 and 2019, with the 2020 edition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

[4] On 18 December 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that the tournament was cancelled after consultation with all 55 member associations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

[1] All 55 UEFA nations entered the competition, and with the hosts Cyprus qualifying automatically, the original format would have seen the other 54 teams competing in the qualifying competition, which would have consisted of two rounds: Qualifying round, which would have taken place in autumn 2020, and Elite round, which would have also taken place in spring 2021, to determine the remaining 15 spots in the final tournament.

[8] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, UEFA announced on 13 August 2020 that after consultation with the 55 member associations, the qualifying round was delayed to March 2021, and the elite round was abolished, with the 13 qualifying round group winners and the top two seeds by coefficient ranking, Netherlands and Spain (which originally would receive byes to the elite round) qualifying for the final tournament.