Northern Ireland may have fallen short in their bid to reach this summer’s World Cup but Shea Charles remains convinced he can one day play at a major tournament alongside his brother Pierce.
The Southampton midfielder was among the stand-out performers for Northern Ireland as they frustrated Italy for long spells before second-half goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean saw them fall to a 2-0 defeat in their qualifying play-off semi-final in Bergamo on Thursday night.
Having missed the November internationals through injury, Shea Charles earned his 32nd cap at the age of just 22, while Pierce, 20, was back from injury to reclaim his place as Northern Ireland’s number one – the ninth time the brothers have played international football together.
With 30-year-old Paddy McNair the only player in the starting XI north of 24, they were part of Northern Ireland’s second youngest starters in the post-war era, with an average age of just 22.5.
“I think that’s the most positive thing,” Charles said. “We’ve got a long way to go together. An average age of 22 and a half is pretty mindblowing to be honest.
“All the boys are doing really well at their clubs so there’s a lot of potential.
“There’s still a few more steps to go. We were on the edge of the World Cup, we’re a very young team, there’s a long way to go.”
Charles had spoken in the build-up of his desire to line-up alongside his brother at a major tournament.
While this World Cup was not meant to be, recent performances have only convinced Charles that it can happen, with qualification for Euro 2028 a realistic target.
“We’ve got the Nations League next and then the Euros so it’s really exciting,” he said. “For Pierce to come here after a real tough season with injury is credit to him. I’ll back him all the way and I thought he played really well.”
Charles was a regular at international level before club level, breaking into what was then Ian Baraclough’s Northern Ireland side, while still part of Manchester City’s development squad as a teenager.
But he has rarely if ever looked out of place at this level, despite the fact that on Thursday he was coming up against an Italian midfield trio of Tonali, Manuel Locatelli, and Nicolo Barella – who have all played Champions League football this season with Newcastle, Juventus and Inter Milan respectively.
With Southampton in the play-off mix in the Championship, Charles hopes he can now move up to a higher level himself.
“I’ve had three seasons in the Championship now and I’m feeling really good,” he said.
“Thursday’s probably the best I’ve felt after my injury so it’s really exciting.
“I back myself against anyone and I back this team against anyone so it’s really exciting.”