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.

Northern Ireland Under-21
AssociationIrish Football Association
Head coachJohn Schofield
Most capsLiam Donnelly (24)
Top scorerLiam Donnelly
Shayne Lavery (5)
First colours
Second colours
First international
Rep. of Ireland 1–1 Northern Ireland
(Dalymount Park, Phibsborough; 8 March 1978)
Biggest win
Northern Ireland 5–0 Luxembourg
(Mourneview Park, Lurgan; 16 November 2007)
Biggest defeat
Northern Ireland 2–6 Greece
(The Oval, Belfast; 1 April 2003)
Northern Ireland 2–6 Iceland
(The Showgrounds, Coleraine; 8 September 2009)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances0

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 Under-21 Football Championship finals record Qualification record Manager(s)
Year Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
1978 Did not enter Did not enter None
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000 Did not qualify 8 1 3 4 5 9 Chris Nicholl
2002 10 2 2 6 12 21 Roy Millar
2004 8 2 1 5 8 16
2006 Did not enter Did not enter None
2007 Did not qualify 4 2 0 2 10 7 Roy Millar
2009 8 4 0 4 13 12 Roy Millar, Steve Beaglehole[1]
2011 8 2 1 5 12 16 Steve Beaglehole
2013 8 1 1 6 5 13 Steve Beaglehole, Stephen Robinson[2]
2015 8 1 0 7 3 17 Stephen Robinson, Jim Magilton[3]
2017 10 0 2 8 6 18 Jim Magilton
2019 10 6 2 2 15 11 Ian Baraclough
2021 10 2 3 5 7 13 Ian Baraclough, Andy Crosby[4]
2023 To be determined 6 2 0 4 6 10 John Schofield
Total - 0/23 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 96 25 15 58 102 163 -

Results and fixtures
Main articles: Northern Ireland national under-21 football team results (2020–present) and Northern Ireland national under-21 football team results (1978–2019)

2021
2 June International friendly Scotland  1–2  Northern Ireland Dumbarton, Scotland
15:00 BST Middleton 40' (pen.) Report Taylor 10'
Baggley 45+1'		 Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium
Attendance: 0
5 June International friendly Scotland  3–2  Northern Ireland Dumbarton, Scotland
14:00 BST Clayton 25'
Williamson 44'
Middleton 78' (pen.)		 Wylie 29'
Waide 69'		 Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium
Attendance: 0
3 September 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Malta  4–1  Northern Ireland Ta' Qali, Malta
15:30 BST Engerer 24'
Veselji 36' (40), pen.'
Attard 84'		 Report Lane 58' Stadium: Centenary Stadium
Referee: Milovan Milačić (Montenegro)
7 September 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Northern Ireland  1–0  Slovakia Lurgan, Northern Ireland
19:30 BST Galbraith 54' (pen.) Report Stadium: Mourneview Park
Attendance: 397
Referee: Vilhjalmur Thorarinsson (Iceland)
8 October 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Russia  1–0  Northern Ireland Khimki, Russia
17:00 BST Prokhin 16' Report Stadium: Arena Khimki
Attendance: 250
Referee: Luka Bilbija (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
12 October 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Spain  3–0  Northern Ireland Seville, Spain
19:45 BST
Report Stadium: Estadio de La Cartuja
Referee: Vitaliy Romanov (Ukraine)
12 November 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Northern Ireland  4–0  Lithuania Ballymena, Northern Ireland
14:00 GMT
Report Stadium: Ballymena Showgrounds
Referee: Joonas Jaanovits (Estonia)
16 November 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Northern Ireland  0–2  Malta Lurgan, Northern Ireland
19:30 GMT Report Grima 49'
Zammit 89'		 Stadium: Mourneview Park
Attendance: 347
Referee: Kári Á Høvdanum (Faroe Islands)

2022
25 March 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Slovakia  2–1  Northern Ireland Žilina, Slovakia
15:00 GMT Trusa 37'
Kadák 86' (pen.)		 Report Johnston 61' Stadium: Štadión pod Dubňom
Attendance: 1,377
Referee: Visar Kastrati (Kosovo)
29 March International friendly France  5–0  Northern Ireland Calais, France
19:45 BST Larouci 21'
Diop 64'
Gouiri 66'
Caqueret 73'
Kalimuendo 76'		 Report Stadium: Stade de l'Épopée
3 June 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Northern Ireland  v  Spain Northern Ireland
7 June 2023 UEFA U-21 Group C Qualifier Lithuania  v  Northern Ireland Lithuania

