Northern Ireland’s Under-21s will face both England’s U21s and Ukraine’s U21s in Ballymena in September.
Ballymena Showgrounds has been confirmed as the venue for Euro qualifiers against England on Friday 6 September and Ukraine on Tuesday 10 September. Kick-off times for both games have still to be confirmed.
England are top seeds in Group F in the qualifying series for UEFA U21 Euro 2025. The group also features Ukraine, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.
Tommy Wright’s U21s currently sit fourth in Group F. In their most recent outing back in March they produced a fine display to defeat Serbia 2-1 in a Euro qualifier played at the Gradski Stadion in Dubocica.
They were beaten 1-0 by Ukraine in their second group game last September. They also suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Luxembourg at Mourneview Park in Lurgan in their group opener that month.
Wright’s side picked up their first points in October with a 1-0 away victory over Azerbaijan, which was followed by a 2-1 defeat against Serbia at Mourneview.
In November they were beaten 3-0 by England at Goodison Park in Liverpool.
Ukraine currently top the group with six wins out of six, while England also have 18 points – from seven games. They were defeated 3-2 by the Ukrainians last October.
Northern Ireland U21s will complete their Group F campaign this autumn with the two games in Ballymena in September and matches against Azerbaijan (home; venue TBC) and Luxembourg (away) the following month.
Ticketing details for the games against England and Ukraine will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
