{"id":496550,"date":"2025-10-13T16:17:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/496550\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T16:17:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:17:18","slug":"northern-ireland-football-tommy-wrights-under-21s-hungry-to-shock-germany-and-keep-up-fine-start-to-euro-2027-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/496550\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Ireland football: Tommy Wright&#8217;s Under-21s hungry to shock Germany and keep up fine start to Euro 2027 qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Northern Ireland Under-21s will look to record a statement victory over Germany\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/f160fed6-170c-4a8e-9e91-08804bb06342.jpg\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_caption1 beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_secondary beltel-66f0fec7_regular beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom0 beltel-1d70522a_marginleft0 beltel-1d70522a_marginright0 beltel-1d70522a_margintop3 beltel-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Northern Ireland Under-21s will look to record a statement victory over Germany<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Makenzie Kirk will look to stay on the goal trail when Northern Ireland Under-21s take on Germany\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/n              004.jpg\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_caption1 beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_secondary beltel-66f0fec7_regular beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom0 beltel-1d70522a_marginleft0 beltel-1d70522a_marginright0 beltel-1d70522a_margintop3 beltel-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Makenzie Kirk will look to stay on the goal trail when Northern Ireland Under-21s take on Germany<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tommy Wright will be keen for his Northern Ireland Under-21s to impress against Germany\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/b250d478-ced8-45d4-9d47-df5f50979cff.jpg\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_caption1 beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_secondary beltel-66f0fec7_regular beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom0 beltel-1d70522a_marginleft0 beltel-1d70522a_marginright0 beltel-1d70522a_margintop3 beltel-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Tommy Wright will be keen for his Northern Ireland Under-21s to impress against Germany<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom0 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Northern Ireland Under-21s are aiming to give their hopes of U21 Euro 2027 qualification a major boost by overcoming Germany at The BetMcLean Oval on Tuesday evening (5.30pm).<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Tommy Wright\u2019s young guns recorded a convincing 2-0 victory over their Malta counterparts at the east Belfast venue on Thursday thanks to Makenzie Kirk and Michael Forbes\u2019 first-half finishes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Coupled with September\u2019s 1-1 draw in Georgia when Matthew Orr\u2019s second-half equaliser ensured Wright\u2019s charges came away with a share of the spoils, Northern Ireland currently sit on four points from two matches and are second place in Group Six of qualifying.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tommy Wright will be keen for his Northern Ireland Under-21s to impress against Germany\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760372237_662_b250d478-ced8-45d4-9d47-df5f50979cff.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_caption1 beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_secondary beltel-66f0fec7_regular beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom0 beltel-1d70522a_marginleft0 beltel-1d70522a_marginright0 beltel-1d70522a_margintop3 beltel-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Tommy Wright will be keen for his Northern Ireland Under-21s to impress against Germany<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">However, Germany \u2013 who are one place and one point below Northern Ireland in the six-team group \u2013 promises to be a much tougher proposition with a number of highly-rated talents within their ranks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The player that Northern Ireland may need to keep an eye on most is Bayern Munich midfielder Tom Bischof, who captains Antonio di Salvo\u2019s side, while Paul Wanner left the Allianz Arena over the summer to join Dutch big guns PSV Eindhoven in a \u00a313.1m deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Club Brugge\u2019s Nicolo Tresoldi and Mainz star Nelson Weiper offer firepower up top, while defenders Lars Ullrich and Tom Rothe are mainstays in the starting line-ups of Borussia Monchengladbach and Union Berlin respectively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">There are chinks in Germany\u2019s armour, though, with group leaders Greece inflicting a home 3-2 defeat on them in their previous outing on Friday after an opening 5-0 rout of Latvia last month had set Di Salvo\u2019s outfit on their way in style.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Makenzie Kirk will look to stay on the goal trail when Northern Ireland Under-21s take on Germany\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760372238_721_n              004.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_caption1 beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_secondary beltel-66f0fec7_regular beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom0 beltel-1d70522a_marginleft0 beltel-1d70522a_marginright0 beltel-1d70522a_margintop3 beltel-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Makenzie Kirk will look to stay on the goal trail when Northern Ireland Under-21s take on Germany<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">For Northern Ireland\u2019s part, Wright will look to carry on the momentum from their success over Malta and will rely on the likes of Portsmouth\u2019s Kirk and Dundalk\u2019s Eoin Kenny to lead their charge up top.<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The backline, which includes captain Forbes \u2013 who is on loan at Northampton Town from West Ham \u2013 will have to stay focused, while Liverpool hotshot Kieran Morrison will also be hungry to weave magic having been called up to the Under-21s for the first time this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"beltel-ebe0ecc6_root beltel-ebe0ecc6_paragraph beltel-300db776_none beltel-91174671_primary beltel-1d70522a_marginbottom5 beltel-1d70522a_margintop0 beltel-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Should Northern Ireland prevail, it would not only give them a chance of moving top of the group if Greece slip up away to Latvia but also fuel confidence for the rest of the campaign as they look to qualify for the U21 Euro 2027 Finals for the very first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Northern Ireland Under-21s will look to record a statement victory over Germany Makenzie Kirk will look to stay&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824,8543,8538],"class_list":{"0":"post-496550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-national-stadium-at-windsor-park","12":"tag-northern-ireland-football-team"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115367762496159509","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}