Coleraine Showgrounds to stage Northern Ireland U17 qualifiers

THE bulk of Northern Ireland’s elite round qualifiers for U17 Euro 2026 will be staged in Coleraine this month.
Andy Waterworth’s Under-17s will be up against Spain, Turkiye and Scotland in League A Group 6 in the second and final stage of qualifiers for the men’s tournament.
Coleraine Showgrounds (pictured) is set to host five of the six matches in the group – there’s free entry to all the games – with Solitude in Belfast hosting one game.
First up in the mini tournament for Northern Ireland is an encounter with group top seeds Spain in Coleraine on Sunday March 15 (6pm).
Earlier that day, at noon, third seeds Scotland will take on second seeds Turkiye at the Showgrounds.
Matchday two (Wednesday March 18) sees Spain come up against Scotland at noon and Northern Ireland face Turkiye at 6pm.
Both of those games are in Coleraine.
On the final matchday (Saturday March 21) both games are due to kick off at 2pm.
Northern Ireland will be taking on Scotland at the home of Coleraine FC as Spain and Turkiye clash at Solitude, the home of Cliftonville FC.
This spring a total of 28 teams in Round 2 League A (elite round) of the U17 Euro qualifiers will compete in seven groups for seven places in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournament.
Estonia have already qualified as hosts.
The finals are due to be staged in Estonia between May 25 and June 7.
At the tournament Europe's berths in the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar will also be decided.
The U17s warmed up for next month’s mini tournament in Northern Ireland by playing friendlies against top tier sides Sweden and Norway in Spain this month.
They defeated the Swedes 2-1 and drew one apiece with the Norwegians.
The games were both played at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia.
Northern Ireland’s U17s booked their League A spot at a mini tournament in Cyprus back in October/November.
They finished second in U17 Euro 2026 Qualifying Round (Group 11) behind the Cypriots, with whom they drew 0-0.
Waterworth’s side also defeated Armenia (2-1) and drew with Finland (1-1).

Northern Ireland (v Norway): Phoenix Blayney, Alfie Wilson, Shea McGarry, Paul Stanfield, Daniel McCarron, Jake Drewett, Alfie Anderson, Freddie Murdock, Luke Hawe, Zak Magowan, Joel Kerr (captain).

Substitutes: Matthew Belshaw (GK), Kyle Chivers (GK), Charlie McConnell, Sonny Trainor, David Green, Eamonn Tohill, Finlay Ross, Will Haselhurst, Liam Kelly, Mason Ayre, Jack May, Michael Mulholland, Alfie Mulvenna.