It would be a record-breaking campaign for Jim Crawford’s Ireland Under-21s. They became the first U21s team to reach a play-off and rose to their highest ever UEFA ranking (19). The victory over Montenegro in June also saw them become the first Ireland U21s side to win four competitive internationals in a row.

A 2-0 win away in Sweden in March, thanks to goals from Ross Tierney and Tyreik Wright, would be the game that put Ireland in contention for qualification for the European Championships.

Back-to-back wins in front of six thousand fans in Tallaght meant a win in Italy would see Ireland top the group and make the finals. A tough defeat out in Italy confirmed Ireland would face a two-legged play-off and they were drawn against Israel.

In front of more than 7,000 fans Evan Ferguson netted his first goal for the U21s in a game that would end 1-1. In Israel, Ireland played in front of a record attendance for an U21s qualifier as 26,000 supporters filled the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv. It wasn’t to be Ireland’s night, who despite taking Israel all the way in normal and extra time, suffered penalty heartbreak.

The U21s will return to action in March with many of those in the history-making season set to feature.

Results

29.03.22 | Sweden 0-2 Ireland

04.06.22 | Ireland 3-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina

07.06.22 | Ireland 3-1 Montenegro

14.06.22 | Italy 4-1 Ireland

23.09.22 | Ireland 1-1 Israel

27.09.22 | Israel 0-0 Ireland (Israel won 3-1 on penalties)

Appearances

6 – Conor Coventry, Brian Maher, Lee O’Connor

5 – Evan Ferguson, Mark McGuinness, Will Smallbone, Ross Tierney, Tyreik Wright

4 – Eiran Cashin, Gavin Kilkenny, Jake O’Brien, Mipo Odubeko

3 – Dawson Devoy, Andy Lyons, Ollie O’Neill

2 – Joel Bagan, Aaron Connolly, Joe Hodge, Liam Kerrigan, Oisin McEntee, Conor Noss, Joe Redmond,

1 – Tayo Adaramola, Finn Azaz, Festy Ebosele, Sean Roughan

Goals

3 – Will Smallbone

2 – Ross Tierney, Tyreik Wright

1 – Conor Coventry, Evan Ferguson, Liam Kerrigan, Mipo Odubeko

Cleansheets

3 – Brian Maher