Ireland U21s to take on England U20s as part of friendly double-header in June

As the Irish Independent reported this morning, Jim Crawford’s side will take on England on June 11, with that clash, as well as a friendly against Croatia’s U21s set to be confirmed by the FAI later today.

The pair of friendlies will take place in Croatia, as Crawford’s men gear up for a huge last four qualifiers later this autumn as they target a first European Championship qualification for Slovakia 2025.

“We’ve some big games coming up in the autumn and it was vital that we had a strong test in this June international window and we certainly have that in Croatia and England,” said Crawford.

“Croatia are no strangers to the European Championships and it will be a tough challenge going up against them on home soil.

“England have a huge talent pool and they will always have quality sides. They have beaten some excellent opposition and we look forward to going up against a very good side.”

England’s U20s, also known as the Men's Elite Squad, currently include names like Newcastle defender Lewis Hall and Spurs striker Dane Scarlett, with many of the crop set to make the step up to Lee Carsley's U-21 side this year.

In the upcoming window, England are set to face Sweden in a friendly on June 7, four days before they take on the Young Boys in Green.

They won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2017 but exited at the Round of 16 stage last summer after defeat to Italy.

Ben Futcher’s side come into the June camp off the back of three successive wins over Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Croatia’s U21s have qualified for each of the last three European Championships and achieved their best-ever finish by reaching the quarter-finals in 2021. They are currently third in Group G with 13 points from six games so far.

With four games remaining, Ireland U21s sit second in Group A on 13 points, two points behind leaders Italy with a game in hand, and one ahead of third-placed Norway.

Three opening wins over Turkey, San Marino and Latvia were followed by a 3-2 defeat in Norway last November, before Crawford’s side were denied a famous win over top seeds Italy by a last-minute equaliser in Cork.

Ireland were last in action last month when they put seven past bottom seeds San Marino in a record-breaking victory at U-21 level.

June’s double-header against England and Croatia will be their final tests before a huge qualification run-in begins in September away to Turkey, before they host Latvia four days later.

The group will conclude at home to Norway and away to Italy in October. All nine group winners will qualify directly for the finals next year, along with the three-best runners-up.

The remaining six runners-up will then face off over a two-legged play-off in November for the final three places at Slovakia 2025.

Last month, Wolves' Joe Hodge (on loan at QPR) and Brighton’s Andrew Moran (on loan at Blackburn) earned call-ups to the senior squad for the Lansdowne Road friendly against Switzerland, while QPR striker Sinclair Armstrong made his senior debut last September and has scored in each of the last three U21 qualifiers.