Group stage
Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain (Q) 6 6 0 0 24 4 +20 18 Final tournament — 3–2 3–0 7 Jun 8–0 4–1
2  Slovakia (Y) 7 4 0 3 15 9 +6 12 Play-offs 2–3 — 2–1 4–0 3–1 Canc.
3  Northern Ireland (Y) 6 2 0 4 7 11 −4 6 3 Jun 1–0 — 0–2 4–0 Canc.
4  Malta (Y) 6 2 0 4 8 15 −7 6 0–5 3 Jun 4–1 — 1–3 Canc.
5  Lithuania (E) 7 2 0 5 6 21 −15 6 0–2 0–2 7 Jun 2–1 — 0–3
6  Russia[lower-alpha 1] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified 1–0 3–0 1–0 6–0 Canc. —
Updated to match(es) played on 29 March 2022. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, may only advance to play-offs
Notes:
  1. On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian national teams from all competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5] On 2 May 2022, UEFA considered null and void all their results.[6]

Players

Current squad

Players born on or after 1 January 2000 will be eligible until the completion of the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[7]

The following players were named in the squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier against  Slovakia and a friendly game against  France on the 25 & 28 March 2022.[8]

Caps and goals updated as of 28 March 2022 after the match against  France. Names in bold denote players who have been capped for the senior team.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Oliver Webber (2000-06-26) 26 June 2000 4 0 Portsmouth
1GK Dylan Berry (2003-05-14) 14 May 2003 1 0 Norwich City
2DF Kofi Balmer (2000-09-19) 19 September 2000 19 0 Larne
2DF Jack Scott (2002-09-22) 22 September 2002 12 0 St Patrick's Athletic (on loan from Wolves)
2DF Aaron Donnelly (2003-06-08) 8 June 2003 10 0 Nottingham Forest
2DF Finn Cousin-Dawson (2002-07-04) 4 July 2002 7 0 Bradford City
2DF Carl Johnston (2002-05-29) 29 May 2002 6 1 Fleetwood Town
2DF Sam McClelland (2002-01-04) 4 January 2002 5 0 Chelsea
2DF Sean Stewart (2003-01-21) 21 January 2003 3 0 Norwich City
2DF Shea Charles (2003-11-05) 5 November 2003 3 0 Manchester City
3MF Ethan Galbraith (2001-05-11) 11 May 2001 18 1 Doncaster Rovers (on loan from Manchester United)
3MF Alfie McCalmont (2000-03-25) 25 March 2000 16 3 Morecambe (on loan from Leeds United)
3MF Oisin Smyth (2000-05-05) 5 May 2000 8 0 Oxford United
3MF Barry Baggley (2002-01-11) 11 January 2002 5 1 Fleetwood Town
3MF JJ McKiernan (2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 2 0 Bohemians (on loan from Watford)
3MF Charlie McCann (2002-04-24) 24 April 2002 2 0 Rangers
3MF Isaac Price (2003-09-26) 26 September 2003 2 0 Everton
3MF Terry Devlin (2003-11-06) 6 November 2003 1 0 Dungannon Swifts
3MF Charlie Allen (2003-11-22) 22 November 2003 0 0 Leeds United
4FW John McGovern (2002-10-17) 17 October 2002 6 0 Newry City
4FW Dale Taylor (2003-12-12) 12 December 2003 5 1 Nottingham Forest
4FW Chris McKee (2002-05-07) 7 May 2002 2 0 Linfield (on loan from Rangers)
4FW Ross McCausland (2003-05-12) 12 May 2003 1 0 Rangers
4FW Ciaran McGuckin (2003-12-30) 30 December 2003 0 0 Rotherham United

