Northern Ireland’s Under-17s lost out to a physically strong Turkiye side in a Euro qualifier staged in Coleraine.
Competition
U17 Euro 2026 Round Two Qualifiers
Scoreline
Turkiye U17s 4-0 Northern Ireland U17s
Scorers
Turkiye: Mustafa Tosun (15’), Necati Yancel (22’), Eymen Erdogan (48’), Yagiz Sen (51’ pen)
Venue
The Showgrounds, Coleraine
Date
18 March 2026
Team News
Northern Ireland’s Under-17s are currently competing in League A Group 6 in the second and final stage of qualifiers for the U17 Euro 2026 men’s tournament in Estonia this summer.
For the team’s second game in the group, U17s boss Andy Waterworth made three changes to the 11 that started the opener against Spain, which Northern Ireland lost 2-0.
In came defender Calum Anderson to captain the side, midfielder Alfie Anderson and striker Michael Mulholland.
Defender Paul Stanfield and midfielder Finlay Ross dropped to the bench, while influential winger Joel Kerr picked up an injury in the first game.
How it happened
Turkiye made a bright start and Northern Ireland keeper Phoenix Blayney had to make a couple of saves early on.
Northern Ireland striker Luke Hawe had an effort cleared off the line before Turkiye took the lead on 15 minutes through a fine strike from centre forward Mustafa Tosun.
Winger Ali Demirbilek provided the assist for the first goal and he was instrumental in Turkiye’s second seven minutes later. This time he teed up midfielder Necati Yancel for another sweet finish.
Striker Eamonn Tohill had a shot blocked before the Turks piled forward once again, with Tosun sweeping a shot wide.
Turkish midfielder Efe Secil and Tosun both missed good opportunities to grab a third before Charlie McConnell’s well-struck free-kick was pushed over the bar by Turkiye keeper Tolga Sancak at the other end.
Half-time: Turkiye U17s 2-0 Northern Ireland U17s
Turkiye stretched their lead just after the restart when Eymen Erdogan raced forward and slammed the ball into the far corner. And they made it 4-0 when Yagiz Sen stroked home a penalty that was awarded when Northern Ireland substitute Paul Stanfield was bizarrely adjudged to have tripped Sen in the penalty area as he was guiding the ball out of play.
Tohill flicked a header over the top as Northern Ireland tried to claw their way back into the game, while Sancak did well to push a shot from substitute Finlay Ross around the post.
Blayney saved from Tosun once again before Sancak got his fingertips to an attempted lob by Hawe.
As the game drew to a close Blayney pushed a shot from substitute Emin Sayar around the post. And then Sayar drilled a shot past the post in added time.
The third and final matchday in the group (on Saturday 21 March) will see Northern Ireland take on Scotland at Coleraine FC’s Showgrounds home, while Spain and Turkiye are set to clash at Solitude, the home of Cliftonville FC. Both free-entry games have 2pm starts. Spain defeated Scotland 3-0 earlier today.
Full-time: Turkiye U17s 4-0 Northern Ireland U17s
Line-ups
Turkiye: Tolga Sancak, Hasan Tuncel (captain), Uveys Satik, Eran Taskiran, Ata Yanik, Efe Secil, Ali Demirbilek, Necati Yancel, Mustafa Tosun, Yagiz Sen, Eymen Erdogan.
Substitutes: (used) Halil Koc, Guven Atalay, Emin Sayar, Tarik Kalpakli, Ramazan Ozcelik; (unused) Emir Gundogdu (GK), Bilal Demirag, Hasan Ilcin, Adnan Fettahoglu.
Northern Ireland: Phoenix Blayney, Alfie Wilson, Shea McGarry, Daniel McCarron, Calum Anderson (captain), Charlie McConnell, Sonny Trainor, Alfie Anderson, Luke Hawe, Eamonn Tohill, Michael Mulholland.
Substitutes: (used) Paul Stanfield, Zak Magowan, Finlay Ross, Jack May, Adam Nelson; (unused) Liam Kelly, Kyle Chivers (GK).
Action from Coleraine
