Republic of Ireland Under-21s have been drawn against England, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Andorra in their 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying group.
Following the draw in Nyon this morning, Ireland, who were in Pot 2, were drawn against three-time winners of the Under-21 European Championships, England, along with this year’s host nation of the 2025 edition of the finals, Slovakia.
Jim Crawford’s team will also face trips to Kazakhstan, Moldova and Andorra as they look to reach a first-ever European Championship appearance.
Speaking after the draw, Head Coach Jim Crawford said: “The work begins now. We know our opponents and me and my coaching staff will begin researching the opposition and plotting our way forward in this group.
“The stand out fixture is England. They are a quality opposition and it will be an excellent occasion to be involved in. They’ll be a good team, we played their Under-20s team last summer and we know what talents they possess.
“For the rest of the group, if you look at the way football is going now in Europe, teams from Pot 4, 5 and 6 are getting a lot more investment in their football infrastructure. They’re getting better and stronger and you’ve only to see how Andorra put it up to Portugal in their last qualifier, Kazakhstan beat Scotland and Moldova drew with Sweden, there will be no easy games going into these qualifiers.”
It will be a first competitive meeting between Ireland and England at Under-21s level since 2008, while the games with Slovakia will be a first between the nations at this age grade. It will also be the first time Ireland have come up against the nations of Kazakhstan and Moldova in Under-21s football but they do have history with Andorra who they faced back in 2015 with the young Boys in Green winning both games in qualification.
Fixtures for the games are yet to be confirmed and will be announced in due course.