Recent call-ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Northern Ireland under-21 squad in the last year and remain eligible.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Liam Hughes (2001-08-19) 19 August 2001 6 0 Liverpool v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
GK Declan Dunne (2000-03-31) 31 March 2000 1 0 Dungannon Swifts v.  Spain, 12 October 2021
GK Dermot Mee (2002-11-20) 20 November 2002 1 0 Manchester United v.  Scotland, 5 June 2021
GK David Walsh (2002-07-05) 5 July 2002 1 0 Linfield v.  Scotland, 5 June 2021
DF Trai Hume (2002-03-18) 18 March 2002 9 0 Sunderland v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
DF Kyle McClelland (2002-02-10) 10 February 2002 2 0 Rangers v.  Spain, 12 October 2021
DF Daniel Finlayson (2001-01-19) 19 January 2001 3 0 St Mirren v.  Slovakia, 7 September 2021
DF Aaron Donnelly (2000-03-27) 27 March 2000 0 0 Cliftonville v.  Slovakia, 7 September 2021
MF Caolan Boyd-Munce (2000-01-26) 26 January 2000 19 0 Middlesbrough v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
MF Chris Conn-Clarke (2001-11-22) 22 November 2001 6 1 Fleetwood Town v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
MF Paddy Lane (2001-02-18) 18 February 2001 6 1 Fleetwood Town v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
MF Cammy Palmer (2000-05-15) 15 May 2000 10 0 Linfield v.  Spain, 12 October 2021
MF Dylan Boyle (2002-01-15) 15 January 2002 1 0 Fleetwood Town v.  Slovakia, 7 September 2021
MF Amrit Bansal-McNulty (2000-03-16) 16 March 2000 2 0 Crawley Town (on loan from Queens Park Rangers) v.  Scotland, 5 June 2021
MF Ben Wylie (2002-06-29) 29 June 2002 1 1 Celtic v.  Scotland, 5 June 2021
MF Eoin Teggart (2002-02-06) 6 February 2002 0 0 Portadown v.  Scotland, 5 June 2021
MF Aidan Steele (2002-10-20) 20 October 2002 0 0 Crystal Palace Training Camp, March 2021
MF Liam Ravenhill (2002-11-28) 28 November 2002 0 0 Doncaster Rovers Training Camp, March 2021
FW Paul O'Neill (2000-01-07) 7 January 2000 10 4 Cliftonville v.  Slovakia, 25 March 2022 WTD
FW Ryan Waide (2000-02-12) 12 February 2000 7 1 Ballymena United v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
FW Harry Anderson (2002-11-01) 1 November 2002 1 0 Portadown v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
FW Calvin McCurry (2001-12-26) 26 December 2001 0 0 Ards v.  Malta, 16 November 2021
FW Lewis McCann (2001-06-07) 7 June 2001 6 0 Dunfermline Athletic v.  Scotland, 5 June 2021
FW Liam Smyth (2001-09-06) 6 September 2001 0 0 Biggleswade Town Training Camp, March 2021
FW Ben Wilson (2001-12-05) 5 December 2001 0 0 Brighton Training Camp, March 2021

COVID = Player withdrew due to a positive COVID test or from being in close contact with someone with a positive COVID test.
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
Main article: Northern Ireland national under-21 football team records and statistics

Top appearances
  Players still active are highlighted in green

Caps and goals updated as of 28 March 2022 after the match against  France.

Rank Player Year(s) U-21 Caps U-21 Goals First Cap Last Cap
1 Liam Donnelly 2012–2018 24 5 13 November 2012 vs. 16 October 2018 vs.
2 Sean Friars 1998–2001 21 2 21 April 1998 vs. 5 June 2001 vs.
3 Terry McFlynn 2000–2003 19 2 28 March 2000 vs. 10 October 2003 vs.
Rory McArdle 2006–2008 19 1 6 February 2006 vs. 26 March 2008 vs.
Thomas Stewart 2006–2008 19 4 6 February 2006 vs. 26 March 2008 vs.
Caolan Boyd-Munce 2017– 19 0 25 March 2019 vs. 16 November 2021 vs.
Kofi Balmer 2019– 19 0 22 March 2019 vs. 28 March 2022 vs.
7 Chris Casement 2007–2009 18 2 6 February 2007 vs. 17 November 2009 vs.
Cameron Dummigan 2014–2018 18 0 9 September 2014 vs. 16 October 2018 vs.
Ethan Galbraith 2019– 18 1 22 March 2019 vs. 28 March 2022 vs.
9 Jeff Whitley 1998–2000 17 1 21 April 1998 vs. 10 October 2000 vs.
Ciarán Toner 2000–2003 17 1 28 March 2000 vs. 1 April 2003 vs.
Josh Magennis 2009–2012 17 4 11 August 2009 vs. 13 November 2012 vs.
David Parkhouse 2017–2020 17 3 8 June 2017 vs. 8 September 2020 vs.

