Jim Crawford’s Ireland Under-21s team will take on Croatia Under-21s and Qatar Under-23s in two friendlies in Zagreb next month.

The young Boys in Green will use the international window as final preparation before the start of the European Championship qualifiers in September. 

Ireland return to the Croatian capital after a successful summer window last year that saw a 3-2 win over the hosts and a 2-2 draw with an England U20s team.

Ireland will be looking to build on the 3-1 friendly win over Hungary in March where Mason Melia became the Under-21s’ youngest ever goalscorer and Brentford’s Conor McManus netted twice on his international debut.

Speaking ahead of the fixtures, Head Coach Jim Crawford said: “We look forward to taking on a very good team in Croatia. Like ourselves, they are second seeds for qualifying so we know it will be a very tough test especially in Croatia. Likewise, Qatar will be tough opponents, their style will reflect what we are likely to come up against in the qualifiers so it’s an important challenge for the players to overcome.”

Ireland face Moldova away on Thursday, September 4 before returning for the home game with Andorra on Tuesday, September 9.

Crawford says he will use the games as an opportunity to assess his options ahead of the campaign. 

He said: “It’s important we take a look at the player pool that is available to us. There will be players coming into the squad who weren’t available to us in November and March so we will be looking at bringing in players for their first Under-21s squad. Like with any international window, it’s an opportunity to impress and an opportunity to stake a claim to involved come September and beyond. These are two important games going into the campaign ahead.”

International Friendly Fixtures (Kick-Offs Irish time)

Friday, June 6 | Croatia U21 v Ireland U21, Gradski Stadion, Vrbovec, Zagreb, KO 16:00
Tuesday, June 10 | Ireland U21 v Qatar U23, Gradski Stadion, Vrbovec, Zagreb, KO 17:00