Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team
The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team is a representative team of Irish football players. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland and represents them at Under-21 level against the national teams of other national associations. The team played its first match in 1978 and has competed in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship since 1988.
| Nickname(s) | Boys in Green | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Association of Ireland (FAI) | ||
| Head coach | Jim Crawford | ||
| Most caps | Conor Coventry (28) | ||
| Top scorer | Robbie Brady (7) Kevin Doyle (7) | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
(Dublin; 8 March 1978) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
(Tallaght Stadium, Dublin; 10 August 2010) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
(Baunatal; 23 March 1993) | |||
| Best result | Have never qualified | ||
History
As a European under-21 team, the Republic of Ireland participates in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which takes place every two years. There is no Under-21 World Cup, although there is an Under-20 World Cup. Ireland did not enter the first five Under-21 Championships, entering for the first time in 1988 but failing to qualify. Ireland have never qualified for the European Under-21 Championships.
UEFA European Under-21 Championship record
| UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship record | UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D * | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |||
| 1978 | did not enter | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1980 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||
| 1982 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||
| 1984 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||
| 1986 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||||
| 1988 | did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1990 | did not enter | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1992 | did not qualify | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 14 | |||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 20 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 7 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 12 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 7 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 11 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | |||||||||||
| 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 17 | |||||||||||
| 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 15 | |||||||||||
| 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Did not qualify | Ongoing | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 122 | 37 | 24 | 61 | 143 | 176 | ||||||||||
- *Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 9 | Final tournament | — | 21 Nov | 10 Sep '24 | 11 Oct '24 | 3–2 | 3–0 | ||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 7 | Play-offs | 15 Oct '24 | — | 22 Mar '24 | 2–0 | 26 Mar '24 | 5 Sep '24 | ||
| 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 7 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 6 Sep '24 | 2–1 | 2–0 | |||
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 6 | 17 Nov | 10 Sep '24 | 7–0 | — | 15 Oct '24 | 26 Mar '24 | |||
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 3 | 6 Sep '24 | 0–2 | 11 Oct '24 | 21 Nov | — | 5–0 | |||
| 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 17 | −17 | 0 | 22 Mar '24 | 16 Nov | 15 Oct '24 | 0–7 | 10 Sep '24 | — |
Results and fixtures
2022
| 29 March UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Sweden | 0–2 | | Borås, Sweden |
| 16:00 CET | Report | Tierney Wright |
Stadium: Borås Arena Referee: Vitor Ferreira (Portugal) |
| 3 June UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Republic of Ireland | 3–0 | | Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
| 19:30 IST | Report | Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 3,057 Referee: Luca Cibelli (Switzerland) |
| 6 June UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Republic of Ireland | 3–1 | | Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
| 17:00 IST | Smallbone Kerrigan Wright |
Report | Ðukanović |
Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 3,126 Referee: Jan Petrik (Czech Republic) |
| 14 June UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Italy | 4–1 | | Ascoli Piceno, Italy |
| 16:30 CET | Rovella Cambiaghi Pellegri Quagliata |
Report | Coventry |
Stadium: Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca Referee: Gergo Bogár (Hungary) |
| 23 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification Play-off 1st leg | Republic of Ireland | 1–1 | | Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
| 19:00 IST (21:00 IST) | Evan Ferguson |
Report | Idan Gorno Stav Lemkin |
Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 6,786 Referee: Dario Bel (Croatia |
| 27 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification Play-off 2nd leg | Israel | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p) | | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| 18:15 IST (20:15 IST) | Report | Stadium: Bloomfield Stadium Referee: Nathan Verboomen (Belgium) | ||
| Penalties | ||||
| Eden Kartsev Daniel Peretz Gil Cohen Osher Davida |
Conor Coventry Tyreik Wright Evan Ferguson Dawson Devoy |
|||
1–1 on aggregate. Israel won 3–1 on penalties and qualified for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
2023