Top goalscorers
  Players still active are highlighted in green

Caps and goals updated as of 28 March 2022 after the match against  France.

Rank Player Year(s) U-21 Goals U-21 Caps Goals per game First Goal Last Goal
1 Liam Donnelly 2012–2018 5 24 0.21 8 June 2017 vs. 11 September 2018 vs.
Shayne Lavery 2016–2020 5 14 0.36 10 November 2017 vs. 25 March 2019 vs.
3 Adrian Coote 1998–1999 4 12 0.33 21 April 1998 vs. 17 August 1999 vs.
David Healy 1998–1999 4 8 0.5 17 November 1998 vs. 17 August 1999 vs.
Sam Morrow 2005–2006 4 4 1 8 February 2005 vs. 12 April 2006 vs.
Thomas Stewart 2006–2008 4 19 0.21 16 May 2006 vs. 26 March 2008 vs.
Josh Magennis 2009–2012 4 17 0.24 8 September 2009 vs. 7 September 2012 vs.
Oliver Norwood 2009–2012 4 11 0.36 13 November 2009 vs. 2 March 2010 vs.
Paul O'Neill 2019– 4 10 0.4 9 October 2020 vs. 12 November 2021 vs.
10 Gary Hamilton 2000–2001 3 12 0.25 2 June 2000 vs. 10 October 2000 vs.
Mo Harkin 2000–2001 3 9 0.33 28 March 2000 vs. 10 October 2000 vs.
Grant McCann 2000–2001 3 11 0.27 10 October 2000 vs. 5 October 2001 vs.
Lee McEvilly 2002–2003 3 9 0.33 6 September 2002 vs. 1 April 2003 vs.
Chris Turner 2006–2008 3 12 0.25 1 June 2007 vs. 16 November 2007 vs.
Andrew Little 2008–2010 3 6 0.5 18 November 2008 vs. 3 September 2010 vs.
Billy Kee 2009–2011 3 10 0.3 10 August 2011 vs. 10 August 2011 vs.
David Parkhouse 2017–2020 3 17 0.18 8 June 2017 vs. 4 September 2020 vs.
Alfie McCalmont 2019– 3 16 0.19 14 November 2019 vs. 12 November 2021 vs.

Under-21 graduates

Players who have won 25 or more Northern Ireland 'Full' caps after playing for Northern Ireland U21.

  Players still active are highlighted in green

Full caps and goals updated as of 12 October 2021 after the Northern Ireland senior team match against  Bulgaria.

