Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team

Republic of Ireland Under-21
Nickname(s)	Boys in Green
Association	Football Association of Ireland (FAI)
Head coach	Jim Crawford
Captain	Joe Hodge
Most caps	Conor Coventry (28)
Top scorer	Robbie Brady (7); Kevin Doyle (7); Sinclair Armstrong (7)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Rep. Ireland 1–1 Northern Ireland ; (Dublin; 8 March 1978)
Biggest win
	San Marino 0–7 Rep. Ireland ; (Serravalle, San Marino; 22 March 2024)
Biggest defeat
	Germany 8–0 Rep. Ireland ; (Baunatal, Germany; 23 March 1993)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	Have never qualified

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.

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
1994									8	1	1	6	7	20
1996									8	2	2	4	7	9
1998									8	3	0	5	11	7
2000									8	4	2	2	13	12
2002									8	4	1	3	10	7
2004									8	2	2	4	8	11
2006									8	1	2	5	10	14
2007									2	1	0	1	2	1
2009									8	1	2	5	4	14
2011									10	1	4	5	5	11
2013									8	4	1	3	15	10
2015									8	2	2	4	10	12
2017									10	4	0	6	14	17
2019									10	4	2	4	12	15
2021									10	6	1	3	15	8
2023									12	6	3	3	17	11
2025									10	5	4	1	24	12
Total	–							144	48	31	65	184	199

*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	10	6	4	0	27	4	+23	22	Final tournament	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	7–0
2	Norway	10	6	1	3	28	11	+17	19^[a]	Play-offs	0–3	—	3–2	5–1	7–0	4–0
3	Republic of Ireland	10	5	4	1	24	12	+12	19^[a]		2–2	1–1	—	3–2	2–2	3–0
4	Turkey	10	4	1	5	21	15	+6	13		0–2	2–0	0–1	—	3–0	5–0
5	Latvia	10	3	2	5	10	18	−8	11		0–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	—	2–0
6	San Marino	10	0	0	10	1	51	−50	0		0–7	0–7	0–7	1–6	0–3	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head points: Norway 4, Republic of Ireland 1.

Results and fixtures

2023

26 March Friendly	Republic of Ireland	2–1	Iceland	Cork, Republic of Ireland
16:00 GMT	Tom Cannon 23' Festy Ebosele 29' Johnny Kenny 82'	Report	Kristall Máni Ingason 14'	Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 6,000

13 June Friendly	Republic of Ireland	C–C	Gabon	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	Republic of Ireland	Bad Blumau, Austria
17:00 GMT	Artem Bondarenko 16' (pen.) Danylo Sikan 73' (pen.)		Andrew Moran 45+5' Bosun Lawal 82'	Stadium: Union Sport-Club Blumau

19 June Friendly	Republic of Ireland	3–0	Kuwait	Bad Radkersburg, Austria
16:00 GMT	Ollie O'Neill 5' Conor Carty 7' Aidomo Emakhu 52'	Report		Stadium: Parktherme Arena
Note: Fixture abandoned after 70 minutes due to a racist comment by a Kuwait player towards Ireland substitute Sinclair Armstrong.

8 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	3–2	Turkey	Cork, Republic of Ireland
19:30 GMT	Andrew Moran 56' Zak Gilsenan 87' (pen.) Aidomo Emakhu 90+6' Sean Roughan 90+9'	Report	Kenan Yıldız 22' (pen.) Cihan Çanak 76'	Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 3,754 Referee: Joonas Jaanovits (Estonia)

12 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	3–0	San Marino	Cork, Republic of Ireland
19:30 GMT	Rocco Vata 8' Rocco Vata 45+2' Sinclair Armstrong 66'	Report		Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 3,826 Referee: Antoine Paul Chiaramonti (Andorra)

