Northern Ireland’s men’s Under-19 team will face holders Italy, Norway and Ukraine in the group stage of the 2024 UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals.
The draw for the eight-team tournament, which is being staged in Northern Ireland this summer, was held at Titanic Belfast this afternoon.
Gareth McAuley’s U19s were drawn in Group A with the Italians, Norwegians and Ukrainians, while Group B features Denmark, Spain, France and Turkiye.
Italy are the defending champions after beating Portugal last July in Malta to win their second U19 title since the switch to the current classification in 2001-02. Norway and Spain were beaten semi-finalists.
The Irish Football Association is hosting U19 Euro 2024 along with UEFA. The tournament will run from 15 to 28 July.
Group matches are scheduled to be played at Seaview Stadium in Belfast and Inver Park in Larne, while the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park in Belfast will host the semi-finals and final.
Northern Ireland senior men’s team manager Michael O’Neill and tournament ambassador Stuart Dallas made the draw under the watchful eye of Lance Kelly, UEFA’s Chief of Men’s Football and Deputy Director.
Five of the teams competing at this summer’s tournament will go on to represent Europe at the 2025 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Chile (four semi-finalists plus the winner of a play-off game between the teams finishing fifth and sixth overall).
Pete Snodden acted as MC at the draw, while Irish FA President Conrad Kirkwood welcomed the guests. He said the association felt honoured to be asked to host the tournament by UEFA and he also said he hoped the seven visiting teams would have a great experience in Northern Ireland when they visited this summer.
The list of fixtures in the tournament and ticketing details will be confirmed in due course.
The U19 Euros Draw
