The Northern Ireland Women’s Under-19 team will take on reigning European champions Spain, Portugal and Hungary in the elite round of qualifiers for WU19 Euro 2026.
The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship Round 2 draw, staged at UEFA HQ in Switzerland earlier today, set the groups for leagues A and B next spring.
Northern Ireland retained their League A status for the second stage of qualifiers for WU19 Euro 2026 after finishing third in Group A6 earlier this month following defeats to Italy and Switzerland and a win against Belarus.
Gail Redmond’s side will compete in Group A7 next spring. Northern Ireland were in Pot 3 for today’s draw, while A7 top seeds Spain, who won the WU19 Euros title for the fourth time in a row back in the summer, were in Pot 1 and Portugal in Pot 2. Hungary (Pot 4) won their League B group earlier this month to earn promotion to League A.
Participating teams in stage two of the WU19 Euro 2026 qualifiers are split into two leagues as set by Round 1.
The groups are set to be played as single-venue mini tournaments in the periods from 25 February to 7 March or 8 to 18 April and will decide the seven teams who join hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina in the finals from 27 June to 10 July next year, as well as promotion and relegation between the leagues.
The hosts, venues and exact dates for the mini tournaments are TBC.
Teams will be promoted and relegated for Round 1 of the next edition of the competition based on the final group rankings from the upcoming Round 2. The seven teams placed fourth in their group in League A will be relegated to League B for Round 1 of the next edition.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s WU17s will compete in Euro qualifiers next spring despite being assured of a place in next year’s WU17 Euros by virtue of being hosts. The Irish Football Association is set to stage the UEFA Women’s Under-17 European Championship from 3 to 16 May next year.
As preparation for the 2026 Euros, Northern Ireland’s WU17s took part in stage one of the qualifiers last month. They narrowly lost 2-1 to Turkiye in game one in League B Group 4 before defeating Luxembourg in their second and final game. Turkiye won the group and were promoted to League A.
And Northern Ireland will once again compete in League B in the spring as preparation for the finals next May.
Gail Redmond’s team will be in Group B2 along with North Macedonia, Luxembourg and Georgia.
North Macedonia were drawn from Pot 1 in today’s draw for Round 2, while Northern Ireland were in Pot 2. Luxembourg are third seeds in the group, with Georgia the fourth seeds.
The hosts, venues and exact dates for the League B mini tournaments are TBC.
Six group winners and the best runner-up from League B will be promoted to League A for Round 1 of the next edition.