13 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Latvia	1–2	Republic of Ireland	Jelgava, Latvia
13:00 GMT	Lūkass Vapne 90+2'	Report	Armstrong Oko-Flex 15' Armstrong Oko-Flex 57'	Stadium: Zemgale Olympic Center Attendance: 274 Referee: Oliver Reitala (Finland)

17 November UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Norway	3–2	Republic of Ireland	Drammen, Norway
17:00 GMT	Halvor Rødølen Opsahl 20' Kristian Arnstad 72' (pen.) Lasse Selvåg Nordås 77'	Report	Aidomo Emakhu 37' Sinclair Armstrong 53'	Stadium: Marienlyst Stadion Attendance: 566 Referee: Walter Altmann (Austria)

21 November UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	2–2	Italy	Cork, Republic of Ireland
17:30 GMT	Killian Phillips 31' Sinclair Armstrong 48'	Report	Wilfried Gnonto 45+1' (pen.) Wilfried Gnonto 90+6'	Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 6,157 Referee: Lionel Tschudi (Switzerland)

2024

22 March UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	San Marino	0–7	Republic of Ireland	Serravalle, San Marino
17:00 GMT		Report	Sinclair Armstrong 26' Andrew Moran 53' Sinclair Armstrong 57' Rocco Vata 62' Rocco Vata 64' Armstrong Oko-Flex 73' Rocco Vata 90+1'	Stadium: San Marino Stadium Attendance: 213 Referee: Viktor Kopiievskyi

7 June Friendly	Croatia	2–3	Republic of Ireland	Zagreb, Croatia
17:00 GMT	Igor Matanović 62' Matija Frigan 74' (pen.)	Report	Andrew Moran 11' Sinclair Armstrong 14' Aidomo Emakhu 52'	Stadium: Gradski Stadion Referee: Filip Dragašević

11 June Friendly	England	2–2	Republic of Ireland	Zagreb, Croatia
15:00 GMT	Archie Brown 45+2' Dane Scarlett 47' (pen.)		Joe Hodge 4' Armstrong Oko-Flex 88'	Stadium: Gradski Stadion Referee: Ivan Vučkovič

6 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Turkey	0–1	Republic of Ireland	Istanbul, Turkey
17:45 GMT		Report	Sam Curtis 84'	Stadium: Esenler Stadium Attendance: 2,188 Referee: Amine Kourgheli

10 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	2–2	Latvia	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
17:00 GMT	Sinclair Armstrong 16' Sean Roughan 65'	Report	Kaspars Anmanis 42' Ivans Patrikejevs 63'	Stadium: Tallaght Stadium Attendance: 953 Referee: Stefan Ebner

11 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	1–1	Norway	Cork, Republic of Ireland
19:00 GMT	Sean Roughan 75'	Report	Andreas Schjelderup 90+3'	Stadium: Turners Cross Attendance: 5,754 Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas

15 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Italy	1–1	Republic of Ireland	Trieste, Italy
17:30 GMT	Cesare Casadei 23'	Report	Andrew Moran 66'	Stadium: Stadio Nereo Rocco Referee: Adam Ladebäck

Staff

The Under-21s' management team includes:^[1]

Position	Name	Appointed
Head coach	Jim Crawford	5 April 2020
Assistant coach	Paul McShane	28 August 2023
Assistant coach	Stephen Rice	29 August 2024
Goalkeeping coach	Rene Gilmartin	24 April 2020
Lead Performance Analyst	Martin Doyle	April 2020
Sports Scientist	Paul Walsh	18 March 2023
Sports Scientist	Adam Fox	June 2021
Chartered Physiotherapist	Glauber Barduzzi	24 April 2019
Athletic Therapist	Kieran Murray	March 2022
Doctor	Dr Mortimer O'Connor	March 2021
Performance Nutritionist	Ian Byrne	March 2023
Kitman	John Crudden	May 2023

Players

Current squad

Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers fixtures against Norway U21 & Italy U21 on 11 & 15 October 2024.^[2]

