Republic of Ireland Under-21

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 colours

Second colours

First international

Rep. Ireland 1–1 Northern Ireland

(Dublin; 8 March 1978)

Biggest win

Rep. Ireland 5–0 Estonia

(Tallaght Stadium, Dublin; 10 August 2010)

Biggest defeat

Germany 8–0 Rep. Ireland

(Baunatal; 23 March 1993)

Best result

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
Total								134	43	27	64	160	187

*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Main article: 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	5	3	2	0	13	2	+11	11	Final tournament	—	15 Oct '24	2–0	22 Mar '24	26 Mar '24	5 Sep '24
2	Republic of Ireland	5	3	1	1	12	8	+4	10	Play-offs	2–2	—	11 Oct '24	10 Sep '24	3–2	3–0
3	Norway	5	3	0	2	17	6	+11	9		10 Sep '24	3–2	—	7–0	15 Oct '24	26 Mar '24
4	Latvia	5	2	1	2	5	10	−5	7		0–0	1–2	6 Sep '24	—	2–1	2–0
5	Turkey	5	2	0	3	10	7	+3	6		0–2	6 Sep '24	2–0	11 Oct '24	—	5–0
6	San Marino	5	0	0	5	0	24	−24	0		0–7	22 Mar '24	0–7	15 Oct '24	10 Sep '24	—

Updated to match(es) played on 21 November 2023. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

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 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 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 Referee: Lionel Tschudi (Switzerland)

2024

22 March UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	San Marino	v	Republic of Ireland	Serravalle, San Marino
17:00 GMT		Report		Stadium: San Marino Stadium

6 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Turkey	v	Republic of Ireland	Turkey
TBD		Report

10 September UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	v	Latvia	Cork, Republic of Ireland
TBD		Report		Stadium: Turners Cross

11 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Republic of Ireland	v	Norway	Cork, Republic of Ireland
TBD		Report		Stadium: Turners Cross

15 October UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification	Italy	v	Republic of Ireland	Italy
TBD		Report

Staff

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

Position	Name	Appointed
Head coach	Jim Crawford	5 April 2020
Assistant coach	Alan Reynolds	9 July 2020
Assistant coach	Paul McShane	28 August 2023
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 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 San Marino on 22 March 2024.^[2]

Caps and goals updated as of 21 November 2023, after the game vs Italy.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Josh Keeley	(2003-05-17) 17 May 2003 (age 20)	6	0	Barnet
1GK	Tiernan Brooks	(2003-06-17) 17 June 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Rochdale
1GK	Andrew Wogan	(2005-12-01) 1 December 2005 (age 18)	0	0	Drogheda United

2DF	Bosun Lawal	(2003-05-30) 30 May 2003 (age 20)	9	1	Fleetwood Town
2DF	Sam Curtis	(2005-12-01) 1 December 2005 (age 18)	7	0	Sheffield United
2DF	Sean Roughan	(2003-03-14) 14 March 2003 (age 21)	6	0	Lincoln City
2DF	Anselmo García MacNulty (captain)	(2003-02-19) 19 February 2003 (age 21)	5	0	PEC Zwolle
2DF	Tayo Adaramola	(2003-11-14) 14 November 2003 (age 20)	4	0	Crystal Palace
2DF	Sean Grehan	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Carlisle United
2DF	Connor O'Riordan	(2003-10-19) 19 October 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Blackburn Rovers
2DF	Alex Murphy	(2004-06-25) 25 June 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Newcastle United

3MF	Andrew Moran (vice-captain)	(2003-10-15) 15 October 2003 (age 20)	8	2	Blackburn Rovers
3MF	Joe Hodge (captain)	(2002-09-14) 14 September 2002 (age 21)	5	0	Queens Park Rangers
3MF	Matt Healy	(2002-04-12) 12 April 2002 (age 21)	5	0	Francs Borains
3MF	Killian Phillips	(2002-03-30) 30 March 2002 (age 21)	5	1	Aberdeen
3MF	Baba Adeeko	(2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 20)	4	0	Wigan Athletic
3MF	Zak Gilsenan	(2003-05-08) 8 May 2003 (age 20)	3	1	Blackburn Rovers
3MF	Rocco Vata	(2005-04-18) 18 April 2005 (age 18)	1	2	Celtic