| 26 March Friendly | Republic of Ireland | 2–1 | | Cork, Republic of Ireland |
| 16:00 GMT | Tom Cannon Festy Ebosele Johnny Kenny |
Report | Kristall Máni Ingason |
Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 6,000 |
| 13 June Friendly | Republic of Ireland | C–C | | Austria |
| 17:00 GMT | Report | |||
| Note: Fixture cancelled on 12 June as Gabon elected not to travel to Austria for the fixture. | ||||
| 16 June Friendly | Ukraine | 2–2 | | Bad Blumau, Austria |
| 17:00 GMT | Artem Bondarenko Danylo Sikan |
Andrew Moran Bosun Lawal |
Stadium: Union Sport-Club Blumau |
| 19 June Friendly | Republic of Ireland | 3–0 | | Bad Radkersburg, Austria |
| 16:00 GMT | Ollie O'Neill Conor Carty Aidomo Emakhu |
Report | Stadium: Parktherme Arena | |
| Note: Fixture abandoned after 70 minutes due to a racist comment by a Kuwait player towards an Ireland substitute. | ||||
| 8 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Republic of Ireland | 3–2 | | Cork, Republic of Ireland |
| 19:30 GMT | Andrew Moran Zak Gilsenan Aidomo Emakhu Sean Roughan |
Report | Kenan Yıldız Cihan Çanak |
Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 3,754 Referee: Joonas Jaanovits (Estonia) |
| 12 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Republic of Ireland | 3–0 | | Cork, Republic of Ireland |
| 19:30 GMT | Rocco Vata Rocco Vata Sinclair Armstrong |
Report | Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 3,826 Referee: Antoine Paul Chiaramonti (Andorra) |
| 13 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Latvia | 1–2 | | Jelgava, Latvia |
| 13:00 GMT | Lūkass Vapne |
Report | Armstrong Oko-Flex Armstrong Oko-Flex |
Stadium: Zemgale Olympic Center Referee: Oliver Reitala (Finland) |
| 17 November UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Norway | v | | Norway |
| TBD | Report |
| 21 November UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Republic of Ireland | v | | Cork, Republic of Ireland |
| TBD | Report | Stadium: Turners Cross |
2024
| 22 March UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | San Marino | v | | San Marino |
| TBD | Report |
| 6 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Turkey | v | | Turkey |
| TBD | Report |
| 10 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Republic of Ireland | v | | Cork, Republic of Ireland |
| TBD | Report | Stadium: Turners Cross |
| 11 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | Republic of Ireland | v | | Cork, Republic of Ireland |
| TBD | Report | Stadium: Turners Cross |
Staff
The Under-21s' management team includes:[1]
| Position | Name | Appointed |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach | 5 April 2020 | |
| Assistant coach | 9 July 2020 | |
| Assistant coach | 28 August 2023 | |
| Goalkeeping coach | 24 April 2020 | |
| Lead Performance Analyst | April 2020 | |
| Sports Scientist | 18 March 2023 | |
| Sports Scientist | June 2021 | |
| Chartered Physiotherapist | 24 April 2019 | |
| Athletic Therapist | March 2022 | |
| Doctor | March 2021 | |
| Performance Nutritionist | March 2023 | |
| Kitman | May 2023 |
Players
Current squad
Players born on or after 1 January 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification fixture against Latvia on 13 October 2023.[2]
Caps and goals updated as of 14 October 2023, after the game vs Latvia.
Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad in the last 12 months and remain eligible:
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Tiernan Brooks | 17 June 2003 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
| GK | Owen Mason | 24 March 2004 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Evan Weir | 16 April 2002 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Anselmo García MacNulty | 19 February 2003 | 3 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Sean Roughan | 14 March 2003 | 4 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Alex Murphy | 25 June 2004 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Tayo Adaramola | 14 November 2003 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Festy Ebosele | 2 August 2002 | 5 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Jay McGrath | 15 April 2003 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Ed McJannet | 25 January 2004 | 3 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Rocco Vata | 18 April 2005 | 1 | 2 | v. | |
| MF | Killian Phillips | 30 March 2002 | 3 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Adam Murphy | 8 April 2005 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Tyler Goodrham | 7 August 2003 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Darragh Burns | 6 August 2002 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Jack Henry-Francis | 23 September 2003 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Dara Costelloe | 11 December 2002 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Harry Vaughan | 6 April 2004 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Kian Leavy | 21 March 2002 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Cian Hayes | 29 June 2003 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| FW | Dylan Duffy | 28 November 2002 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| FW | Tom Cannon | 28 December 2002 | 1 | 1 | v. | |
INJ Withdrew from latest squad due to injury | ||||||
Note: Names in italics denote players that have been capped for the senior team.
References
- "Management Profiles". Football Association of Ireland. 24 January 2019.
- https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/jim-crawford-names-22-man-squad-for-latvia-qualifier