Name U21 Caps U21 Goals U21 Career Full Caps Full Goals Full Career
Chris Baird 6 1 2002–2003 79 0 2003–2016
Kingsley Black 1 0 1990 30 1 1988–1994
Liam Boyce 9 0 2010–2012 28 2 2011–
Noel Brotherston 1 0 1978 27 3 1980–1985
Chris Brunt 2 1 2005–2006 65 3 2004–2017
Roy Carroll 11 0 1998–1999 45 0 1997–2017
Craig Cathcart 15 0 2006–2009 65 2 2010–
Sammy Clingan 11 1 2003–2006 39 0 2006–2014
Stuart Dallas 2 0 2011–2012 58 3 2011–
Steven Davis 3 0 2003–2004 130 12 2005–
Mal Donaghy 1 0 1978 91 0 1980–1994
Iain Dowie 1 1 1990 59 12 1990–1999
Stuart Elliott 3 0 1998–1999 39 4 2000–2007
Corry Evans 10 0 2008–2010 66 2 2009–
Jonny Evans 3 0 2006 91 4 2006–
Warren Feeney 8 2 2001–2003 46 5 2002–2011
Shane Ferguson 11 0 2008–2012 52 2 2009–
Keith Gillespie 1 0 1994 86 2 1995–2008
Danny Griffin 10 1 1998–1999 29 1 1996–2004
Billy Hamilton 1 0 1978 41 5 1979–1989
David Healy 8 4 1998–1999 95 36 2000–2013
Michael Hughes 1 0 1990 71 5 1991–2004
Damien Johnson 11 0 1998–1999 56 0 1999–2009
Kyle Lafferty 2 0 2006 85 20 2006–
Neil Lennon 2 0 1990–1994 40 2 1994–2002
Josh Magennis 17 4 2009–2012 63 8 2010–
Jim Magilton 1 0 1990 52 5 1991–2002
Grant McCann 11 3 2000–2001 39 4 2001–2012
George McCartney 5 0 2000–2001 34 1 2001–2010
David McCreery 1 0 1978 67 0 1976–1990
Michael McGovern 10 0 2005–2006 33 0 2010–
Conor McLaughlin 7 0 2010–2012 43 1 2011–
Paddy McNair 2 0 2014 51 5 2015–
Philip Mulryne 5 1 1998–1999 27 3 1997–2007
Jimmy Nicholl 1 0 1978 73 1 1976–1986
Oliver Norwood 11 4 2009–2012 57 0 2010–2018
John O'Neill 1 0 1978 39 2 1980–1986
Michael O'Neill 1 0 1994 31 4 1988–1996
Bailey Peacock-Farrell 1 0 2018 27 0 2018–
James Quinn 1 0 1994 50 4 1996–2006
Maik Taylor 1 0 1998 88 0 1999–2011
Jamie Ward 7 2 2006–2008 35 4 2011–2018

Managers
  Current manager highlighted in green

Last updated after the match against  France on 22 March 2022.

Manager First Game Last Game Pld W D L GF GA GD Win % Draw % Loss %
Danny Blanchflower 8 March 1978 vs. 8 March 1978 vs. 10101100.00%100.00%0.00%
Billy Bingham 3 April 1990 vs. 3 April 1990 vs. 110021+1100.00%0.00%0.00%
Bryan Hamilton 22 March 1994 vs. 22 March 1994 vs. 10100000.00%100.00%0.00%
Roy Millar 21 April 1998 vs. 21 April 1998 vs. 110021+1100.00%0.00%0.00%
Chris Nicholl 20 May 1998 vs. 8 October 1999 vs. 133551113–223.08%38.46%38.46%
Roy Millar 28 March 2000 vs. 26 March 2008 vs. 48188226479–1537.50%16.67%45.83%
Steve Beaglehole 19 August 2008 vs. 15 November 2011 vs. 2143142339–1619.05%14.29%66.67%
Steve Robinson 10 May 2012 vs. 15 October 2013 vs. 100010524–190.00%0.00%100.00%
Jim Magilton* 14 November 2013 vs. 11 October 2016 vs. 141211827–197.14%14.29%78.57%
Ian Baraclough 8 June 2017 vs. 19 November 2019 vs. 199642219+347.37%31.58%21.05%
Andy Crosby** 4 September 2020 vs. 5 June 2021 vs. 7304911–242.86%0.00%57.14%
John Schofield 3 September 2021 vs. 8206717–1025.00%0.00%75.00%
Total 144 42 26 76 154 232 -78 29.17% 18.06% 52.78%
  • * first two games as caretaker manager
  • ** caretaker manager for all 7 games

See also

References
  1. Roy Millar managed for the first seven qualifying matches. Steve Beaglehole managed the last game of the qualification campaign.
  2. Steve Beaglehole managed for the first five qualifying matches. Stephen Robinson managed for the remainder of the qualification campaign.
  3. Stephen Robinson managed for the first four qualifying matches. Jim Magilton managed for the remainder of the qualification campaign.
  4. Ian Baraclough managed for the first five qualifying matches. Andy Crosby was appointed caretaker manager for the remainder of the qualification campaign.
  5. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". fifa.com. FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  6. "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs". uefa.com. UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  7. "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2021-23". UEFA. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  8. "Northern Ireland U21 squad named for Slovakia and France games". 17 March 2022.
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