Pierce Charles has been sidelined for the opening 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Northern Ireland, and uncapped goalkeeper Stephen McMullan has been named in the squad.
After suffering a shoulder injury while on club duty earlier this month, Sheffield Wednesday stopper Charles is unable to play against Luxembourg and Germany.
McMullan, who is currently on loan at Waterford from Fleetwood Town, joins Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Luke Southwood in Michael O’Neill’s squad while Conor Hazard also is injured.
McMullan, a 20-year-old former Warrenpoint Town keeper, has been limited to Northern Ireland’s under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels.
Before moving to Fleetwood Town in 2022, McMullan began his senior career at Warrenpoint, an Irish Premiership club.
Before joining Waterford on loan for the 2025 League of Ireland season, he spent six months on loan at Caernarfon Town in Wales last year after struggling for game time.
This season, he has started every single one of their 28 league games.
On September 4 and 4, Northern Ireland travel to Luxembourg to begin their World Cup qualifying campaign, before hosting four-time world champions Germany in Cologne three days later (both 19:45 BST kick-offs). Both games are broadcast live on the BBC.
Northern Ireland squad
Defenders: Eoin Toal (Bolton Wanderers), Terry Devlin (Portsmouth), Trai Hume and Daniel Ballard (both at Sunderland), Brodie Spencer (Oxford United), Conor Bradley (Liverpool), Ruairi McConville (Norwich City), and Conor Bradley (Oxford United).
The midfielders are: George Saville (Luton Town), Shea Charles (Southampton), Alistair McCann (Preston North End), Ethan Galbraith (Swansea City), Brad Lyons (Kilmarnock), Caolan Boyd-Munce (Wycombe Wanderers), Paul Smyth (Queens Park Rangers), Callum Marshall (West Ham United), and Jamie Donley (Stoke City, on loan from Tottenham Hots
related subjects
- Men’s football teams from Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland is a sport
- Football
Source: BBC
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