Head Coach Jim Crawford has named a squad of 24 players for the two friendly internationals, with the selection based on players eligible for the next qualification campaign.
Only players born during, or after, 2004 can feature in the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers, with the Sweden games an opportunity to look at players from this age range before competitive games begin next year.
James Abankwah (8 caps), Mark O'Mahony, and Rocco Vata (5 caps) will be the most experienced of the players in the group, with other Under-21 caps Conor O’Brien, Adam Murphy, Alex Murphy, Sean Grehan, and Ed McJannet all part of the travelling party.
There are first international call-ups for Jacob Slater of Brighton & Hove Albion, Gabriel Otegbayo of Sheffield Wednesday, and Adrien Thibaut of Crewe Alexandra. Franco Umeh misses out due to injury.
Speaking ahead of the games, Jim Crawford said, “This is a great opportunity to look at all our options ahead of qualification games next year. Much of the squad would have come through our international pathway, but for most, this is their first involvement in an Under-21s squad.
“This will be a great experience for them, and having the likes of James Abankwah, Mark O'Mahony, and Rocco Vata involved, who were all key players in the last campaign, is huge, as we expect them to have a big role going forward. The same goes for Sam Curtis; we’ve seen his quality, but he’ll remain with his club for this window as he has an opportunity for important minutes with his club that will further his development going forward.
“The opportunity came to test ourselves against Sweden, and we jumped at the chance. I always say the players will get more out of it when they are challenged, and this will be a challenge—Sweden have the quality.
Jim Crawford has named a 24-man squad for two friendlies against Sweden next week ☘️
A new look Under-21 squad will head to Marbella for the double-header 🙌
14/11 - 🇮🇪🆚🇸🇪
17/11 - 🇮🇪 🆚🇸🇪
🗞️👉 https://t.co/EYi6piciwv#COYBIG pic.twitter.com/LJ3MhGFaeM— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) November 7, 2024
“Having missed out against Israel in 2022, we had to wait six long months to get a group together. This time we have an opportunity to bring a squad together, almost immediately, and this camp will be an excellent opportunity to look at players against tough opposition.”
The friendlies, on Thursday, November 14 and Sunday, November 17, will be the first time a Jim Crawford side will see action since last month when they narrowly missed out on qualification to next year’s Under-21 European Championships.
Ireland accumulated a record-equalling amount of points (19), the highest points tally of any side to finish outside the top two group places.
They also found the back of the net 24 times, which is the most goals scored during an Irish Under-21 qualification campaign.
Crawford added: “Last month was really difficult to take, but I’m proud of the players and what we achieved as a group. We had five players involved with the senior team during the campaign, with two earning full caps (Andrew Moran and Sinclair Armstrong), and that’s a huge indicator of success.
“I’ve full faith that more from the last campaign will go on and represent our country, and me and the rest of the underage international managers and staff will be proud to have played a small part in their journey.”
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