Rory Finneran will captain Ireland in their debut FIFA Under-17 World Cup campaign with big hopes in Qatar and big ambitions at Newcastle.
Rory Finneran made history last year when he became Blackburn Rovers’ youngest ever first-team player - and now he is gunning for a breakthrough at Newcastle United.
He just needs to bump Sandro Tonali out of the way!
But first up for the teenager is the small matter of captaining Ireland to a World Cup.
Finneran will wear the armband in Qatar as the Boys in Green compete at the FIFA Under-17 finals, kicking off on Wednesday with their Group J opener against Panama.
It’s a high-pressure situation for anyone, regardless of their age, but Finneran is ready for the responsibility of skippering his country on the world stage.
After all, he wasn’t fazed by pulling on the first-team jersey at Blackburn in January of last year when he made his debut in the FA Cup against Cambridge United.
The Ewood Park side won 5-2 and Finneran, at 15 years, 10 months and eight days old, made a piece of club history when he came off the bench late in the game, replacing Sammie Szmodics.
“That was a mad achievement for me personally, being the youngest player ever for Blackburn,” he said, ahead of Ireland’s flight to Qatar.
“It's still quite hard to remember because it just went so quickly. But it was a great achievement for myself.
“Obviously it's a cup game, so I think it's a good chance to give younger players a chance. I think I knew maybe a week in advance, but it wasn't set in stone until the day before.
“So then when you get told that, it's a massive thing. I was really excited to find out that I was on the bench.”
Despite that breakthrough, Finneran made the decision that summer to swap Blackburn for Premier League side Newcastle United.
More than a year later and both clubs have failed to agree on a compensation fee for the midfielder, which could see the Championship side take legal action to secure a payout.
That’s the furthest thing from Finneran’s mind, however, as he continues to impress at his new club, playing already in Newcastle’s Premier League 2 side and training regularly with Eddie Howe’s first-team.
Speaking about his July 2024 move, he said: “I always make my own decisions. So I think for me the big thing was obviously it's a Premier League club and that chance to play at the highest level.
“And also just the development, the level of development that you get with the amount of staff and everyone there.
“It was player-led. Me and my dad, we knew what I wanted. So I think just that chance to get in and around a Premier League first team is a massive thing.
“Obviously we train sometimes with the first team and just seeing that level just makes you want to get better and get a bigger opportunity there.”
As for squeezing past Tonali and into Howe’s plans, he said: “That's a tough one.
“I think when you're training with players like that and I'm taking stuff off him, it's a massive thing for me because I'm seeing first-hand what I need to be to be playing at that level.
“So, I think it's a good thing and a bad thing. Because obviously it's hard to get in over a player like that.
“But when you're taking tips off that, then it's not exactly a bad thing, if you look at it that way.”
Born in England to a Sligo dad, Finneran can’t wait to get out onto the pitch in Qatar, and lead Ireland’s first men’s World Cup campaign at any age level in 22 years.
“I think it's a massive honour, that's how I feel about it,” he said of the captaincy.
“It's a massive achievement, especially the way that we qualified as well. We went through a lot of tough games and at one point we didn't even look like we were going to qualify for the next round of Euros.
“So I think it's just a massive thing that we've got there in the end. I mean, it's props to the lads and everyone involved because we had some hard games and we had to beat some good teams.
“We did really well to get there and now it's about the next game and how well we can do in that and just keep taking it game by game. So yeah, it’s a massive achievement.”
Ireland squeezed through their two European qualification rounds thanks to the character within the group and their ability in front of goal.
They scored 13 goals across six qualifiers to make it as one of 11 European nations. They are one of five countries making their World Cup debuts at this age level.
After Wednesday’s game against Panama, they will face Uzbekistan on Saturday and then Paraguay next Tuesday.
The top two in each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third placed teams, will qualify for the knockouts, beginning with a round of 32.
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“We know how good we are,” said Finneran. “We know that we can give a game to anyone.
“We've got a lot of confidence in the group. And I think any game that we go into, we're confident that we can win the game. So, I think what's achievable is anything, really.”
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