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Tuesday, May 19, 2026

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Irish FA President applauds ‘great tournament’

The Irish Football Association’s President has thanked everyone who played a part in this year’s UEFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship.

Conrad Kirkwood said the two-week festival of football, which was hosted by the association, had been a great success.

Sixteen matches were staged during the eight-team tournament, from group games to semi-finals and a final plus a play-off for a place at the FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup.

The games were hosted at Inver Park in Larne, Coleraine Showgrounds and at the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park. WU17 Euro 2026 culminated in Sunday’s final, in which Germany defeated France by a goal to nil to win the trophy for a ninth time.

The Irish FA President said: “The UEFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship brought many benefits. It allowed us to showcase the best of Northern Ireland.

“Our staff and volunteers showed what an amazing job they can do, and I have no doubt it has further improved our standing with UEFA.

“Our clubs provided great training facilities for the visiting teams and played a huge part in the welcome to Northern Ireland.”

He pointed out the Northern Ireland WU17s, managed by Gail Redmond, got to test themselves in tournament football against the best in Europe.

He added: “Our supporters not only got to enjoy great football but they also got to see our younger players grow in stature - as they instantly did against Germany under Gail’s guiding hand. As President I can’t thank everyone enough for making it a great tournament.”

A first half goal from Marie Kleemann proved decisive in the decider, which attracted 1,230 spectators to the National Stadium.

Although Northern Ireland were eliminated in the group stages, they had the consolation of being the only team to beat Germany in the tournament. They defeated the new European champions 1-0 in a Group A game in Larne.

The semi finalists at the WU17 Euros (Germany, France, Spain and Norway) automatically qualified for this year’s FIFA WU17 World Cup in Morocco. England lost out to Poland in a play-off for Europe's fifth berth at that global tournament.

The WU17 Euros in Northern Ireland attracted thousands of spectators across the various games.  

Source: irishfa.com