Northern Ireland national under-19 football team explained

Northern Ireland Under-19
Fifa Trigramme:	NIR
Nickname:	The GAWA, Norn Iron
Association:	Irish Football Association
Confederation:	UEFA (Europe)
Coach:	Gareth McAuley
Home Stadium:	various
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First Game:	0–4 (Solitude, Belfast; 10 January 1948)
Regional Name:	European Championship
Regional Cup Apps:	14
Regional Cup First:	1948
Regional Cup Best:	Runners-Up: 1963

The Northern Ireland national under-19 football team also known as Northern Ireland under-19s or Northern Ireland U19s represents Northern Ireland in association football at under-19 level. It is controlled by the Irish Football Association and began under the name of Ireland Youth when the Home Nations first held a round robin of friendly matches in 1948. The same year they entered the first International Youth Tournament, now the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Their best performance was in 1963 when they finished as runner-up. The team evolved into the Northern Ireland under-18 team then the current under-19 team. As well as the UEFA Under-19 Championships the team also enters the annual Milk Cup (currently as an under-20 side). In addition, the team plays regular friendlies, sometimes as an under-20 or under-18 team by agreement of the opposing association.

Competitive record

Champions Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place

European Championships

• 1948–1954 – FIFA Junior Tournament
• 1955–1980 – UEFA Junior Tournament
• 1981–2001 – UEFA European U-18 Championship
• 2002–present – UEFA European U-19 Championship

UEFA European Under-18/19 Championship Finals record		Qualification record
Year*		Round
1948		Sixth place	3	1	0	2	7	12	−5	No qualification needed
1949		Fourth place	3	0	1	2	3	10	–7	No qualification needed
1950		did not enter	did not enter
1951		Fourth place	3	1	0	2	3	3	0	No qualification needed
		did not enter	did not enter
1953		Fifteenth place	4	1	0	3	11	16	−5	No qualification needed
1954		Eighteenth place	5	0	0	5	4	22	−18	No qualification needed
1955		Group stage	3	0	1	2	2	9	−7	No qualification needed
1956		did not enter	did not enter
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963		Runners-up	5	2	2	1	9	11	–2	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1
1964		Group stage	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	No qualification needed
1965		did not enter	did not enter
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975		Group stage	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3
1976		Group stage	3	0	0	3	3	10	−7	Walkover against
1977		Group stage	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1
1978		did not qualify	2	0	0	2	2	9	−7
1979		4	1	1	2	4	6	−2
1980		Group stage	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2
1981		did not qualify	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
1982		2	1	0	1	1	2	−1
1983		4	0	1	3	2	9	−7
1984		2	1	0	1	1	3	−2
1986		6	0	2	4	5	12	−7
1988		6	1	1	4	8	14	−6
1990		did not enter								did not enter
1992		did not qualify	6	0	3	3	4	10	−6
1993		4	0	1	3	8	14	−6
1994		2	0	2	0	1	1	0
1995		2	2	0	2	6	6	0
1996		2	1	0	1	4	3	+1
1997		2	0	0	2	0	6	−6
1998		2	1	0	1	6	2	+4
1999		5	3	0	2	9	5	+4
2000		5	3	1	1	12	5	+7
2001		2	0	0	2	1	4	−3
2002		3	1	1	1	2	2	0
2003		6	2	1	3	10	6	+4
2004		3	0	1	2	2	5	−3
2005		Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	Qualified as hosts
2006		did not qualify	6	2	1	3	10	9	+1
2007		3	0	0	3	2	8	−6
2008		3	0	1	2	2	4	−2
2009		3	1	0	2	4	7	−3
2010		6	1	1	4	10	9	+1
2011		3	1	1	1	3	3	0
2012		3	1	0	2	5	8	−3
2013		3	1	1	1	9	4	+5
2014	3	1	0	2	1	4	−3
2015	3	1	0	2	5	7	−2
2016	6	1	1	4	4	9	−5
2017	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3
2018	3	0	1	2	2	9	−7
2019	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Qualified as hosts
2021	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	did not qualify	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3
2023	6	1	2	3	7	11	−4
2024	Group stage	3	0	1	2	0	5	-5	Qualified as hosts
2025	to be determined	to be determined
Total	Runners-up	46	9	7	30	53	114	–61	140	36	27	79	173	241	–68
Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Honours

Milk Cup Elite Section

• Winners: 1997, 2008, 2009, 2014

Coaches

Coaches of the Northern Ireland youth/under-18/under-19 side include:

Manager	Career
	^[1]
Norman Kernaghan	^[2]
Joe Kinkead	^[3]
Jackie Cummings	1979–??^[4]
	1983–1999
	2000–2008
	2008–2011^[5]
	2011–2013^[6]
	2013–2016^[7]
	2016–2020^[8]
	2021–2023^[9]
	2023–^[10]

Players

Current squad

Players born on or after 1 January 2006 will be eligible until the end of the 2024 UEFA European Under-19 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 2025 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification games against, and on 13, 16 and 19 November 2024 respectively.^[11]

Recent call-ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Northern Ireland under-19 squad and remain eligible.

^COVID = Player withdrew due to a positive COVID test or from being in close contact with someone with a positive COVID test.
^INJ = Player withdrew from the squad before any games had been played.
^PRE = Preliminary squad / standby.
^SEN = Player withdrew from the squad due to a call up to the senior team.
^SUS = Suspended from national team.
^WTD = Withdrew due to other reasons.

See also

• Northern Ireland national football team
• Northern Ireland national under-21 football team
• Northern Ireland national under-17 football team

External links

• Fixtures & Results
• Current squad
• UEFA U19 Championship Record

Notes and References

1. Web site: Player Profile: Billy Cook . NIFG . 6 August 2013.
2. News: Best was class from the start . BBC Sport . 15 January 2012.
3. Web site: Player Profile: Joe Kinkaid . NIFG . 10 May 2010.
4. Web site: Player Profile: Jackie Cummings . NIFG . 2 June 2013.
5. News: BBC SPORT – Football – Internationals. BBC. 12 June 2008.
6. News: Robinson Named As U19 & U17 Manager. Irish FA. 28 October 2012.
7. News: Northern Ireland U19 & U21 Appointments. Irish FA. 22 April 2013.
8. News: Stephen Frail appointed Northern Ireland Under 19 and Under 17 manager. Irish FA. 19 August 2016.
9. News: Gerard Lyttle appointed as Northern Ireland’s U19 and U17 manager. Irish FA. February 2020.
10. News: Gareth McAuley is new Northern Ireland U19s manager. Irish FA. 14 August 2023.
11. Web site: U19s in Albania to play Euro qualifiers. The Irish Football Association. 11 November 2024.