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.
Contents
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
Honours
Milk Cup Elite Section
Winners: 1997, 2008, 2009, 2014
Coaches
Coaches of the Northern Ireland youth/under-18/under-19 side include:
Players
Current squad
Players born on or after 1 January 2007 will be eligible until the end of the 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
The following players were named in the squad for the 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification games against Ukraine, Romania and Kazakhstan on 25, 28 and 31 March 2026 respectively.
Recent call-ups
The following players have previously been called up to the Northern Ireland under-19 squad and remain eligible.