UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2022/23 Qualifying Round 
Iceland v Scotland
Firhill Stadium, Glasgow
Wednesday, 16 November 2022 (7:30pm kick off)

UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2022/23 Qualifying Round 
Scotland v Kazakhstan 
Somerset Park, Ayr 
Saturday, 19 November 2022 (3pm kick off)

UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2022/23 Qualifying Round 
Scotland v France
Somerset Park, Ayr
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 (7:30pm kick off)

Head coach Billy Stark has today named a 20-strong squad as Scotland Under-19s prepare for a return to action on home soil next month.

The young Scots will begin their European Under-19 Championship Qualifying Round on Wednesday, 16 November with a match against Iceland at Firhill, before facing Kazakhstan three days later at Somerset Park. 

Our campaign then concludes with a tough test against Pot 1 side France on Tuesday, 22 November at the same venue.

Scotland Under-19s were successful at this stage last year, qualifying out of a group that included Armenia, Croatia and Gibraltar but they were unable to progress through the Elite Round which took place in Hungary in March. 

That group was predominantly made up of players born in 2003, although some of the 2004-born players who will make up most of this squad got a taste of action in last season's tournament.

Stark's side have warmed up for these qualifiers with a recent friendly tournament in Slovenia, where they faced Croatia, Malta and USA. 

Head coach's thoughts

Billy, you have recently returned from a friendly tournament in Slovenia. How was that experience in terms of the development of the side? 

The three games we had in Slovenia were all different types. I was really pleased with the progress that we made over the ten days that we had together. There's a lot of things to try and bed in, such as the chemistry within the group – both on and off the pitch – so I was quite pleased with the way that turned out.

Obviously with boys winning their first caps you could detect a nervousness with a lot of them but they’ll benefit from the experience. They looked better when they went in to the third game against the USA and even the Malta game we saw the encouraging part where we looked a real goal threat.

Looking through the squad, we see a number of players who also represented the Under-19s in the Elite Round in Hungary earlier in the year. Do you feel they will be better for the experience this time around? 

Although last year was the 2003 group, we had around seven of the 2004 players with us so that really helped us with the experience they gained on playing in Hungary in March. Even going further back to Croatia for the initial qualifying last year, we had a number of them with us so that should help us hit the ground running this time around.

What is the aim for this upcoming tournament and what would you like to see in particular from your side? 

The hope is always to qualify just as the Under-17s did last week. It’s probably as tough a group as I’ve been in but if you want to progress you have to play to a good level. The thing is not to be fearful, maximise the talents that we’ve got and hopefully the team can come together. We’ve got three training sessions before the first game and hopefully we can get the team functioning.

The first thing we look at is whether we can move the ball and penetrate the opposition and we did that in all three games in Slovenia so that’s encouraging. The goal return was four in three games – in terms of the ratio of chances we created, I would have expected to have at least doubled that goal tally so that ruthlessness is something I want to see us improve. We have a lot of willing workers and we have creativity in the last third so it should be exciting.

Looking at the players who competed in March, we are already seeing some of them graduate into the Under-21s. That must serve as great motivation for this group to see that there is a pathway?

When it comes to the national youth teams, we want to win games and we want to qualify for tournaments and get to the later stages as much as we can. But a big part of it is also providing players with international experience to enhance their chances of going to the Under-21s, first of all, or even straight into the full squad which is not impossible.

It’s great to have the examples of Billy Gilmour and Nathan Patterson that are recent and fresh in the mind. That’s another thing that we try and instil in the players is a high level of ambition – both as individuals and for the team itself.

This squad includes players playing down in England and overseas. We are seeing an increasing number of young Scottish players plying their trade around Europe, which can only be a positive for Scotland. 

Over the last couple of years there’s been movement down south and then we saw Liam Morrison go to Bayern Munich and Barry Hepburn quickly followed him so it says a lot for young Scottish boys that they can go and adapt and flourish. It must improve their all-round intelligence in terms of learning a new language and adapting to a different type of football.

But that’s not to denigrate the players we’ve got in Scotland and the academies here which are fantastic. The players can progress at different rates and some of the Scottish-based players did very well for us over in Slovenia.

Finally, it's the first time for a few years that the Under-19s have played at home – how important do you think that will be for the players to have their friends, families and supporters watching?

Families, friends and supporters will be there so that brings another bit of pressure that they don’t have abroad – although some families do travel. It’s just another element. Obviously we’re confident in terms of our knowledge of the venues for the games so that’s an advantage. And it will be great for the players to play in front of supporters and hopefully as many people as possible can get along to support us.

How to watch 

All of Scotland's matches will be streamed live across the Scotland National Team social media channels, while the games are also all FREE entry, with gates opening an hour before kick off. 

Squad in full

Josh Adam Manchester City 
Connor Allan Rangers 
Mathew Anderson Celtic 
Jacob Blaney Hibernian 
Adam Brooks Celtic 
MacKenzie Carse Celtic 
Ryan Duncan Aberdeen 
Jack Harkness Rangers 
Barry Hepburn FC Bayern
Murray Johnson Hibernian 
Liam McFarlane Heart of Midlothian
Ben McPherson Celtic 
Adedire Mebude Manchester City 
Keiran Offord St Mirren (On loan to Alloa Athletic)
Finlay Pollock Heart of Midlothian 
Dylan Reid St Mirren
Kerr Smith Aston Villa
Evan Towler Aberdeen (On loan to Cove Rangers)
Robbie Ure Rangers
Bobby Wales Kilmarnock