Northern Ireland’s Men’s Under-17 team are off to Spain next week to compete in a preparation tournament ahead of U17 Euro 2025 elite round qualifiers in March.
The Norwegian Football Federation has organised the four-team tournament at La Nucia, an inland town located 50km from Alicante in eastern Spain.
Game one for Northern Ireland will be against Poland’s U17s at Estadio Olimpico Camilo Cano in La Nucia next Thursday (6 February; 7pm start local time).
Two days later at the same venue they will face Norway, with the game again kicking off at 7pm.
And it’s back to Estadio Camilo Olimpico Cano on Monday 10 February for their third and final game in the mini tournament when Sweden will be their opponents. It’s another 7pm start.
Northern Ireland U17s head coach Andy Waterworth said his players will be facing “top class opposition” in Spain. All three of their opponents at the tournament in La Nucia have reached the elite round, too.
He further said: “It’s important that we play these type of teams. We want to test ourselves against the best and this tournament is exactly what we need. It will be a quick turnaround between the games so we will definitely require our full squad.”
He pointed out most of the players in the Northern Ireland panel have been or are currently part of the JD Irish FA Academy or the association’s JD National Performance Programme, although there are a few new faces in the squad, too.
Northern Ireland reached the elite round after topping their group in round one of the qualifiers in November. They registered wins against both Scotland and Republic of Ireland, and were defeated by Lithuania, in Round 1 Group 8.
Round 2 League A will decide the seven teams joining hosts Albania in this year’s U17 Euro finals, which will take place between 19 May and 1 June.
Northern Ireland have been drawn in Group A7 along with hosts England, Slovenia and Israel, with the games in the mini tournament being played between 19 and 25 March at St George’s Park.
The 22-strong Northern Ireland U17s squad for the tournament in La Nucia features:
Goalkeepers - Finn McDonnell (Bohemians), Kai Morgan (Sutton United).
Defenders – Callum Leacock, Calum Anderson and Alex Watson (all Linfield), Oisin Gamble (Cliftonville), Darragh McCann (Ipswich Town), Noah McDonnell (Aberdeen), Cead McGrath (Derry City), Ben Wilson (Glenavon).
Midfielders – Troy Savage (Burnley), Jack Faloona (Glentoran), Matthew Burns (Coleraine), Brandon Downey (Crusaders), Glenn McCourt (Derry City).
Forwards – Chris Atherton and Paul McGovern (both Glenavon), Ceadach O’Neill (Arsenal), George Feeney (Tottenham Hotspur), Joel Kerr (Glentoran), Sidney Eldred (Ipswich Town), Kalum Thompson (Linfield).
Image: Ceadach O’Neill, seen here celebrating his goal against Republic of Ireland in November, will be among the 22 Northern Ireland Under-17 players heading to Spain next week.
