Academy

Briggs and Moore receive international call-ups

11th November 2024

West Ham United U21s’ Sean Moore and Josh Briggs have been called up to the Republic of Ireland U21s and Northern Ireland U19s squads respectively for the November internationals.

For the Republic of Ireland U21s, it will be their first set of fixtures since narrowly missing out on qualification to next year’s UEFA European U21 Championship finals. Despite finishing Group A with 19 points, Ireland finished outside the top two, the highest points tally of any side not to qualify.

Now shifting their focus to the 2027 tournament qualifying campaign, Jim Crawford named a rather fresh 24-man squad, comprised of players born during, or after, 2004, reintroducing Moore to the Republic of Ireland youth set-up for the first time in just under a year.

Moore will travel to Marbella to link up with his Irish teammates for two international friendlies before they resume competitive action in the new year. During their training camp, they will play Sweden twice, on 14 November and 17 November.

Sean Moore in action for Republic of Ireland U19s — Moore's last appearance for Ireland came in a U19 Euro qualifier against Slovenia in November 2023

Meanwhile, West Ham United Academy teammate Josh Briggs will join the Northern Ireland U19 camp in Albania for the first qualifying round for the 2025 U19 European Championships. The 18-year-old centre-back is part of a group of eight players who retain their place in former West Bromwich Albion defender Gareth McAuley’s squad, having represented their country when they hosted the tournament during the summer.

In order to qualify for the elite qualifying round in spring of next year, McAuley’s squad must finish in the top two of Group 11 which consists of Israel, Denmark and Albania. Briggs and his teammates begin their qualifying campaign against Denmark on Wednesday 13 November at the Niko Dovana Stadium in Durrës. On Saturday 16 November, they will meet Israel at the same venue, while their final game in the group is next Tuesday 19 November when they are due to play Albania at the Elbasan Arena.