Northern Ireland national under-17 football team

The Northern Ireland national under-17 football team also known as Northern Ireland under-17s or Northern Ireland U17s represents Northern Ireland in association football at under-17 level. It is controlled by the Irish Football Association. The team first competed as Northern Ireland under-16 before evolving into the current under-17 side when UEFA realigned their youth tournaments in 2001. They have qualified for the finals of the UEFA European Under-16 Championships five times (1987, 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1997) and for the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship once (2004). In addition to the UEFA Championships, the team also plays regular friendlies and in minor tournaments from similar age-group teams from throughout the world.

Northern Ireland Under-17
Nickname(s)The GAWA
Norn Iron
AssociationIrish Football Association
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachAndy Waterworth
Home stadiumvarious
FIFA codeNIR
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Northern Ireland 0–3  Austria
(Ballymena, Northern Ireland; 18 September 2001)
Biggest win
 Northern Ireland 7–0  Luxembourg
(Beggen, Luxembourg; 30 October 2019
Biggest defeat
 Northern Ireland 0–8  Turkey
(Staines, England; 2 September 2007
World Cup
Appearances0
European Championship
Appearances6 (first in 1987)
Best resultGroup stage (6 times)

Competitive record

UEFA U-16/17 European Championship record

UEFA European Under-16/17 Championship Finals record Qualification record
Year Round Pld W D L GF GA GD Pld W D L GF GA GD
1982 did not enter did not enter
1984
1985
1986 did not qualify 2 0 1 1 0 1 –1
1987 Group stage 3 0 2 1 2 3 –1 2 1 0 1 1 1 0
1988 did not qualify 2 0 1 1 0 2 –2
1989 2 0 1 1 1 3 –2
1990 Group stage 3 1 0 2 3 8 –5 2 1 1 0 4 3 +1
1991 did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 4 –4
1992 Group stage 3 0 1 2 2 6 –4 2 1 0 1 3 3 0
1993 Group stage 3 0 1 2 3 8 –5 2 1 0 1 1 1 0
1994 did not qualify 2 1 0 1 4 5 –1
1995 2 1 0 1 1 4 –3
1996 2 0 0 2 2 4 –2
1997 Group stage 3 1 0 2 3 4 –1 2 2 0 0 8 2 +6
1998 did not qualify 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1
1999 4 1 1 2 2 4 –2
2000 2 0 1 1 0 2 –2
2001 2 0 1 1 1 3 –2
2002 4 0 0 4 4 11 –7
2003 6 3 1 2 4 4 0
2004 Group stage 3 0 0 3 3 12 –9 6 4 1 1 13 9 +4
2005 did not qualify 6 2 1 3 11 12 –1
2006 6 3 0 3 9 13 –4
2007 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2
2008 6 3 0 3 7 8 –1
2009 3 1 0 2 1 3 –2
2010 6 4 0 2 6 5 +1
2011 6 2 1 3 12 12 0
2012 3 1 0 2 2 5 –3
2013 6 1 3 2 10 8 +2
2014 3 1 0 2 3 4 –1
2015 6 1 2 3 7 15 –8
2016 3 0 1 2 2 4 –2
2017 3 1 0 2 5 9 –4
2018 3 1 0 2 1 8 –7
2019 6 1 2 3 7 9 –2
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 3 1 0 2 7 6 +1
2021 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 did not qualify 3 0 1 2 4 7 –3
2023 6 1 1 4 5 13 –8
2024 6 2 1 3 10 13 –3
2025 6 2 1 3 8 12 –4
2026 to be determined
Total Group stage 18 2 4 12 16 41 –25 146 48 25 43 176 239 –63

FIFA Under-17 World Cup

Year Round Pld W D L GF GA GD
1985 did not enter
1987 did not qualify
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2023
2025

Current Coaching Staff

Position Name
Manager Andy Waterworth
Assistant Manager
Coach
Goalkeeping Coach Roy Carroll

Players

Current squad

Players born on or after 1 January 2009 will be eligible until the end of the 2026 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.

Names in bold denote players who have been capped by Northern Ireland in a higher age group.

The following players were named in the squad for the Under-17 Euro 2026 qualifying round games against Armenia, Cyprus and Finland on 28 October, 31 October and 3 November 2025 respectively.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1GK Matthew Belshaw (2010-07-05) 5 July 2010 (age 15) Glentoran
1GK Phoenix Blayney (2010-11-17) 17 November 2010 (age 15) Larne

2DF Calum Anderson (2009-01-09) 9 January 2009 (age 16) Southampton
2DF Alfie Wilson (2009-03-14) 14 March 2009 (age 16) Hearts
2DF Charlie Campbell (2009-10-19) 19 October 2009 (age 16) Linfield
2DF Daniel McCarron (2010-02-02) 2 February 2010 (age 15) Dungannon Swifts
2DF Alfie Mulvenna (2010-03-05) 5 March 2010 (age 15) Larne
2DF Calum Woods Dundalk
2DF Sean Cassidy Cliftonville

3MF Coran Madden (2009-02-05) 5 February 2009 (age 16) Brentford
3MF Finlay Ross (2009-02-16) 16 February 2009 (age 16) Linfield
3MF Liam Kelly (2010-08-07) 7 August 2010 (age 15) Derry City
3MF Charlie McConnell Bohemians
3MF Harry Gough Glenavon

4FW Jack May (2009-01-15) 15 January 2009 (age 16) Larne
4FW Joel Kerr (2009-03-24) 24 March 2009 (age 16) West Ham United
4FW Luke Hawe (2009-04-30) 30 April 2009 (age 16) Southampton
4FW Jahmi Kellyman (2009-07-06) 6 July 2009 (age 16) Aston Villa
4FW Zak Magowan (2009-07-08) 8 July 2009 (age 16) Glentoran
4FW Eamonn Tohill (2009-09-13) 13 September 2009 (age 16) Cliftonville

Recent call-ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Northern Ireland under-17 squad and remain eligible.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1GK Tom Hill Shrewsbury Town

2DF Sonny Trainor (2009-11-04) 4 November 2009 (age 16) Larne

3MF Jake Drewett (2009-03-18) 18 March 2009 (age 16) Bournemouth
3MF Emmett Morrison (2009-03-23) 23 March 2009 (age 16) Sheffield United
3MF Conor Wilson (2010-02-23) 23 February 2010 (age 15) Coleraine
3MF Adam Nelson (2010-03-02) 2 March 2010 (age 15) Glentoran


See also

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