2025 review: Northern Ireland Under-21s

The Northern Ireland men’s Under-21 side had a solid year in 2025.

To prepare for European qualifiers later in the year they played in a four-team mini tournament in March – in Turkey’s Antalya Province.

First up was a game against Moldova’s U21s. Tommy Wright’s team largely bossed the game at Cornelia Sport Centre in Belek, although Moldova grabbed the lead after just seven minutes.

Northern Ireland equalised in the 68th minute. Substitute Aodhan Doherty fired in a free-kick which was handled in the area by a Moldovan defender and Rio Oudnie-Morgan stepped up to stroke the penalty into the bottom corner.

Next up for the U21s was a match against Ukraine’s U20s at the Bellis Deluxe Centre in Belek.

Both defences were on top in the first half, with very few chances created. In fact that was largely the pattern of the game. And throughout the 90-plus minutes the Northern Ireland players were on the receiving end of some rather rugged challenges.

The only goal of the game came on 50 minutes. A defensive header fell to Ukraine’s Ivan Chaban 20 yards out and he rifled the ball into the bottom corner.

Their final game of the tournament was against Uzbekistan U21s at the Bellis Deluxe Centre.

Just like in the games against Ukraine and Moldova, the U21s had plenty of the ball.

In the 56th minute Aodhan Doherty sped down the left flank and drilled the ball into the area where Fra Turley was on hand to slam it home from 12 yards to give Northern Ireland the lead. And that proved to be the only goal of the game.

The games in Turkey were preparation matches for the 2025-27 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying group stage.

For the U21 Euro 2027 qualifiers Northern Ireland were drawn in Group F along with Germany (top seeds) and Georgia (second seeds) plus Greece, Latvia and Malta.

The Under-21s began their qualification campaign for U21 Euro 2027 with an excellent 1-1 draw away to Georgia in September.

A second half equaliser from full-back Matty Orr earned Wright’s side a deserved point at the Ramaz Shengelia Stadium in Kutaisi.

The following month the Under-21s registered a comfortable 2-0 win against Malta’s U21s in Belfast.

They were always in control in the qualifier at The Oval. First half goals from Makenzie Kirk and captain Michael Forbes were enough to give them the three points.

Game number three in the group saw Northern Ireland take on Germany at The Oval – and two late goals from the Germans harshly floored them.

A goal in the 79th minute and a penalty four minutes later were enough to secure all three points for the top seeds in Group F.

It was really tough on Northern Ireland, who had led from the fourth minute and had matched their more illustrious opponents throughout the match, which attracted 1152 spectators.

Defender Ruairi McConville, midfielder Jamie McDonnell and attacking midfielder Jamie Donley joined from the senior squad.

Northern Ireland opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Donley fired a corner into the six-yard area and McConville rose superbly to head the ball powerfully into the top corner.

But Germany scored through Assan Ouedraogo and Dzenan Pejcinovic (penalty) to grab all three points.

Last month their fourth game of the campaign saw them come up against Latvia at The Oval.

The U21s had to battle hard in a downpour at The Oval. Both teams struggled to play a passing game on the extremely soggy and muddy surface.

Northern Ireland took the lead in the 60th minute thanks to a fabulous goal from Sam Glenfield. He stepped up to take a free-kick after Eoin Kenny had been upended just outside the area. And Glenfield’s precision curling strike flew into the top corner.

Jonny Russell had a shot blocked as Northern Ireland went in search of a second in the mud and torrential rain. Minutes later the full back produced a fine delivery which was headed past the upright by Makenzie Kirk.

Wright’s team kept plugging away in the atrocious conditions. Glenfield swept a shot wide before Kirk’s strike drifted off target. And a rising drive from Tommy Fogarty went over the top.

There was a huge scramble in the Northern Ireland goalmouth towards the end, which included a point blank stop by goalkeeper Stephen McMullan, but the ball was cleared for a corner – and a few blocks by the home defence later the 1-0 victory was secured.

Later in the month the U21s were defeated by Greece away in their final qualifier of the year.

The Greeks largely controlled proceedings at the Municipal Stadium in Livadia, in central Greece, as they scored four goals without reply.

The 4-0 win meant the Greeks consolidated their place at the top of Group F with five wins out of five.

Northern Ireland dropped to third place (seven points from five games) behind Germany (nine points from four).

The U21s will be back in Group F action at the end of March when they play away against both Germany and Latvia.

Meanwhile, there were no less than 25 debutants for the Under-21s during the year. They were as follows:

Tom Atcheson 25 Mar v Uzbekistan (n) FR

Conor Barr 22 Mar v Ukraine (n) FR

Cole Brannigan 14 Oct v Germany (h) ECQ

Josh Briggs 18 Nov v Greece (a) ECQ

Sean Brown 13 Nov v Latvia (h) ECQ

Aodhan Doherty 20 Mar v Moldova (n) FR