Talented crop of younsters can take NI to World Cup, insists Price

ISAAC PRICE believes qualifying for the 2026 World Cup is a realistic target for Northern Ireland’s young guns. Michael O’Neill is moulding a new-look side built around the likes of Price, Conor Bradley, Shea Charles and Trai Hume, and took encouragement from Friday’s 1-1 friendly draw away to Romania, five months after an otherwise poor Euro 2024 qualifying campaign ended with a 2-0 home win over Denmark. The youthful starting line-up named in Bucharest felt like a significant one as O’Neill challenged his promising crop of emerging players to take ownership of the side ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with Scotland in Glasgow. Northern Ireland are using this month’s friendlies and those in June to prepare for the return of the Nations League later in the year. But there is also a focus on 2025’s World Cup qualifying campaign and Price believes Northern Ireland can be ready to challenge for a place at a tournament that will expand to 48 teams. ‘I think it’s very realistic,’ Price said. ‘We’ve got a lot of good young players coming through, and even Under 21s who are playing at a good level — Dale Taylor has gone with the 21s this month and he’s playing for Wycombe every week and doing well. ‘We’ve got players here playing in the Championship and Conor playing in the Premier League and the Europa League. We’ve got a lot of good young players coming through and I think the next World Cup can definitely be one we aim for.’ Price earned his 10th cap in Bucharest, and linked up well with Bradley, Hume and Charles in a promising combination down the right-hand side. It was another demonstration of the progress Price, 20, has made since deciding to leave his boyhood club Everton last summer and move to Standard Liege. Twenty-eight games into the Belgian season, Price said the step up into senior football had accelerated his progress. ‘I feel I’ve developed more. Physically I still need to get stronger, faster. ‘The league over there is very tough, and when you come into international football you start playing against the best players from any country.’