Uefa Men’s Under-19 finals: North Wales tournament will ‘whet the appetite’ for Euro 2028

Chris Gunter’s Wales have been given a tough draw in this summer’s Under-19s finals – facing former winners Germany and Spain along with Denmark.

Craig Bellamy will be keeping a close eye on Wales’ performances and Mooney says the tournament is crucial for the player pathway into the senior squad.

“If you think about it, in recent times we’ve qualified for two Under-17 tournaments back-to-back,” Mooney said.

“It was the first time in 41 years that we’d played at a boys’ Uefa tournament.

“Those kids have experienced two European Championship and some of them will come through to this Under-19s.

“That means that they will have gone 17s, 19s and for some of them they might go right through to a senior Euros which is the pinnacle of the game in a space of a few years.

“It’s really exciting for the players and our job is to make sure the young player gets the chance to fulfil their full potential.”

Wales’ young players – along with those representing the other seven nations in this summer’s tournament – will be reminded of those that went before them who went on to greater things.

Harry Kane, Erling Haarland and Kylian Mbappe are among a stellar list of players who have represented their countries at the Under-19s finals.

“This is a tournament that is of great importance, with in the past, stars coming out of it,” added Uefa’s Alleca.

“We will discover certainly new ones and see a lot of good skills in these matches.”