Requiring a draw to advance to the elite round of 2026 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying, Joel Kerr’s Northern Ireland side battled to a share of the spoils against Finland in Cyprus.
Northern Ireland took the lead on eleven minutes when Derry City’s Liam Kelly’s cross was superbly headed home by Kerr. But on 49 minutes, Finnish midfielder Juuso Mäkeläinen levelled things up, poking home a loose ball.
The 1-1 draw means Kerr’s side finish second in Group 11 on five points. Cyprus, against whom they drew 0-0 on Friday, had previously defeated the Finns 1-0, and therefore top the group after beating Armenia 1-0 on Monday afternoon. Finland miss out on elite round qualifying, finishing third on four points.
The second set of qualifiers will be played next spring, with 28 teams - made up of the top two from each of the 14 groups in the first round - drawn into seven groups of four, with only the winners of each group qualifying for the final tournament alongside hosts Estonia next May.
Kerr's young Hammers teammate and fellow first-year scholar Tomas Jonyla was also in U17 Euro qualifying action on Monday, playing the full 90 minutes against Scotland. With Jonyla’s first-half goal securing a shock win over group favourites England last time out, Lithuania faced a winner-goes-through situation against hosts Scotland.
Unfortunately for Jonyla and his Lithuanian teammates, they were unable to replicate Friday afternoon’s heroics as Manchester City and Scotland forward Caelan Cadamarteri’s hat-trick and a fourth goal from Motherwell’s Aaron Thomson condemned them to a 4-1 defeat.
Lithuania subsequently finish third in Group 3, ahead of England, and they will next compete alongside 25 other teams in spring for a place in League A of next season's qualification.
