Ireland U21s face England at sold-out Turner's Cross in crucial qualifier clash

The Republic of Ireland U21s must beat England at a sold-out Munster FA Turner’s Cross Stadium this evening to secure a Euro 2027 play-off spot, 6pm.

This is their final fixture in a campaign that looked all but over before the autumn international window, and since revived with victories over Slovakia and Kazakhstan. 

The Boys in Green now need one more victory against the reigning European champions, who have already qualified for next summer’s tournament.

Ireland will be out to get the result at what has been described as the ‘spiritual home of the U21s’ by manager Jim Crawford.

After last week’s win over Kazakhstan, the coach gave his players time off to help them reset mentally for the challenge ahead on Tuesday evening.

“We gave them a few days off to physically rest up and mentally rest up because we’re entering the final game of the group,” he said.

“We’re going into the final group game, and what a game it is against England. 

We’ll regroup after Kazakhstan and look at where we need to improve. All the boys are looking forward to England.” 

That scenario seemed unlikely at the start of the autumn international window, when Ireland sat third in the group and trailed Slovakia by five points.

Ireland responded by going to Kosice and defeating Slovakia 2-0 with goals from Tommy Lonergan and Sean Grehan.

Kazakhstan was a different beast to tame as the visitors opened the scoring at Turner’s Cross with less than a minute played. Ireland equalised through Alex Murphy from a corner and took the lead for the first time with a neat Jamie Mullins finish after Lonergan did the hard work.

Kazakhstan made it 2-1 at the start of the second half, Sam Curtis restored Ireland’s advantage, and once again the visitors got in to score.

It came down to a Lonergan penalty after the Waterford FC attacker was brought down inside the area. The forward hit the back of the net at the Shed End to make the country dream of what is possible with England coming to town.

Cork connection

The reigning European champions have arrived qualified and on the back of a scoreless draw with Slovakia in Stoke.

They are led by former Republic of Ireland player Lee Carsley, who represented the country at the 2002 World Cup through his grandmother, Jo Cambridge (née Wiseman) from Coach Road in Dunmanway.

Carsley’s time with the green jersey is well documented, and how the Birmingham-born midfielder represented his family in qualifying campaigns for three major tournaments.

The coach was linked with the senior Republic of Ireland job after the departure of Stephen Kenny, but he is now firmly with the England set-up after guiding the country to consecutive European Championship titles while acting as interim manager for their senior team in 2024.

Casley has already tasted success. He guided England to promotion in the UEFA Nations League when in charge two years ago, and he is now focusing on an incredibly talented group of U21s that includes Rico Lewis of Manchester City, Josh Acheampong of Chelsea, and Archie Gray of Tottenham Hotspur.

Ireland have a mix of players that ply their trade locally in the League of Ireland and European academies, including Leon Ayinde.

The winger came through at St Mary’s and Cork City before departing for spells in the UK with Ipswich Town and Doncaster Rovers. Ayinde is expected to be involved on Tuesday in a must win game for the Republic of Ireland U21s against England at Turner’s Cross.