4FW	Ollie O'Neill	(2003-01-08) 8 January 2003 (age 21)	10	2	Leyton Orient
4FW	Sinclair Armstrong	(2003-06-22) 22 June 2003 (age 20)	5	3	Queens Park Rangers
4FW	Tony Springett	(2002-09-22) 22 September 2002 (age 21)	3	0	Northampton Town
4FW	Armstrong Oko-Flex	(2002-03-02) 2 March 2002 (age 22)	3	2	FC Zürich
4FW	Mark O'Mahony	(2005-01-15) 15 January 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Brighton & Hove Albion
4FW	Calum Kavanagh	(2003-09-05) 5 September 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Bradford City

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	Killian Cahill	(2003-11-03) 3 November 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Brighton & Hove Albion	v. Norway, 17 November 2023^PRE
GK	Owen Mason	(2004-03-24) 24 March 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Wexford	v. Latvia, 13 October 2023^PRE

DF	James Abankwah	(2004-01-16) 16 January 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Udinese	v. Italy, 21 November 2023
DF	James Furlong	(2002-06-07) 7 June 2002 (age 21)	4	0	Hull City	v. Latvia, 13 October 2023
DF	Evan Weir	(2002-04-16) 16 April 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Drogheda United	v. Latvia, 13 October 2023^PRE
DF	Festy Ebosele	(2002-08-02) 2 August 2002 (age 21)	5	0	Udinese	v. Iceland, 26 March 2023
DF	Jay McGrath	(2003-04-15) 15 April 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Doncaster Rovers	v. Iceland, 26 March 2023

MF	Adam Murphy	(2005-04-08) 8 April 2005 (age 18)	2	0	Bristol City	v. Italy, 21 November 2023
MF	Kian Leavy	(2002-03-21) 21 March 2002 (age 21)	2	0	St Patrick's Athletic	v. Italy, 21 November 2023^PRE
MF	Ed McJannet	(2004-01-25) 25 January 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Lecce	v. Latvia, 13 October 2023^PRE
MF	Tyler Goodrham	(2003-08-07) 7 August 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Oxford United	v. Turkey, 8 September 2023^INJ
MF	Darragh Burns	(2002-08-06) 6 August 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Shamrock Rovers	v. Kuwait, 19 June 2023
MF	Jack Henry-Francis	(2003-09-23) 23 September 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Arsenal	v. Kuwait, 19 June 2023
MF	Dara Costelloe	(2002-12-11) 11 December 2002 (age 21)	1	0	Dundee	v. Kuwait, 19 June 2023
MF	Harry Vaughan	(2004-04-06) 6 April 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Bristol Rovers	v. Kuwait, 19 June 2023
MF	Cian Hayes	(2003-06-29) 29 June 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Fleetwood Town	v. Iceland, 26 March 2023

FW	Aidomo Emakhu	(2003-10-26) 26 October 2003 (age 20)	6	3	Millwall	v. Italy, 21 November 2023
FW	Johnny Kenny	(2003-06-06) 6 June 2003 (age 20)	4	1	Shamrock Rovers	v. Italy, 21 November 2023
FW	Conor Carty	(2002-05-25) 25 May 2002 (age 21)	4	1	Bolton Wanderers	v. Italy, 21 November 2023
FW	Dylan Duffy	(2002-11-28) 28 November 2002 (age 21)	1	0	Lincoln City	v. Kuwait, 19 June 2023
FW	Tom Cannon	(2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 (age 21)	1	1	Leicester City	v. Iceland, 26 March 2023
^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

External links

Republic of Ireland national football team

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
Players	Players Dual Ireland players Born outside RoI
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

Association football in the Republic of Ireland

Women's association football in the Republic of Ireland

Governing Bodies

National Teams

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Leinster	AUL Wicklow Dublin
Munster	Cork AUL Kerry Desmond Limerick West Cork
Connacht	Galway Mayo Men's Women's
Ulster	Inishowen

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National sports teams of Ireland

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National under-21 men's football teams of Europe (UEFA)

Active

Defunct

UEFA European U-21 and U-23 Championship

Under-23

Without host	1970–1972 1972–1974 1974–1976

Under-21

Without host	1976–1978 1978–1980 1980–1982 1982–1984 1984–1986 1986–1988 1988–1990 1990–1992
With host	France 1994 Spain 1996 Romania 1998 Slovakia 2000 Switzerland 2002 Germany 2004 Portugal 2006 Netherlands 2007 Sweden 2009 Denmark 2011 Israel 2013 Czech Republic 2015 Poland 2017 Italy 2019 Hungary / Slovenia 2021 Romania / Georgia 2023 Slovakia 2025
Qualification	1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025
Finals	1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023
Squads	1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023