Teenage (Competitive) Kicks

After starting against in the Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland, Aaron Connolly joined an elite group of players who made their full competitive debut before their 20th birthday.

Only 16 players (including Connolly) have done this in the 564 game history of the Republic, starting with Kevin O'Flanagan and Jackie Carey in a qualifier for the 1938 World Cup against Norway.

Before Connolly, the last time a teenage player started a competitive game was in September 1998, when Robbie Keane and Damien Duff, aged 18 and 19 respectively, started against Croatia in a 2-0 win for the Boys in Green. Keane is also the youngest player ever to start a competitive game

Player	Level	Date of birth	Date	Home	Score	Away	Age
Kevin O'Flanagan	World Cup Qualifier	10 June 1919	7 November 1937	Republic of Ireland	3-3	Norway	18 years, 150 days
Jackie Carey	World Cup Qualifier	23 February 1919	7 November 1937	Republic of Ireland	3-3	Norway	18 years, 257 days
Arthur Fitzsimons	World Cup Qualifier	16 December 1929	8 September 1949	Republic of Ireland	3-0	Finland	19 years, 266 days
Liam Munroe	World Cup Qualifier	28 November 1933	28 October 1953	Republic of Ireland	4-0	Luxembourg	19 years, 334 days
Don Givens	World Cup Qualifier	9 August 1949	27 May 1969	Denmark	2-0	Republic of Ireland	19 years, 291 days
Jimmy Holmes	World Cup Qualifier	11 November 1953	15 November 1972	Republic of Ireland	2-1	France	19 years, 4 days
Liam Brady	European Cup Qualifier	13 February 1956	30 October 1974	Republic of Ireland	3-0	Soviet Union	18 years, 259 days
David O'Leary	World Cup Qualifier	2 May 1958	17 November 1976	France	2-0	Republic of Ireland	18 years, 199 days
Pierce O'Leary	European Cup Qualifier	5 November 1959	17 October 1979	Republic of Ireland	3-0	Bulgaria	19 years, 346 days
Steve Staunton	World Cup Qualifier	19 January 1969	16 November 1988	Spain	2-0	Republic of Ireland	19 years, 302 days
Mark Kennedy	European Cup Qualifier	15 May 1976	6 September 1995	Austria	3-1	Republic of Ireland	19 years, 114 days
David Connolly	World Cup Qualifier	6 June 1977	30 April 1997	Romania	1-0	Republic of Ireland	19 years, 328 days
Ian Harte	World Cup Qualifier	31 August 1977	31 August 1996	Liechtenstein	0-5	Republic of Ireland	19 years, 0 days
Damien Duff	European Cup Qualifier	2 March 1979	5 September 1998	Republic of Ireland	2-0	Croatia	19 years, 187 days
Robbie Keane	European Cup Qualifier	8 July 1980	5 September 1998	Republic of Ireland	2-0	Croatia	18 years, 59 days
Aaron Connolly	European Cup Qualifier	28 January 2000	15 October 2019	Switzerland	2-0	Republic of Ireland	19 years, 260 days

Three Broken Ducks

In the friendly win over Bulgaria, Alan Browne, Kevin Long, and James Collins all scored their first goal for Ireland. This was only the fourth time in the 562 game history of the Republic of Ireland where three players all scored their first international goal in the same fixture.

In the third international played by the Republic, a 4-2 win over Belgium in 1928, Jimmy White, Billy Lacey, and Jack Sullivan scored their first goals for the international side, with White notching a brace. This was the first win for the team.

It would take 48 years for the feat to be repeated, when, in a friendly game against Norway in March 1976, Liam Brady, a Jimmy Holmes penalty, and Mickey Walsh(on his debut) all scored their first goals in a 3-0 win. The game was also notable for being Tony Grealish's debut.

Fans would only have to wait 11 years for three players to open their international account in the same game, when David Kelly, John Byrne, and Niall Quinn all scored in a 5-0 win over Israel in November 1987. Kelly actually notched a hat trick in what was his first cap - the only Irish player ever to mark his debut with three goals.