Northern Ireland national under-21 football team

The Northern Ireland national under-21 football team also known as the Northern Ireland under-21s or Northern Ireland U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Northern Ireland and is controlled by the Irish Football Association. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. To date Northern Ireland haven't yet qualified for the finals tournament.

The national under-21 team is the highest level of youth football in Northern Ireland, and is open to any players who were born in Northern Ireland or whose parents or grandparents were born in Northern Ireland. This team is for Northern Irish players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side and again for the U21s.

Competitive Record For the all-time record of the national team against opposing nations, see the team's all-time record page

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals recordQualification recordManager(s)YearRoundSquad1978did not enterdid not enterNone1980198219841986198819901992 1994 1996 1998 2000did not qualify813459Chris Nicholl 2002102261221Roy Millar 20048215816 2006did not enterdid not enterNone 2007did not qualify4202107Roy Millar 200984041312Roy Millar, Steve BeagleholeRoy Millar managed for the first seven qualifying matches. Steve Beaglehole managed the last game of the qualification campaign. 201182151216Steve Beaglehole 20138116513Steve Beaglehole, Stephen RobinsonSteve Beaglehole managed for the first five qualifying matches. Stephen Robinson managed for the remainder of the qualification campaign. 20158107317Stephen Robinson, Jim MagiltonStephen Robinson managed for the first four qualifying matches. Jim Magilton managed for the remainder of the qualification campaign. 201710028618Jim Magilton 2019106221511Ian Baraclough 202110235713Ian Baraclough, Andy CrosbyIan Baraclough managed for the first five qualifying matches. Andy Crosby was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the qualification campaign. 20238215818John Schofield 2025103251010Tommy Wright 20277313811Total-0/25000000-117311967122192-

Results and fixtures 2025

2026

UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Coaching staff Current coaching staff

PositionNameManager Tommy WrightAssistant Manager Steven MacLeanCoach Corry EvansGoalkeeping Coach Conor BrennanAnalyst Josh Wall

Manager history

Last updated after the match against Greece on 6 October 2026.

ManagerFirst GameLast GameWin %Draw %Loss % 8 March 1978 vs. 8 March 1978 vs. 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 3 April 1990 vs. 3 April 1990 vs. 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 22 March 1994 vs. 22 March 1994 vs. 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 21 April 1998 vs. 21 April 1998 vs. 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 20 May 1998 vs. 8 October 1999 vs. 13 3 5 5 11 13 –2 23.08% 38.46% 38.46% 28 March 2000 vs. 26 March 2008 vs. 48 18 8 22 64 79 –15 37.50% 16.67% 45.83% 19 August 2008 vs. 15 November 2011 vs. 21 4 3 14 23 39 –16 19.05% 14.29% 66.67% 10 May 2012 vs. 15 October 2013 vs. 10 0 0 10 5 24 –19 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% *14 November 2013 vs. 11 October 2016 vs. 14 1 2 11 8 27 –19 7.14% 14.29% 78.57% 8 June 2017 vs. 19 November 2019 vs. 19 9 6 4 22 19 +3 47.37% 31.58% 21.05% **4 September 2020 vs. 5 June 2021 vs. 7 3 0 4 9 11 –2 42.86% 0.00% 57.14% 3 September 2021 vs. 25 September 2022 vs. 11 2 2 7 10 27 –17 18.18% 18.18% 63.64% 7 September 2023 vs. 25 8 5 12 25 32 –7 32.00% 20.00% 48.00%Total172503389182274-9229.07%19.19%51.74%

* first two games as caretaker manager ** caretaker manager for all 7 games

Players Current squad Players born on or after 1 January 2004 will be eligible until the completion of the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were named in the squad for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group F matches against Malta, Georgia and Greece on 26 September, 1 and 6 October 2026; respecitvely.

Caps and goals correct as of 6 October 2026, after the match against Greece

Recent call-ups The following players have previously been called up to the Northern Ireland under-21 squad within the last twelve months and remain eligible.

SEN

WTD

INJ = Player withdrew from the squad before any games had been played. PRE = Preliminary squad / standby. SEN = Player withdrew from the squad due to a call up to the senior team. SUS = Suspended from national team. WTD = Withdrew due to other reasons.

Player records

Most appearances

Last updated after the match against Greece on 6 October 2026. RankPlayerYear(s)U-21 CapsU-21 GoalsFirst CapLast Cap1Liam Donnelly2012–201824513 November 2012 vs. 16 October 2018 vs. 2Sean Friars1998–200121221 April 1998 vs. 5 June 2001 vs. Caolan Boyd-Munce2017–202221025 March 2019 vs. 25 September 2022 vs. 4Kofi Balmer2019–202220022 March 2019 vs. 4 June 2022 vs. Ethan Galbraith2019–202220122 March 2019 vs. 7 June 2022 vs. Aaron Donnelly2021–20242002 June 2021 vs. 15 October 2024 vs. Darren Robinson2023–20262007 September 2023 vs. 6 October 2026 vs. 8Terry McFlynn2000–200319228 March 2000 vs. 10 October 2003 vs. Rory McArdle2006–20081916 February 2006 vs. 26 March 2008 vs. Thomas Stewart2006–20081946 February 2006 vs. 26 March 2008 vs. 11Chris Casement2007–20091826 February 2007 vs. 17 November 2009 vs. Cameron Dummigan2014–20181809 September 2014 vs. 16 October 2018 vs. Alfie McCalmont2019–202218325 March 2019 vs. 25 September 2022 vs.

Leading Goalscorers

Last updated after the match against Greece on 6 October 2026. RankPlayerYear(s)U-21 GoalsU-21 CapsGoals per gameFirst GoalLast Goal1Liam Donnelly2012–20185248 June 2017 vs. 11 September 2018 vs. Shayne Lavery2016–202051410 November 2017 vs. 25 March 2019 vs. 3Adrian Coote1998–199941221 April 1998 vs. 17 August 1999 vs. David Healy1998–19994817 November 1998 vs. 17 August 1999 vs. Sam Morrow2005–2006448 February 2005 vs. 12 April 2006 vs. Thomas Stewart2006–200841916 May 2006 vs. 26 March 2008 vs. Josh Magennis2009–20124178 September 2009 vs. 7 September 2012 vs. Oliver Norwood2009–201241113 November 2009 vs. 2 March 2010 vs. Paul O'Neill2019–20214109 October 2020 vs. 12 November 2021 vs. 10Gary Hamilton2000–20013122 June 2000 vs. 10 October 2000 vs. Mo Harkin2000–20013928 March 2000 vs. 10 October 2000 vs. Grant McCann2000–200131110 October 2000 vs. 5 October 2001 vs. Lee McEvilly2002–2003396 September 2002 vs. 1 April 2003 vs. Chris Turner2006–20083121 June 2007 vs. 16 November 2007 vs. Andrew Little2008–20103618 November 2008 vs. 3 September 2010 vs. Billy Kee2009–201131010 August 2011 vs. 10 August 2011 vs. David Parkhouse2017–20203178 June 2017 vs. 4 September 2020 vs. Alfie McCalmont2019–202231814 November 2019 vs. 12 November 2021 vs. Dale Taylor2021–20243152 June 2021 vs. 25 September 2022 vs. Charlie Allen2022–202431426 March 2024 vs. 12 October 2024 vs.

Northern Ireland national under-21 football team

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