Caps and goals updated as of 15 October 2024, after the game vs Italy.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club

2DF	Sam Curtis	(2005-12-01) 1 December 2005 (age 18)	14	1	Peterborough United
2DF	James Abankwah	(2004-01-16) 16 January 2004 (age 20)	7	0	Udinese
2DF	Connor O'Brien	(2004-07-12) 12 July 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Accrington Stanley

3MF	Rocco Vata	(2005-04-18) 18 April 2005 (age 19)	5	5	Watford

4FW	Mark O'Mahony	(2005-01-15) 15 January 2005 (age 19)	5	0	Portsmouth
4FW	Franco Umeh	(2005-01-26) 26 January 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Crystal Palace

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad and remain eligible:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Andrew Wogan	(2005-12-01) 1 December 2005 (age 18)	0	0	Drogheda United	v. San Marino, 22 March 2024
GK	Owen Mason	(2004-03-24) 24 March 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Wexford	v. Latvia, 13 October 2023^PRE

DF	Alex Murphy	(2004-06-25) 25 June 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Newcastle United	v. Latvia, 10 September 2024^PRE
DF	Seán Grehan	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Crystal Palace	v. San Marino, 22 March 2024

MF	Adam Murphy	(2005-04-08) 8 April 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Bristol City	v. Italy, 21 November 2023
MF	Ed McJannet	(2004-01-25) 25 January 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Lecce	v. Latvia, 13 October 2023^PRE
MF	Harry Vaughan	(2004-04-06) 6 April 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Hull City	v. Kuwait, 19 June 2023

FW	Mason Melia	(2007-09-22) 22 September 2007 (age 17)	0	0	St Patrick's Athletic	v. Norway, 11 October 2024^INJ
^INJ Withdrew from latest squad due to injury ^WD Withdrew from latest squad ^PRE Preliminary squad / standby ^SUS Player is suspended ^SEN Player called up to Senior squad

Note: Names in italics denote players that have been capped for the senior team.

References

^ "Jim Crawford names Under-21 squad for Türkiye & Latvia EURO Qualifiers". www.fai.ie.
^ "Ireland Under-21 squad named for Norway & Italy EURO Qualifiers". www.fai.ie.

External links

[table_hth_NOR0.36682945553531-1] Head-to-head points: Norway 4, Republic of Ireland 1.

[mgmtstaff-2] "Jim Crawford names Under-21 squad for Türkiye & Latvia EURO Qualifiers". www.fai.ie.

[3] "Ireland Under-21 squad named for Norway & Italy EURO Qualifiers". www.fai.ie.

[a]

[1]

[2]

v t e Republic of Ireland national football team
General	Football Association of Ireland Players Managers
Venues	Aviva Stadium Lansdowne Road Croke Park Dalymount Park
Results	Complete list of matches (1924–present) Irish Free State results (1924–35) Ireland (FAI) results (1936–54) Republic of Ireland results (1954–present) — 1954–1959 1960–1979 1980–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present Major tournament record
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Goals	Robbie Keane Hat-tricks
World Cup finals	1990 1994 2002 (including Saipan incident) World Cup record
European finals	1988 2012 2016 Euro record
Other tournaments	1924 Olympic Football Tournament 1948 Olympic Football Tournament Brazil Independence Cup (1972) Kirin Cup (1984) Iceland Triangular Tournament (1986) U.S. Cup (1992 1996 2000) Unity Cup (2004) 2011 Nations Cup UEFA Nations League
Rivalries	England Northern Ireland
Songs	"Olé, Olé, Olé" "Joxer Goes to Stuttgart" "The Boys in Green" "Give It a Lash Jack" "Put 'Em Under Pressure" "Watch Your House for Ireland" "Here Come the Good Times" "The Rocky Road to Poland" "The Irish Roar"
Other National teams	Women's B U-23 U-21 U-19 U-17 League of Ireland XI
Awards	FAI International Football Awards